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

[John Santos]

On 10/2/2023 5:42 PM, John Curran wrote:
> 
>> On Oct 2, 2023, at 5:18 PM, Delong.com <owen at delong.com> wrote:
>>
>> Agree to disagree…
>>
>> “Direct Registration” makes it clear (IMHO) that all that ARIN provides is a registration. The idea that an address block exists, let alone exists separate from the registration of same is the source of a great deal of misunderstanding and confusion in a great many places.
>>
>> A proper definition of “Direct Registration” in NRPM could, IMHO, go a long way towards resolving some of that confusion.
>>
>> “Issuance” in addition to being awkward as a noun carries the same baggage and implications that ARIN is somehow doing something other than registering the association of a particular block to a particular entity. While this has been a common and convenient thought process, it has also led to the perpetuation of the misunderstanding that addresses (and/or groups or blocks of addresses) are things which are created, put into some form of free pool, and then issued/allocated from that pool, rather than simply an association (registration) of integers within a particular registry for a particular purpose among those who choose to cooperate and interoperate with that registry.
>>
>> “Allocation” in addition to having remaining baggage from previous utilization (not the least of which is the implication that someone holding an “allocation” is expected to be some form of ISP or at least some form of “service provider” or “LIR” that issues addresses to “customers” in many people’s minds) is also problematic for the same reasons I just outlined for “Issuance”. While it is true that current practice at ARIN has made it POSSIBLE for all “assignments” to now be treated that way, it has not moved all end users into actually being service providers who choose to exercise this new found capability.
>>
>> Indeed, what ARIN does comes most proximate in the real world to various “registration” functions performed by government entities… e.g. your “vehicle registration” amounts to an association between a given VIN and a given entity via a 3rd key (“License Plate Number”). Registering a property deed is the registration of an association between a particular piece of real estate (assessors parcel number) and an entity (“owner”), etc.
> 
> Alas, your proposed analogy fails when there is no vehicle, but only the registry entry itself – i.e. Internet number resources are unique identifiers within the Internet Numbers Registry System, and this includes ranges (or “blocks”) of contiguous Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (“ASNs”)…
> 

I disagree.  The registry entry itself is *NOT* just the address range (block) 
or ASN.  It is a tuple consisting of a resource (the block of IP4 or IP6 
addresses or an ASN) *AND* a holder of that resource.

The function of a registry is to maintain that list of tuples, insure uniqueness 
(including overlaps and subsets) of the resources (there can only be one holder 
for a particular block or ASN, although a holder can be associated with multiple 
resources), and define requirements for holders to register blocks or ASNs.

I think it is losing sight of the fact that the registry is a list of tuples, 
not just a list of integers, that causes a lot of confusion.

Viewed this way, an RIR is much more analogous to a Registry of Motor Vehicles 
(that's what the government agency is called in Massachusetts), a Registry of 
Deeds.  Neither the RMV nor the Registry of Deeds creates cars nor land, just 
like ARIN does not create integers.  These organizations *register* those 
things.  I don't think the fact that cars and land are concrete, but integers 
are abstract, matters at all.


Calling a generic resource allocation (whether a traditional ISP allocation or 
end user assignment) an "allocation" can confuse people because of the standard 
usage of the those terms, which another term like "assignment" avoids.  "Direct 
assignment" merely means an assignment directly from ARIN (or another RIR) in 
contrast to an "indirect assignment", via a chain of one or more LIRs or ISPs.


> It is the association of specific registry entry itself with one party that provides uniqueness and a set of rights on management of that entry, and there’s zero evidence of anything “to register” independent of that entry in the registry.    For this reason, referring to an address block as a “direct registration” is inappropriate - the address block is the registry entry, and parties that hold address blocks have specific rights to the entry as spelled out in the Registration Services Agreement.
> 
>> As such, the more I think about the problem, the more I think that “registration” is the best choice among those presented so far. If someone can come up with a better term that has even less baggage (because I agree, “registration” is not baggage free), then I will gladly support that. IMHO, Neither “Allocation” nor “Issuance” fit the bill.
> 
> Direct Allocation and Direct Assignment are the present terms of art.  Both reflect accurately what has occurred over time, and they can be retained if desired by the community.
> 
> The question is whether maintaining “Direct Assignment” as a distinction for some of entries is meaningful – it presently is not from a policy or operations perspective, so it is a very reasonable question for the community to consider.
> 
> Thanks!
> /John
> 
> John Curran
> President and CEO
> American Registry for Internet Numbers
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
John Santos
Evans Griffiths & Hart, Inc.
781-861-0670 ext 539