[arin-ppml] Draft Policy ARIN-2013-4: RIR Principles - revised

[William Herrin]

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 2:03 PM, Chris Grundemann <cgrundemann at gmail.com> wrote:
> We've seen no additional feedback to this most recent version (v3 13 August
> 2013) of ARIN-2013-4. We have attempted to include all of the feedback
> received into this latest version of text and I personally hope that all
> major issues have been addressed. This current text aims to document
> existing practice based on historical norms which best instruct the driving
> principles required to successfully operate an RIR. If that mark has been
> hit or missed, we need your feedback to properly gauge.
>
> Please include a clear statement of support or opposition when responding.

Hi Chris,

I reluctantly OPPOSE the draft as written.

This proposal has undergone tremendous improvement since it first
appeared an I want to take a moment to commend everyone who worked on
it for their efforts.

The points about registration and routability do a respectable job
marking out what I think our policies should be about. I continue to
think "conservation" misses the mark: ARIN's role is about
sustainability which is not the same thing. However, conservation is
arguably a reasonable starting point for further development. Get
something on the books and then talk about improving it.

The fourth point about stewardship doesn't work for me.

"0.4. Stewardship

The principle of stewardship guarantees the application of these
principles when managing Internet number resources.

The fundamental purpose of Internet number stewardship is to
distribute unique number resources to entities building and operating
networks thereby facilitating the growth and sustainability of the
Internet for the benefit of all."

The language is too wishy-washy, justifying anything and nothing. What
concept is intended to be conveyed here anyway? That ARIN is supposed
to manage number resources in a way which follows policies developed
based on principles 1 through 3? That ARIN is intended to manage
number resources for the benefit of all who build and operate TCP/IP
networks, not just Internet-centric companies? Something else? We
already covered uniqueness and network growth and what not, so why
restate them weakly?

Let's figure out what we're really trying to say here and then say it
plainly. Or just drop it. I think the statement of principles would
survive the absence of point 4,. If we ever figure out what we were
trying to say, we can add it later.

Regards,
Bill Herrin



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William D. Herrin ................ herrin at dirtside.com  bill at herrin.us
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