Policy Proposal 2007-24 - Staff Assessment

[Member Services]

Policy Proposal 2007-24
IPv6 Assignment Guidelines

ARIN Staff Assessment

The assessment of this proposal includes comments from ARIN staff and
the ARIN General Counsel. It contains analysis of procedural, legal, and
resource concerns regarding the implementation of this policy proposal
as it is currently stated. Any changes to the language of the proposal
may necessitate further analysis by staff and Counsel.

I. Proposal

Policy Proposal is available as Annex A below and at:
http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_24.html

II. Understanding of the proposal

ARIN staff understands that this proposal would replace 6.5.4.1. Instead
of the assignment size being a decision of the LIR or ISP, the actual
prefix to be assigned would be based on a subnet count.

III. Comments

   A. ARIN Staff

     1. Currently, there have been 54 IPv6 reassignments/reallocations
larger than /48 made by ISPs to their customers.  If staff is expected
to review each and every one larger than /48, this could significantly
increase workload and turnaround times.

     2. If staff is expected to review all reassignments larger than
/48, should this be done at the time the reassignment is made or at the
time the organization is requesting additional IPv6 space from ARIN?


   B. ARIN General Counsel
Counsel does not believe this policy creates any legal issues.

Resource Impact – Moderate

The resource impact of implementing this policy is viewed as moderate.
Barring any unforeseen resource requirements, this policy could be
implemented within 3 – 6 months from the date of the ratification of the
policy by the ARIN Board of Trustees.  It will require the following:

-  Updates to Guidelines will be required
-  Staff training will be required
-  Template changes will be required (text fields only, no software impact)
-  Sustaining this activity could require the need for additional staff
and associated costs.


Respectfully submitted,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


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Annex A

Policy Proposal 2007-24
IPv6 Assignment Guidelines

Author: Leo Bicknell and Ed Lewis

Proposal type: new

Policy term: permanent

Policy statement:

Delete the text in 6.5.4.2 and Replace the text in section 6.5.4.1 with
the following text:

Assignments by LIRs /48 or smaller will not be reviewed by ARIN.
Assignments greater than /48 will be reviewed to see if the additional
space is warranted according to the 0.94 HD ratio policy. If the space
is not warranted, ARIN will consider the excess space to be available
for a different assignment, lowering the overall utilization score of
the LIR.

Rationale:

The existing section 6.5.4.1 does not provide clear guidance on how ARIN
should treat prefixes allocated to a site should an ISP come back for
additional space in the future. This makes it difficult for LIR's to
know if they are allocating in accordance with the rules under which
they will be judged in the future. The existing section also provides no
guidence on what the LIR or ARIN should do in the case a larger prefix
is necessary.

Timetable for implementation: immediate