[arin-ppml] Solving the squatting problem

[William Herrin]

> In order to make 240/4 work, we would have had to update the code on
virtually every system on the internet and most of the applications.

Seems to me the reasonable answer is for the IETF to declare that 240/4
should be implemented as Unicast space. Not release it to IANA for
distribution. Not declare it additional RFC1918 space. Just tell stack
implementors that they should handle 240/4 the same as they do for the rest
of unicast space. Buyers will pressure vendors to implement it or they
won't. If enough vendors implement it, the IETF will be pressured to move
it out of the reserved pool to some reasonable use.

Take step 1 (define the space as standard unicast) and see what happens. If
IPv6 dominates, great! We spent less effort changing 240/4 than we do
arguing about changing it. If IPv6 transition drags on another decade...
well, we positioned ourselves to get a little more utility from IPv4. Which
is smart.

It might also be useful to take back the majority of 224/4. Time has made
it crystal clear that multicast isn't as useful as we thought it would be.
We don't need that many multicast addresses.

Regards,
Bill Herrin

-- 
William Herrin
bill at herrin.us
https://bill.herrin.us/
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