[arin-ppml] Revised and Reverted to Draft Policy - Draft Policy ARIN-2019-1: Clarify Section 4 IPv4 Request Requirements

[ARIN]

On 20 February 2020, the ARIN Advisory Council (AC) reverted the 
following Recommended Draft Policy to Draft Policy Status due to 
community feedback recommending significant substantive changes.:

* Draft Policy ARIN-2019-1: Clarify Section 4 IPv4 Request Requirements

The text has since been revised in response to that feedback.

Revised text is below and can be found at:

https://www.arin.net/participate/policy/drafts/2019_1/

You are encouraged to discuss all Draft Policies on PPML. The AC will 
evaluate the discussion in order to assess the conformance of this Draft 
Policy with ARIN's Principles of Internet number resource policy as 
stated in the Policy Development Process (PDP). Specifically, these 
principles are:

* Enabling Fair and Impartial Number Resource Administration
* Technically Sound
* Supported by the Community

The PDP can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/participate/policy/pdp/

Draft Policies and Proposals under discussion can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/participate/policy/drafts/

Regards,

Sean Hopkins
Policy Analyst
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)




Draft Policy ARIN-2019-1: Clarify Section 4 IPv4 Request Requirements

Problem Statement:

Per a recent ARIN Policy Experience Report and resulting AC discussion, 
it was noted that the language of Section 4.1.8 is imprecise in that it 
can be interpreted as specifying a waiting period for any allocation 
activity, as opposed to being intended to limit only the frequency of 
IPv4 allocations under Section 4.

The same Policy Experience Report also noted that ARIN staff has 
observed a pattern where an organization transfers space under NRPM 
Section 8.2 to a specified recipient, and then immediately applies for 
space under Section 4. This activity appears to be speculative in nature 
and not consistent with sound address management policy.

The updated language in this proposal addresses the two issues above, as 
both concerns can be addressed via modifications to the same section and 
sentence thereof of the NRPM:

Clarifies the waiting period to only prohibit requests for IPv4 
allocations under Section 4 of the NRPM
Disallows organizations that have transferred space to other parties 
within the past 36 months from applying for additional IPv4 space under 
NRPM Section 4.

Policy Statement:

Current language found in NRPM Section 4.1.8 - Unmet Requests:

Repeated requests, in a manner that would circumvent 4.1.6, are not 
allowed: an organization currently on the waitlist must wait 90 days 
after receiving a distribution from the waitlist before applying for 
additional space. ARIN, at its sole discretion, may waive this 
requirement if the requester can document a change in circumstances 
since their last request that could not have been reasonably foreseen at 
the time of the original request, and which now justifies additional 
space. Qualified requesters will also be advised of the availability of 
the transfer mechanism in section 8.3 as an alternative mechanism to 
obtain IPv4 addresses.

Proposed new language 4.1.8:

Multiple requests are not allowed: an organization currently on the 
waitlist must wait 90 days after receiving a distribution from the 
waitlist or IPv4 number resources as a recipient of any transfer before 
applying for additional space. ARIN, at its sole discretion, may waive 
this requirement if the requester can document a change in circumstances 
since their last request that could not have been reasonably foreseen at 
the time of the original request, and which now justifies additional 
space. Qualified requesters will also be advised of the availability of 
the transfer mechanism in section 8.3 as an alternative mechanism to 
obtain IPv4 addresses.

Restrictions apply for entities who have conducted recent resource 
transfers. These restrictions are specified in Section 8 for each 
relevant transfer category.

Add the following under 8.2. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Reorganizations:

After completion of an 8.2 transfer an organization may only apply for 
IPv4 address resources under Section 4.1.8. ARIN Waitlist if they have 
transferred IPv4 address resources under section 8.2 and the recipient 
organization is and remains a subsidiary, parent company, or an 
organization under common ownership of the same parent company as the 
organization that the IPv4 resources were transferred from. This 
restriction will last for 36 months and is applied to the organization 
that the IPv4 resources were transferred from and not the recipient.

Add the following under 8.3. Transfers Between Specified Recipients 
Within the ARIN Region and under the Conditions on the source of the 
transfer:

The source entity will not be allowed to apply for IPv4 address space 
under Section 4.1.8. ARIN Waitlist for a period of 36 months following 
the transfer of IPv4 address resources to another party.

Under conditions on the recipient:

If applicable the recipient will be removed from the ARIN Waitlist and 
will not be allowed to reapply under section 4.1.8. ARIN Waitlist for a 
period of 3 months.

Add the following under 8.4. Transfers Between Specified Recipients 
Within the ARIN Region and under the Conditions on the source of the 
transfer:

The source entity will not be allowed to apply for IPv4 address space 
under Section 4.1.8. ARIN Waitlist for a period of 36 months following 
the transfer of IPv4 address resources to another party.

Under conditions on the recipient:

If applicable the recipient will be removed from the ARIN Waitlist and 
will not be allowed to reapply under section 4.1.8. ARIN Waitlist for a 
period of 3 months.

Comments:

This proposal incorporates two related policy goals, combined for 
convenience in one proposal as both can addressed via modification of 
the same section and sentence of the NRPM. During ARIN 43 it was 
proposed to the community that the two policy statements were severable, 
however, there was sufficient community support behind keeping both.

There have been updates to section 4 since the beginning of the work on 
this policy. Text has been updated to reflect current NRPM.

There was significant community support to change the word “repeated” as 
it was vague. Additionally, there was concerned that a company may 
perform an M&A transfer to itself/parent company and the original 
proposed language would exclude those companies from being able to apply 
to the waitlist. After the addition of the new merger and acquisition 
language, staff and legal recommended that the restrictions for applying 
to the waitlist for participants of the transfer market be added to the 
appropriate section in the Section 8 of the NRPM. Organizations should 
be informed of how their activities in the transfer market will impact 
them in reference to applying to the waitlist. These changes were to 
make it easier for staff and the community to understand these requirements.