[arin-ppml] ARIN-prop-174 Policies Apply to All Resources in the Registry

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 3:53 PM, ARIN <info at arin.net> wrote:
> ARIN-prop-174 Policies Apply to All Resources in the Registry
....
> Policy statement:
>
> Add as a new paragraph at the beginning of Section 1;
>
> ARIN is the Internet number registry for its service region and ARIN
> number resource policies apply to all resources in the ARIN registry,
> including those resources issued from a predecessor registry in the
> Internet Registry system.
>
> Rationale:
>
> There is a perception by some that ARIN policy may not apply to legacy
> resources. This proposal clarifies that ARIN policies apply to all
> resources in the ARIN registry regardless if they are legacy-issued
> resources.  ARIN was formed to give the users of IP numbers within North
> American a voice in the policies by which they are managed and allocated
> in the region.


While I agree with the concept, I do not think this is a proposal
that should move forward.

Perception is largely irrelevant.  And, given that the positions are so
strongly held, I believe that the perceptions will not change whatever
the language says.

What I think really matters is the practice, and/or the potential
for benefit or harm by adopting this proposal.

The existing ARIN practice seems to be consistent with the proposal.
Therefore, this proposal, in my mind, lacks a clear practical
benefit for adoption, at least for the rationale provided of perception.

A potential harm would seem to be opening the worm can earlier
than someone might be prepared to deal with it.  While one should
clearly stand up for ones values, that does not say one needs to
be confrontational just because one can be.

So, while I am not entirely comfortable with the existing legacy status
quo of some potential ambiguity, and some strong disagreements in
peoples minds, I am sort of resigned to it, and, I do not see the potential
benefits in this proposal to justify moving forward.

Gary