[arin-ppml] Draft Policy 2012-3: ASN Transfers

[Martin Hannigan]

On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 5:23 PM, Tom Vest <tvest at eyeconomics.com> wrote:
>
> On Mar 16, 2012, at 2:40 PM, David Farmer wrote:
>
>> On 3/16/12 10:11 CDT, Tom Vest wrote:
>>
>>> 3. Entities that would not be unhappy to see SIDR/RPKI fail
>>> absolutely and/or to succeed primarily in turning the current
>>> industry pecking order into a perpetual, insurmountable reputation
>>> hierarchy -- where no amount of good of behavior can ever be truly
>>> reassuring (if you're a new entrant), and no instance of bad behavior
>>> need ever tarnish one's own reputation (if you're an incumbent
>>> operator) -- would have everything they require to achieve those
>>> goals.
>>
>> I'd be interested in more details on the risks you see ASN transfers creating for RPKI.
>>
>> Would such risks to RPKI associated with ASN transfers be any different than ARIN reassigning an ASN that was returned to it or that ARIN reclaimed?
>>
>> Are you saying that ASNs are suppose to be both globally and eternally unique?
>>
>> I'm not saying I'd be opposed to ASNs being eternally unique, but I didn't know it was a requirement, especially of RPKI.
>>
>> Thanks
>> --
>
> Hi David,
>
> The risk would be to the value of the information that RPKI provides to (any/all) non-peers, and at least potentially to direct peers as well (as I believe Chris alluded to earlier this week). The knowledge that route (a) was originated by AS (x) is only meaningful insofar as one has some set of high-confidence beliefs/expectations about AS (x). However, if AS (x) can change hands at will, henceforth no such confidence will be possible for the overwhelming majority if not all ASes.
>

If the ASN was transferred and trust mechanisms were implemented,
wouldn't the trust chain break?

I don't quite understand what the problem you are describing actually
is. If someone transfers an ASN to "steal" peering, it would take a
lot more work than just that. At a very high level, the entire
relationship would change and probably dramatically from what it was
before the transfer.

How about a real world example of how transferring an ASN has hurt someone?

Best,

-M<