[arin-ppml] Revised - Draft Policy ARIN-2022-12: Direct Assignment Language Update

Mon Oct 2 16:45:20 EDT 2023

Owen -

We’ve got a range of possible terms, and each is imperfect in one or more aspects –

“Direct Registration” actually has different interpretations, including the concept that an address block is distinct from the registration of same.  For this reason alone, it’s likely less than ideal.

“Direct Issuance" would appropriately cover both assignments and allocations, but is awkward to use as a noun.

“Direct Allocation” is both well understood and encompasses how these address blocks are handled at the present time (and more accurate in many cases as a result of the evolution of the industry towards cloud and hosted service providers.)

Anyone looking at how these blocks are handled today will not be confused by the term of art since it is being used in its classic meaning – and if indeed changing Direct Assignment to Direct Allocation results in any degree of confusion, then the same confusion (or more) would quite likely result from changing both to new terminology altogether.

Thanks,
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers

On Oct 2, 2023, at 12:58 PM, Owen DeLong via ARIN-PPML <arin-ppml at arin.net> wrote:

John,

At least in my case, this was previously well understood. I appreciate your clarification, but I stand by my suggestion that a new term should be applied. I think “direct registration” is probably the best choice of language. Issuance implies that ARIN had possession of a thing and provided that thing to the registrant. In reality, nobody possesses or owns integers, but ARIN registers particular integers to particular organizations with the intent that said registrations remain unique within the given registry (system) for a particular purpose.

Owen

On Oct 2, 2023, at 09:30, John Sweeting <jsweeting at arin.net> wrote:

Hello all,

ARIN staff would like to provide the following clarification on this change.

The changes being requested in the NRPM through this policy (2022-12) are simply to ensure the NRPM stays synched with the current operational practices of ARIN. Due to the fee harmonization completed in 2022 ARIN no longer does Direct Assignments, ARIN only does Direct Allocations. Direct Allocations have all the same properties that they have always had. The difference in services being that both ISPs and End Users can now make reassignments and reallocations. Hope that helps.

John S.

On 10/2/23, 12:22 PM, "ARIN-PPML on behalf of Owen DeLong via ARIN-PPML" <arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net <mailto:arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net> on behalf of arin-ppml at arin.net <mailto:arin-ppml at arin.net>> wrote:

On Oct 2, 2023, at 07:21, Pellak, Kaitlyn via ARIN-PPML <arin-ppml at arin.net <mailto:arin-ppml at arin.net>> wrote:

Hi all,

The rationale used was that it was more straightforward to revise the
definition across the NRPM rather than replace each relevant
instance of “allocation” and “assignment” with another term
(allocation appears 245 times, and assignment appears 101 times.)

I'm sure this has already been addressed but could we not simply "find and replace" allocation and assignment with the new terms in the NRPM?

If not, perhaps we should consider a way to make those and similar updates given the ever-changing nature of internet terminology.

Expressing that to the community gets a bit more complicated than the act of doing so.

However, I feel that the effort is warranted for the reasons previously stated.

Owen

Best,
Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn Pellak
Amazon – Technical Business Developer II
kaitjean at amazon.com <mailto:kaitjean at amazon.com> <mailto:kaitjean at amazon.com <mailto:kaitjean at amazon.com>>
301.921.5566

On 10/1/23, 7:10 AM, "ARIN-PPML on behalf of William Herrin" <arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net <mailto:arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net> <mailto:arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net <mailto:arin-ppml-bounces at arin.net>> on behalf of bill at herrin.us <mailto:bill at herrin.us> <mailto:bill at herrin.us <mailto:bill at herrin.us>>> wrote:

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you can confirm the sender and know the content is safe.

On Sat, Sep 30, 2023 at 6:39 PM Douglas Camin <doug at dougcamin.com <mailto:doug at dougcamin.com> <mailto:doug at dougcamin.com <mailto:doug at dougcamin.com>>> wrote:
Reading the terms Allocation and Assignment, I see the primary
distinction between them as one is “for you” and one is “for you to give to others.”

Hi Douglas,

To the extent that there was a "primary" distinction, it's that one
was for organizations acting like an ISP and one was for organizations
acting like end-users. The associated nuance was extensive: everything
from how you justified addresses to your public reporting
responsibilities to not only how much you paid but the very framework
for determining how much you paid. That's what made them "terms of
art." https://www.justia.com/dictionary/term-of-art/ <https://www.justia.com/dictionary/term-of-art/> <https://www.justia.com/dictionary/term-of-art/> <https://www.justia.com/dictionary/term-of-art/>>

Someone who looks up those terms in connection with ARIN is going to
find all the myriad explanations for how they worked. And be very
confused since things will no longer work that way.

The better plan is to pick a new term entirely. Leave assignment and
allocation in the definitions so that you can note that they're
obsolete and no longer used. Doesn't really matter what new words you
choose: they'll become the new term of art attached to the new
operating model.

The rationale used was that it was more straightforward to revise the
definition across the NRPM rather than replace each relevant
instance of “allocation” and “assignment” with another term
(allocation appears 245 times, and assignment appears 101 times.)

Understood but respectfully: I think that would be a mistake for the
reason described above.

Regards,
Bill Herrin

--
William Herrin
bill at herrin.us <mailto:bill at herrin.us> <mailto:bill at herrin.us <mailto:bill at herrin.us>>
https://bill.herrin.us/ <https://bill.herrin.us/> <https://bill.herrin.us/> <https://bill.herrin.us/>>
_______________________________________________
ARIN-PPML
You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to
the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (ARIN-PPML at arin.net <mailto:ARIN-PPML at arin.net> <mailto:ARIN-PPML at arin.net <mailto:ARIN-PPML at arin.net>>).
Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:
https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml <https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml> <https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml> <https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml>>
Please contact info at arin.net <mailto:info at arin.net> <mailto:info at arin.net <mailto:info at arin.net>> if you experience any issues.

_______________________________________________
ARIN-PPML
You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to
the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (ARIN-PPML at arin.net <mailto:ARIN-PPML at arin.net>).
Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:
https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml <https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml>
Please contact info at arin.net <mailto:info at arin.net> if you experience any issues.

_______________________________________________
ARIN-PPML
You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to
the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (ARIN-PPML at arin.net).
Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:
https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml
Please contact info at arin.net if you experience any issues.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.arin.net/pipermail/arin-ppml/attachments/20231002/1127bc88/attachment.htm>