[arin-ppml] Draft Policy 2012-1 Clarifying requirements for IPv4 transfers (was Re: Prop-151: Clarifying requirements for IPv4 transfers)

[ARIN]

Draft Policy ARIN-2012-1
Clarifying requirements for IPv4 transfers

On 16 February 2012 the ARIN Advisory Council (AC) selected "Clarifying 
requirements for IPv4 transfers" as a  draft policy for adoption 
discussion on the PPML and at the Public Policy Meeting in Vancouver in 
April.

The draft was developed by the AC from policy proposal "ARIN-prop-151 
Limiting needs requirements for IPv4 Transfers." Per the Policy 
Development Process the AC submitted text to ARIN for a staff and legal 
assessment prior to its selection as a draft policy. Below the draft 
policy is the ARIN staff and legal assessment, followed by the text that 
was submitted by the AC. Note that the AC revised the draft policy text 
after they received the assessment from staff.

Draft Policy ARIN-2012-1 is below and can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2012_1.html

You are encouraged to discuss Draft Policy 2012-1 on the PPML prior to
the April Public Policy Meeting. Both the discussion on the list and
at the meeting will be used by the ARIN Advisory Council to determine
the community consensus for adopting this as policy.

The ARIN Policy Development Process can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/pdp.html

Draft Policies and Proposals under discussion can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/index.html

Regards,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


## * ##


Draft Policy ARIN-2012-1
Clarifying requirements for IPv4 transfers

Date: 22 February 2012

Policy statement:

Current text:

Replace Section 8.3 with

8.3 Transfers between Specified Recipients within the ARIN Region.

In addition to transfers under section 8.2, IPv4 numbers resources may 
be transferred according to the following conditions.

Conditions on source of the transfer:

* The source entity must be the current registered holder of the IPv4
address resources, and not be involved in any dispute as to the status 
of those resources.
* The source entity will be ineligible to receive any further IPv4 
address allocations or assignments from ARIN for a period of 12 months 
after a transfer approval, or until the exhaustion of ARIN's IPv4 space, 
whichever occurs first.
* The source entity must not have received an allocation or assignment 
of IPv4 number resources from ARIN for the 12 months prior to the 
approval of a transfer request.
* The minimum transfer size is a /24


Conditions on recipient of the transfer:

* The recipient must demonstrate the need for up to a 24 month supply of
IP address resources under current ARIN policies and sign an RSA.
* The resources transferred will be subject to current ARIN policies.


Add Section 8.4 Inter-RIR Transfers to Specified Recipients

Inter-regional transfers may take place only via RIRs who agree to the
transfer and share reciprocal, compatible, needs-based policies.

Conditions on source of the transfer:

* The source entity must be the current rights holder of the IPv4 
address resources recognized by the RIR responsible for the resources, 
and not be involved in any dispute as to the status of those resources.
* Source entities outside of the ARIN region must meet any requirements
defined by the RIR where the source entity holds the registration.
* Source entities within the ARIN region will not be eligible to receive
any further IPv4 address allocations or assignments from ARIN for a 
period of 12 months after a transfer approval, or until the exhaustion 
of ARIN's IPv4 space, whichever occurs first.
* Source entities within the ARIN region must not have received an
allocation or assignment of IPv4 number resources from ARIN for the 12
months prior to the approval of a transfer request.
* The minimum transfer size is a /24.


Conditions on recipient of the transfer:

* The conditions on a recipient outside of the ARIN region will be 
defined by the policies of the receiving RIR.
* Recipients within the ARIN region will be subject to current ARIN
policies and sign an RSA for the resources being received.
* Recipients within the ARIN region must demonstrate the need for up to 
a 24 month supply of IPv4 address space.
* The minimum transfer size is a /24

Rationale:

The original text of this proposal attempted to simplify the 
requirements of an IPv4 address transfer while protecting any resources 
in the ARIN free pool. This revision is a result of feedback from the 
mailing list, and discussions with the original author. The one key 
point that has been removed from the original text is that a needs based 
review remains in place.

