Request for CLEW Input

[Howard C. Berkowitz]

>On Wed, 28 Feb 2001, Howard C. Berkowitz wrote:
>
>>  Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 09:39:35 -0500
>>  From: Howard C. Berkowitz <hcb at clark.net>
>>  To: richardj at arin.net
>>  Cc: clew at arin.net
>>  Subject: RE: Request for CLEW Input
>>
>>  >Hello Howard,
>  > >
>  > >ARIN has no control over the tactics that may be used by the sales
>>  >forces of some ISPs, but we do ensure requests submitted to ARIN for
>>  >IP address space are all reviewed in an equal manner.  If an ISP has
>>  >deployed a sales tactic like this it should show up during their
>>  >review for additional IP address space from ARIN.
>
>If the ISP in question applies for additional space from ARIN.  I keep
>hearing that a couple have old class A's they haven't used up.

True, and there are still class A's out there tied up in enterprises 
that don't expose a fraction of them to the outside.

>
>>  in the future; handle it." I've run across enterprises that have a
>>  mentality of "if you have space in your allocation, give it to us NOW
>>  if you want our business."  And we have sales people that will do
>>  just that, because the next review period is later than the next
>>  computation of their sales commissions.
>
>If sales included an allocation clause in the contract, I would refer
>it to my legal department.  We would have mutually exclusive contracts,
>one with ARIN, and one with the customer.  Since the contract with ARIN
>is critical to continuing to do business, that one wins, in my humble
>and not legally-trained opinion.  I would think it's cheaper to settle
>for breach of contract on one customer than jeopardize all future
>business.

Some of the problem certainly comes from not having allocation 
clauses in any contract, but simply getting verbal sales approval and 
having sales in a position to give orders to operations. I agree 
completely with your analysis, but my impression is that there are 
people out there who aren't acting as formally.

Some of the points you raise, incidentally, would be excellent 
educational guidance to ISPs and customers if put into an ARIN 
document.

>
>>  The problem isn't with the ARIN staff.  Indeed, there is, I believe a
>>  fair bit of unjustified hostility toward ARIN, when direct allocation
>>  requests (or additional allocation requests) are denied due to
>>  inadequate justification.
>
>We get customers applying to us for large blocks of address space that
>ARIN has already denied.  My experience is that we reinforce each other
>when we say, "We'll be happy to work with you on this application, but
>we require approval from ARIN before actually allocating space."  Our
>consistency with ARIN legitimizes both us and ARIN.

Again, that's the way it should be.

>
>If someone refuses to do business with us because we won't break the
>rules for them, that's business I don't want anyway.
>
>Lee

I wish people said that more often.  Unfortunately, there are a lot 
of quick-buck people in the industry, and customers with a whim of 
iron.