[arin-ppml] ARIN / Microsoft press release regarding IP address Transfers

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

First, let me say that I mostly agree with Benson in that the
press release basically said nothing of real substance.  All we
know is that Microsoft and ARIN signed some document.

What concerns me is that this might be an LRSA.  And the way the release 
was worded it does not explicitly state that ALL resources in
the transfer fall under this agreement.

What concerns me here is that the community very much wants these
transfer resources to go under RSA and be subject to fee payments.

With the size of the transfer that would be a very significant amount
of money every year from the richest company on the planet into
ARINs coffers that can be used to lower the rest of our fees or
pay for more staff to get the WHOIS database knocked into shape
or help push IPv6 adoption - IF it was an RSA that was signed.

If it was an LRSA then it amounts to massive corporate charity
to the richest company on the planet.

Claiming that "they followed the rules" means nothing because
ARIN can selectively apply the rules depending on what happened.

If Nortel didn't sign an LRSA then ARIN could withhold recognition
of the transfer in exchange for a signature on an RSA - but, a
bit of creative interpretation would allow Microsoft to sign an
LRSA because legally Microsoft could have a document as a result of
the deal that for these resources, effectively makes Microsoft,
Nortel.  Knowing ARIN's desire to never litigate anything, I wouldn't
put it past a group of slippery lawyers to arrange such a thing.
And Microsoft employs some of the most slipperiest lawyers there
are.

All I care about is that Microsoft is now paying a yearly fee for
all these IP addresses.  If I don't see a statement from John that
says that Microsoft is going to be billed the annual fee for ALL
these new resources, then I'm going to assume it was another big
corporate giveaway and these resources are under LRSA, and the
press release is just a big steaming pile of manure.

Ted



On 4/15/2011 5:08 PM, Benson Schliesser wrote:
> Thanks, John.
>
> On Apr 15, 2011, at 6:30 PM, John Curran wrote:
>
>> From the press release: "ARIN President and CEO John Curran stated
>> he was pleased that Microsoft has followed the Internet
>> community's adopted policies for such transfers"
>
> That sounds like great news.  I'm glad to hear that ARIN will
> recognize sales such as this, going forward; it is good to have the
> Microsoft / Nortel deal as a template for future transactions.
>
> Of course, the devil is in the details, as they say.  If you don't
> mind, I'd like to ask for additional clarification.  There are some
> questions raised by
> http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2011/4/15/4796200.html
> in which Milton says:
>
> "Numerous aspects of ARIN's policies and procedures were broken in
> this hasty attempt to insert itself into the transaction. First,
> ARIN's transfer policy stipulates that recipients (buyers) are
> supposed to sign an RSA, not an LRSA."
>
> Milton also has a comment that Nortel hasn't signed any agreements
> with ARIN.  I have assumed that an agreement would be necessary to
> "release" blocks to ARIN for transfer to the buyer.
>
> Can you explain how policy is implemented in these regards?
>
> Thanks, -Benson
>
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