<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br><div><div>On Feb 25, 2011, at 2:36 AM, Bill Woodcock wrote:</div><blockquote type="cite"><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><br></font>On Feb 25, 2011, at 12:31 AM, Benson Schliesser wrote:<br><blockquote type="cite">Where does such authority come from?<br></blockquote><br>- From the same government that allocated the addresses to the legacy holder in the first place.<br><br>You can't have it both ways. <br></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>That seems fair - I agree.</div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>Either:<br><br>1) The USG had the authority to allocate addresses to legacy holders, and still has the authority to delegate management of those address to ICANN -> NRO -> ARIN, or<br><br>2) The USG has no authority in the matter, and thus legacy holders have no claim in the first place.<br></div></blockquote><br></div><div>Option #1 above is perfectly reasonable. There is a DoC contract with ICANN for the IANA function. In the Joint Project Agreement related to that IANA contract, the DoC instructs ICANN to maintain legal agreements with the RIRs. A review of the NRO history reveals only a non-binding letter of affirmation with the NRO, but let's just assume that is adequate. In the affirmation letter, ICANN delegates responsibility for allocating addresses and "facilitating" development of policies. I do not see the delegation of other powers such as "reclamation" authority etc. Maybe I'm missing something?</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers,</div><div>-Benson</div><div><br></div></body></html>