[arin-ppml] On USG 'granting of rights' (was: ARIN-PPML 2015-2)

[John Curran]

On Jun 3, 2015, at 3:02 PM, Mike Burns <mike at iptrading.com> wrote:
> My recollection is not off and my statement stands. The judge, after
> consulting with counsel for Nortel on the issue, issued a motion for the
> auction to commence in which he found that Nortel had the exclusive right to
> transfer the addresses.  Otherwise he couldn't really sell them in
> bankruptcy court.

ARIN wouldn’t argue that Nortel as "the party with the exclusive right to sell 
the addresses"; in fact, that right is specifically provided for all address holders
in the L/RSA agreements.   The filing in the matter for the auction did not inform 
the judge of the nature of the registry system, nor did it seek an order to sell the
addresses, only permission to hold an auction.   It was only when they filed to
actually complete the sale that ARIN was notified.

> There was nothing about ARIN in that motion, the only
> language involving ARIN came after you were finally notified of the auction
> and had 30 days to negotiate with Microsoft.  

On this we agree - ARIN was not notified in advance, or the original auction
order would have been much clearer.  We have dealt with many bankruptcy
matters since that time and are seeing appropriate language now being used.
Upon engaging with Microsoft and Nortel, their revised order and amended
sale agreement were similarly corrected.  

To the original point, we have continuously filed to insure that bankruptcy 
sales are handled in compliance with policy, and that means not allowing 
transfers contrary to policy - we achieved that outcome in Microsoft/Nortel.

I will also note that in Nortel's original filing, Nortel made a claim of a 
"property interest” (not just rights of use) as well as a claim that legacy 
numbers are not subject to ARIN's transfer restrictions.  Both of these 
were claims were removed from the revised filings by Nortel; feel free 
to ask them if you wish to why they chose not to attempt pursuing these
claims.

Thanks!
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
ARIN