[arin-ppml] fee structure

[John Curran]

On Mar 29, 2013, at 11:38 AM, Scott Leibrand <scottleibrand at gmail.com>
 wrote:

> Have you (or has the board) considered other methods of identifying those who have demonstrated an interest in participating? For example, any resource holder who has sent someone to an ARIN meeting and then applies for membership has IMO demonstrated such an interest. 

Scott - 
 
  Anyone who has applied for membership has demonstrated interest.

  Consider for a moment that ARIN members have increased say (by
  participation in the election process) in ARIN costs and fees,
  and with this should come some responsibility for financial 
  participation.

  If we consider for a moment ARIN costs, as broken down into 
  the various program areas, rather than departmental budgets - 
  (I'm going to use the 1&2Q 2011 numbers, since that is the 
  last functional cost breakdown exercise that we performed)
  From: <https://www.arin.net/participate/meetings/reports/ARIN_XXVIII/PDF/friday/curran_cost_breakdown.pdf>
  Expenses through January through August 2011 - 

	Program Area		Program Exp.	(% of Total)
	------------		------------	----------
	
	Registry Service	$ 2,946,836	(31.69 %)
	Registry Development	$ 4,641,148	(49.91 %)
	ARIN Organization	$ 602,854	( 6.48 %)
	Internet Governance	$ 1,108,217	(11.92 %)

  Would it not be appropriate that an organization that wishes
  to participate as a member pay its share of ARIN costs which
  are currently borne by the remaining ~4100 members?  We set
  aside registry services and registry development, on the 
  assumption those are covered by the ISP and end-user fees.

  However, a party getting in an equal vote in ARIN's governance 
  should see an equal share the ARIN's organizational costs (i.e. 
  elections, Board travel, legal, insurance, senior executive) and 
  one could easily argue that ARIN's extensive Internet Governance 
  outreach should also be included (as any entity supporting ARIN's 
  mission would understand)

  If one considers just those categories, a party interested having 
  an equal vote in guiding ARIN's mission should cover their portion
  of ARIN's costs, which based on the above percentages and current 
  year budget would either be ~$250/year (just ARIN organizational)
  or $700/year (ARIN organization costs and Internet Governance costs), 
  depending on one's perspective.  

  I will bring this topic to the Board to review and consider what
  value is most appropriate, noting that the present membership fee 
  of $500/year lies between the non-registry components of our costs
  when considered on a per member-basis.
  
FYI,
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
ARIN