[arin-ppml] What do you think of 2011-1 (now in Last Call)?

[William Herrin]

 On Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 7:20 PM, Andy Linton <asjl at ecs.vuw.ac.nz> wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 4:31 AM, William Herrin <bill at herrin.us> wrote:
>> ARIN doesn't use National Internet Registries (NIRs). LIRs (ISPs) and
>> large or multihomed end-users register addresses directly with ARIN.
>> APNIC prefers to create NIRs, country-level registries, and then have
>> LIRs and end-users register addresses there instead.
>
> I'd be wary of characterising the structure in the APNIC region as
> "APNIC prefers to create NIRs...". I don't believe that this is correct.

Hi Andy,

I accept your version. I don't want to get bogged down in the minutiae
of the difference between ARIN's and APNIC's respective structures and
frankly, it's beside the point.

However well intentioned your efforts and ours, the fact is that some
of your registrants and some of our registrants are double-dealing
scum. The overwhelming majority of our respective registrants are
wonderful people but a few are not. Those few will seek any advantage
they find in unprotected policy, yours or ours, and they will insist
we follow the letter of our policies as misappropriated resources
enrich them.

Unfortunately, ARIN draft 2011-1 lacks meaningful resilience against
bad actors from within either of our communities. Even the staff
assessment says so: 'This policy may provide incentive for
organizations to game the system. This behavior [...] may be difficult
for staff to distinguish from bona fide changes in circumstances." If
we move forward before fixing it, well, what do you think happens in
the feedback loop between policy development and its results as the
resources you're trying to get into the hands of folks who need them
are diverted by bad actors? Do we calmly discuss small tweaks with our
trustworthy partners at APNIC?

The political pendulum always swings too far. Bold policy enacted on
the tip of the swing isn't scaled back when the pendulum retreats.
It's crushed. Annihilated so thoroughly that generations pass before
anyone is willing to voice support for anything vaguely like it. Let's
play it smart: scale this back to something more conservative,
something that a far larger plurality than 24 versus 17 people can
live with. Something that won't leave APNIC a victim of the blame game
when the inevitable holes in the policy are found.

Regards,
Bill Herrin



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