[arin-ppml] Legacy number resources in the ARIN region (was: Re: Inter-RIR transfer Policy reciprocity with Afrinic_Resource Transfer Policy proposal)

[John Curran]

On 12 Oct 2020, at 3:55 PM, William Herrin <bill at herrin.us<mailto:bill at herrin.us>> wrote:

That having been said, you should be aware that there's some political
spin going on here. Let me offer an outside perspective.

<chuckle>  No political spin, but rather simply stating how we handle legacy resources at ARIN.  It is true that I omitted legacy resources that aren’t under contract, but welcome your additional perspective.

(Note - I omitted mentioning legacy resources not under contract because they effectively must comply with ARIN’s policies and terms to transfer, and hence their status independent of a transfer wasn’t necessarily germane...)

ARIN's treatment of legacy resources boils down to: hands off. No
money changes hands. ARIN does not attempt to forcibly reclaim legacy
resources. ARIN acknowledges changes in contact information and DNS
records. That's about it. The behavior has not been contractually
normalized but it has been consistent for near a quarter century.

While I would state the above differently, it is essential correct.

For transfers, the rule is that ARIN registrants _receive_ number
resources under the standard RSA contract which applies the policies
in the NRPM. Neither document makes much distinction between legacy
and non-legacy resources and together they provide no mechanism by
which the new registrant can have an address block treated in the same
manner ARIN treats legacy number resources.

Also correct (and most appropriate, since it is something that we’ve provided since inception to those who held number resources _at that time_.)

Where a recipient has sufficient legal standing to make trouble for
ARIN, the rule is broken. For example, government entities in the U.S.
are allowed to negotiate custom contracts with ARIN removing terms
they find objectionable.

Incorrect - While there are some terms that we will change for governmental entities (e.g. jurisdiction/venue), it is restricted to those necessary due to law or statute -

"ARIN accommodates the unique circumstance of federal, state, or provincial government entities, and has a practice of modifying RSAs for such requirements. In order for any such modifications to be considered, governmental entities must provide statutory or regulatory references to explain and demonstrate the necessity for a modification in order to meet legal requirements and allow the governmental entity to execute the RSA."

Another example: in the Microsoft/Nortel
matter ARIN negotiated an alternate contract with Microsoft rather
than allow the bankruptcy court to proceed to rule on whether ARIN
could be compelled to transfer a legacy registration without one.

The above is also incorrect - ARIN had no concern about a ruling, but such was unnecessary since the parties agreed to condition the sale on compliance with ARIN’s policies and Microsoft’s entry into an RSA with ARIN.

Thanks,
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers






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