[arin-ppml] Encouraging IPv6 Transition (was: Clarify /29 assignment identification requirement)

[Owen DeLong]

On May 14, 2012, at 7:22 PM, Jimmy Hess wrote:

> On 5/14/12, Owen DeLong <owen at delong.com> wrote:
> [snip]
>> Ick! I really don't want to have to renumber my IP network every time my
>> telephone number changes. I don't know where you live, but, in the US,
>> there
>> is virtually no such thing as a "permanent" telephone number.
> 
> Huh?    Phone numbers are actually owned by the end customer, not the
> telco, as long as they maintain phone service, and they are therefore
> much more permanent than IP addresses.    You actually own your phone

Huh? Where do you live?

In the US, we have AREA code splits every once-in-a-while that result in
people's numbers changing. Also, the creation of new COs sometimes
results in a geographic area having its prefixes changed.

Yes, these events are not super-regular, but, they're a royal pain when
they do occur and adding network upheaval into that equation by mapping
phone numbers to prefixes seems like a pretty bad idea.

Also, if you move any significant distance, your phone number either changes,
or, you end up paying substantial fees every month for a "foreign exchange
prefix".
 
> number,  you don't actually own IP addresses that you are assigned.
> A key difference:  Phone numbers are even portable between providers
> and to/from  local cell phone providers, as long as the end user org
> maintains phone service,  you can't do the same with PA  address
> assignments in IPv4 or IPv6.

You don't actually own phone numbers, either. They have greater (in some
cases) portability than IP addresses, but, you don't actually own the number.

> The ability to maintain permanent ownership is what makes the phone
> number a perfect identifier to leverage for IP address automatic
> assignment.     The organization just needs to use some care, and make
> sure to pick a phone number, such as their 800#, they already have to
> indefinitely maintain  for other business purposes.

Were that ability not somewhat fictitious, I might even agree with you. However,
since it doesn't actually pan out, the conclusions you draw from said assumption
also don't completely pan out.

> Businesses spend large amounts of advertising dollars publishing their
> phone numbers  which are used by their customers,  in advert material,
> directories, etc;  it would be a pretty big disaster if their number
> "changed",  as they would now be losing business.

Yep... Like I said, when they are forcibly changed, it's a major pain in the butt.

> Organizations'  contact numbers are not like your home phone number
> that you can change all the time without a big disadvantage.

I'm well aware of this. However, in both cases, they can and are sometimes
changed at the instigation of the phone company and not the customer.

Owen