[arin-ppml] On the history of early number registrations, ARIN, and ARIN's role in the administration of the Internet number registry

[Fernando Frediani]

Hi

Thanks for the history and better clarification. However it is not still 
clear to me if ARIN can, at some point and under which conditions 
recover these legacy blocks which look abandoned and have zero signal of 
being used or have some organization looking after it, and send to be 
re-assigned to the waiting list.

I agree with some of the messages that is not reasonable to think that 
after all this time some organizations may be unaware of what is 
happening that justifies to keep having special treatment. 25 years is 
quiet a while ! Legacy Resources has always been an issue in different 
aspects and there should have been more stuff done to avoid certain 
controversies where possible overtime. I personally don't have a problem 
with them keeping the resources as long they have justification of need 
and not just based on "acquired rights".

If I understand it correctly it is possible to advance further in this 
specific matter without a need for the community to produce and agree in 
a new policy, so what prevents this from happening ? Are there any major 
legal risks or is it just extra patience with those who don't seem to 
want to cooperate in a well established system for the past decades ?

Regards
Fernando

On 14/04/2022 11:50, John Curran wrote:
> Folks -
>
> I have some good news and some bad news…  The good news is that the 
> history of the Internet number registry system is actually fairly 
> well-known – for instance, we know the parties that were involved and 
> have many examples of the emails that were sent when number resources 
> were issued – whether it was done by SRI, GSI, NSI as InterNIC, NSI 
> directly, etc.  (This shouldn’t be unexpected, since NSI transferred 
> the personnel, systems, and records from IP number registry to ARIN at 
> the time of our formation.)
>
> The bad news is that such communications were written to be 
> expeditious in the administration of the registry, as opposed to being 
> written with legal clarity.  As a simple example of that fact, 
> consider that the term "IP address block” – the "thing" being issued – 
> was actually not defined in any of these communications.   As a result 
> of the nature of these early communications, there’s enough ambiguity 
> to support differences in opinion over the nature of the legacy 
> address assignments in the registry.
>
> However, there are a few points in the history of the registry that 
> are quite clear, and these include:
>
>  1. ARIN was formed for the purpose of administration of the registry
>     in North America and took over that responsibility at the time of
>     our formation – including the transfer of the registry database to
>     ARIN at USG direction.
>  2. ARIN’s administration of the registry is be performed in
>     accordance with our community-developed policies – and we are
>     aware of no obligations that prevent ARIN from doing so for all
>     number resources in the registry, including legacy resources.
>  3. Those with legacy number resources are encouraged to participate
>     in the open policy process so as to have a voice in the policies
>     by which they are managed – such participation doesn’t require any
>     agreement with ARIN and is actually a significant part of why ARIN
>     was formed - “Creation of ARIN will give the users of IP numbers
>     (mostly Internet service providers, corporations and other large
>     institutions) a voice in the policies by which they are managed
>     and allocated within the North American region.”
>      <https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=102819>
>
>
> This is why organizations with legacy number resources are encouraged 
> to participate in ARIN’s policy development process – ARIN was 
> specifically formed so that they would have a voice in the policies 
> used in the management of those number resources, and hence why ARIN 
> routinely reiterates that legacy number resources are indeed subject 
> to ARIN's registry policies.  (The community can certainly make 
> policies that exclude legacy number resources or affect them in a 
> different manner, but again, that is for the community to decide…)
> Thanks!
> /John
>
> John Curran
> President and CEO
> American Registry for Internet Numbers
>
>
>
>
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