[arin-ppml] Privacy expectations for large requests - food for thought

[John Curran]

On Apr 27, 2011, at 6:36 PM, William Herrin wrote:

> Should we reconsider the transparency requirements that go in to IPv4
> allocations and transfers? Is there a size of IPv4 consumption above
> which an organization should not have an expectation of privacy with
> respect to their documentation? A consumption so large that it must be
> subject to public scrutiny in all details?
> 
> Offered as food for thought.

An excellent topic...  Some thoughts for consideration:

- The same issues apply to IPv6 as IPv4, so unless there is a
  particular reason to solve it differently for IPv6, we should
  look for general solutions if at all possible.

- To the extent that we have documented need basis as a criteria
  (for allocations or transfers), then requests will invariably 
  have very significant privacy concerns. Businesses do not like
  to disclose past or present network information (as it is 
  intimately tied to their services and market positioning)

- Open market advocates will note that the collection of such 
  information is a good reason for moving away from technical
  criteria, and letting companies express their degree of need 
  in terms of financial commitment.  This doesn't mean that is 
  how the community should solve the problem, but any change of 
  confidentially in this area will invariably be compared to 
  the open market alternative, so that should be recognized
  up front.

- Removing confidentially at the time when we are nearing 
  depletion of IPv4 availability actually puts ARIN directly
  in the path of businesses who are simply trying to continue 
  running their networks without a ready alternative. It may
  take years for a large carrier to have solid IPv6 solutions
  so a sudden change in available privacy for requests over a 
  certain size might be seen as imposing unavoidable terms on 
  one class of members, and changing the privacy expectations 
  for all requests might be seen as a more equitable solution.

FYI,
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
ARIN