The current text attempts to retain the original concepts of protecting
any ARIN free pool, and incorporating it with the point of bringing
resources under RSA. The resulting text attempts to put safeguards in
place on the practice of paid transfers by creating a black out period 
for requests from the free pool. The text also tries to incorporate
discussions regarding inter-RIR transfers and come up with language that
includes the free pool protections for transfers in and out of the Region.

Timetable for implementation: immediate.


##########


ARIN STAFF ASSESSMENT
Proposal: ARIN-prop-151 Limiting needs requirements for IPv4 Transfers 
Date of Assessment: Feb 15, 2012


1. Proposal Summary (Staff Understanding)
This proposal would modify the 8.3 transfer policy and implement an 
inter-RIR transfer policy (both for IPv4 addresses only).
For 8.3 transfers, recipients would be limited to 12 months need, versus 
the 24 month need currently in place, and the organization releasing the 
resources can't have received additional IPv4 addresses from ARIN in the 
previous 12 months and will be ineligible to receive additional IPv4 
addresses for 12 months after the transfer.
For transfers from ARIN to another RIR, the releasing org must be the 
authorized holder, can't have received additional IPv4 addresses from 
ARIN in the previous 12 months, and will be unable to obtain additional 
IPv4 addresses from ARIN for 12 months following the transfer, and the 
recipient org must qualify to receive the resources under the other 
RIR's policies.
For transfers to ARIN from another RIR, the other RIR must verify the 
releasing org is the authorized resource holder, and the recipient may 
request up to a 12 month supply of IPv4 addresses.

2. Comments


A. ARIN Staff Comments
•	The timer for when the 12‐month period before the transfer begins is 
undefined. When would staff start the timer? From the day the transfer 
request is submitted to ARIN? Or on the future approval date of the 
proposed transfer? Staff believes it would be logical to count back 12 
months from the date of the transfer approval.
•	This proposal imposes a 12-­‐month waiting period on organizations 
wishing to transfer IPv4 address space from ARIN to another region on 
either side of the transfer (both pre‐xfer and post‐xfer). This would be 
a good deterrent to organizations intending to “flip” IPv4 address space 
via an 8.3 transfer.
•	Should this same limitation be imposed on organizations wishing to 
transfer IPv4 space from another region into the ARIN region such that 
the releasing org cannot have received IPv4 address space from their RIR 
within the 12-month period prior to the transfer? This again would deter 
flipping IPv4 addresses via an 8.3 transfer and bring parity to the 
policy for transfer both to and from the ARIN region.
•	The concise language in the phrase, "reciprocal, compatible, 
needs‐based 
policies" is a very good improvement to this policy text 
and makes it very clear. It ensures that both RIRs have reciprocal 
inter-RIR policies, inter‐RIR policies which are compatible with one 
another, and general number resource policies which are needs‐based.
•	Numerous sentences in this policy are not compatible with the current 
NRPM 8.3, which now allows for a 24-­‐month need to be met. If this 
policy proposal is being passed, the community should very carefully 
compare and contrast the current NRPM 8.3 with this text to ensure the 
changes being proposed are acceptable to the community. 


B. ARIN General Counsel 

This proposal would reverse a policy just approved days ago that allows 
transfers
of up to 24 months’ need under 8.3, and move it back to the 
prior policy of 12 months. Counsel had previously recommended to the 
Board, AC and community that the 24 month policy was better for ARIN’s 
legal needs. Adopting the reversal back to 12 months will make it much 
harder for those who are willing to complete transfers in bankruptcy in 
accordance with ARIN’s policies to do so. I also do not believe 
reversing policy in this way is good on any subject. The electronic ink 
is not dry on the change form 12 to 24 months. This proposed change 
would substantially increase legal fees and legal risks for ARIN, and 
therefore I would recommend to the Board that it not ratify the reversal 
from 24 months to 12 months. If this problem is resolved there are no 
legal concerns regarding the policy except for some logical suggestions 
counsel has made to the policy text regarding inter region 
transfers
Other changes in the policy appear to have solved other legal 
concerns expressed in previous comments on earlier versions of this policy.

