[arin-ppml] ARIN-prop-172 Additional definition for NRPM Section 2 - Legacy Resources

[Alexander, Daniel]

Milton,

If I put the property religion aside, can we explore one of the points you
make below? I sometimes interpret your reference to ARIN as if it is a
stand alone company that is getting in the way of competition. Is this an
error on my part? As you know, ARIN is the collection of members and even
opinions that are presented here on this list, and not an independent
decision maker. Even you are part of ARIN and influence its behavior.

So if we replace the word ARIN, I read your comments to say that it is
advisable for all the ISPs, End user network operators, content provider
networks, Universities, and everyone who operates the Internet to pave the
way for post-allocation services and interact with other addressing
registrars. 

My question would be why? As with any value proposition, do the benefits
they receive outweigh the price they have to pay? As Chris Engel pointed
out better than I ever could, the value is not in the numbers themselves
but in the context in which they can be used. All the networks around the
globe benefit from the central coordination of the RIR system as a
mechanism to participate in the Internet.

Because some address holders or individuals wish to trade IP address space
for money, it is not done without a cost. To operate under such a model,
those costs are pushed out to all those entities listed above that
currently benefit from the central coordination. Why should all the
network operators across the Internet incur the costs of having to refer
to multiple regristrar systems and the inevitable disputes that will
result beyond those that already occur in the current model?

It is only my opinion but the property argument is misleading. Some are
being led to believe that they can pay xxx amount of dollars for an IP
block and it will work across the Internet. Those dollars spent, or even a
US court order do not guarantee global connectivity to the Internet.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is a pretty large portion of the
Internet that does not care about what a US judge might decide. I think we
really need to weigh the costs and the benefits of the road we are heading
down.  

Dan Alexander
Speaking only as myself


On 6/12/12 9:22 PM, "Milton L Mueller" <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:

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>> If ARIN, for
>> some reason, ceased to provide such a high degree of utility.... if for
>> example it operated in a fashion contrary to what most operators
>> considered useful, it would cease to have influence as reference source.
> 
>[Milton L Mueller] Yep. And believe it or not, that is basically the same
>point I was trying to make with respect to ARIN trying to use its control
>of the registry database in a way that is perceived to be (or is in fact)
>contrary to the interests of a coalition of legacy holders, operators who
>want to communicate with them, brokers, and others. Really, that was all
>I was pointing out. If ARIN wants to be the authoritative, universal
>reference it can't play fast and loose with the power that comes with
>people using it for that purpose.
>
>Perhaps the only point where we differ is that I believe it is advisable
>for ARIN and other RIRs to concentrate almost exclusively on the registry
>function and pave the way for competition and diversity in
>post-allocation services, which means that they should be open to
>figuring out a way to interact with other registrars, and that means
>being totally devoted to actually listing who uniquely holds an address
>block and not making that listing contingent upon maintaining control of
>various things or conformity to ancillary policies.

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