3. Resource Impact
This policy would have major resource impact from an implementation 
aspect. It is estimated that implementation would occur within 12 months 
after ratification by the ARIN Board of Trustees. The following would be 
needed in order to implement:
• Careful coordination between the RIRs on DNS issues and updates for 
the inter-rir transfers
• Potential issues include:
o Zone fragmentation
o DNS synchronization 
problems
o Potential administrative and operational issues in 
coordinating reverse addressing
• RPKI implications
• Updated guidelines
• Staff training 


4. Proposal Text 

Replace Section 8.3 with 
8.3 Transfers between Specified Recipients 
within the ARIN Region. 
In addition to transfers under section 8.2, 
IPv4 numbers resources may be transferred according to the following 
conditions.

Conditions on source of the transfer: 

* The source entity must be the current registered holder of the IPv4 
address resources, and not be involved in any dispute as to the status 
of those resources. 

* The source entity will be ineligible to receive any further IPv4 
address allocations or assignments from ARIN for a period of 12 months 
after the transfer, or until the exhaustion of ARIN's IPv4 space, 
whichever occurs first.

* The source entity must not have received an allocation or assignment 
of IPv4 number resources from ARIN for the 12 months prior to the transfer.

* The minimum transfer size is a /24 Conditions on recipient of the 
transfer:
* The recipient must demonstrate the need for up to a 12 month supply of 
IP address resources under current ARIN policies and sign an RSA.
* The resources transferred will be subject to current ARIN policies. 
Add Section 8.4 Inter-­‐RIR Transfers to Specified Recipients
Inter-regional transfers may take place only via RIRs who agree to the 
transfer and share reciprocal, compatible, needs-­‐based policies.
Conditions on source of the transfer:
* The source entity must be the current rights holder of the IPv4 
address resources recognized by the RIR responsible for the resources, 
and not be involved in any dispute as to the status of those resources.
* Source entities outside of the ARIN region must meet any requirements 
defined by the RIR where the source entity holds the registration.
* Source entities within the ARIN region will not be eligible to receive 
any further IPv4 address allocations or assignments from ARIN for a 
period of 12 months after the transfer, or until the exhaustion of 
ARIN's IPv4 space, whichever occurs first.
* Source entities within the ARIN region must not have received an 
allocation or assignment of IPv4 number resources from ARIN for the 12 
months prior to the transfer.
* The minimum transfer size is a /24 Conditions on recipient of the 
transfer:
* The conditions on a recipient outside of the ARIN region will be 
defined by the policies of the receiving RIR.
* Recipients within the ARIN region will be subject to current ARIN 
policies and sign an RSA for the resources being received.
* Recipients within the ARIN region must demonstrate the need for up to 
a 12 month supply of IPv4 address space.
* The minimum transfer size is a /24

Rationale:
The original text of this proposal attempted to impose few constraints 
on the transfer or on the parties involved other than than allowing the
registry to record transactions where IPv4 addresses are transfered 
between ARIN account holders.
This revision is a result of feedback from the mailing list, and 
discussions with the original author. The one key point that has been 
removed from the original text is that a needs based review remains in 
place.
The current text attempts to retain the original concepts of protecting 
any ARIN free pool, and incorporating it with the point of bringing 
resources under RSA. The resulting text attempts to put safeguards in 
place on the practice of paid transfers by creating a black out period 
for requests from the free pool. The text also tries to incorporate 
discussions regarding inter-­‐RIR transfers and come up with language 
that includes the free pool protections for transfers in and out of the 
Region.