ARIN-prop-133: No Volunteer Services on Behalf of Unaffiliated Address Blocks - revised

[ARIN]

The proposal originator submitted revised text.

"Changes from Previous Version:
Version 2 of this proposal removed section 13.2 so that it could be
considered separately, in a new policy proposal submission.  As a
result, the remaining sections were renumbered to use an abstract system
of "13.x" and "13.y", with the intent that actual sub-section numbers
would be assigned later in the policy development process."

Regards,

Communications and Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


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ARIN-prop-133: Volunteer Services on Behalf of Unaffiliated Address Blocks

Proposal Originator: Benson Schliesser

Proposal Version: 2

Date: 15 Feb 2011

Proposal type:  New

Policy term:  Permanent

Policy statement:

Add the following to the NRPM:

13.  Unaffiliated Address Blocks

13.x. No Volunteer Services

Except in the specific circumstances described by this policy, ARIN will
not provide any services for any organization and/or address block.
This includes without limitation all directory services,  reverse
mapping services, and future services that may be provided to the community.

13.x.1.  Requested Services

In the event that an organization explicitly requests registry services
from ARIN for one or more specified address blocks, ARIN may provide the
requested services, subsequent to execution of a  service contract, for
those address blocks.  This includes without limitation all directory
services, reverse mapping services, and future services that may be
provided to the community.

All address blocks that are assigned or allocated by ARIN under a valid
RSA, as well as specific  address blocks that are included under a
Legacy RSA with the legitimate validated address  holder, are deemed to
have services requested for them.

An organization requesting registry services for one or more specified
address blocks, that also holds additional address blocks not specified
in their request, is not obligated to receive registry services for
those additional address blocks and those blocks are not deemed to have
services requested for them.

13.x.2. Directory Placeholders

For any address blocks, for which there are not fully executed ARIN
service contracts, ARIN will create generic placeholder entries in the
ARIN Whois directory.  These placeholder entries will not specify
organizational details, but will indicate that the entry represents a
non-member resource.

When applicable, each non-member resource placeholder will include a
reference and/or RWhois referral to the authoritative directory service
for that block, or the directory service operated by the IANA, or by
another organization in the event that IANA has delegated their
directory service responsibility to that organization.  This does not
apply to placeholders that represent an unassigned and unallocated
address block delegated to ARIN by the IANA.

13.y.  Permitted Updates to Directory Services for Unaffiliated Address
Blocks

Any organization that legitimately holds an address block, as defined by
section 13.2 of this policy, may request the removal or modification of
existing directory placeholders representing that address block.

Valid requests for modification of placeholder entries are limited to
references and/or RWhois referrals to authoritative directory services,
such as directory services operated by or on behalf of the IANA, another
address registry, or the address holder.  In the event that such a
request is received, ARIN may choose to either remove the placeholder
entry or update it per the request.


Rationale:

Policy Background:

This policy attempts to clarify the relationship that ARIN has with
legacy address holders.

Specifically, this policy recognizes that absent an agreement such as
the RSA or LRSA there is no formal relationship with legacy address
holders.  At present, however, ARIN continues to provide services to
these organizations.  This is done without compensation and potentially
in opposition to the legacy address holders' wishes.  As a result of
this behavior ARIN has created an illusion of implied authority that
exposes ARIN to unacceptable levels of liability, is hindering the
development of an open address market (driving it "underground"), and is
putting the operational stability of the Internet at risk.  As new
services such as RPKI are contemplated this situation becomes even more
critical.

This policy would require positive affirmation from any legacy address
holder that wishes to receive registry services, moving to an "opt-in"
approach.  In the event that a legacy address holder does not opt-in to
receive registry services, ARIN is limited to providing no more than a
pointer (such as a RWhois referral) to an authoritative directory
service for that holder's legacy address blocks.  Pointers to other
providers of directory services for addresses managed by those
other providers continue to be permitted.

Policy Structure:

This policy introduces a new section to the NRPM, numbered section 13.
Within this new section, there are two new sub-sections described in
this proposal.

Sub-section 13.x introduces policy that limits ARIN to providing
services on an opt-in basis.  It does make clear in 13.x.1 that services
provided as part of a RSA or LRSA are automatically considered opted-in.
With 13.x.2 it allows ARIN to create placeholders in the Whois database
for blocks managed by other RIRs as well as for blocks managed (but
unassigned/unallocated) by ARIN.

Sub-section 13.y introduces policy enabling legitimate address holders
to request a very limited update to any Whois placeholders that might
exist for their legacy address block, so that the Whois will refer
queries to the authoritative directory service.  It is expected that
ARIN will charge a fee for this update, but not require an ongoing
services agreement.  ARIN is given the option of deleting placeholders
instead.

Changes from Previous Version:

Version 2 of this proposal removed section 13.2 so that it could be
considered separately, in a new policy proposal submission.  As a
result, the remaining sections were renumbered to use an abstract system
of "13.x" and "13.y", with the intent that actual sub-section numbers
would be assigned later in the policy development process.

Discussion:

This proposal should not be interpreted as a "punishment" of legacy
address holders or as an attempt to encourage execution of the LRSA.
Rather, the intent of this proposal is to make it clear that ARIN will
only provide services for organizations that wish to receive them.  Put
another way: this proposal would prohibit ARIN from forcing any
organization to be listed in the ARIN Whois database without their consent.

While it is not anticipated by this proposal's text, alternative forms
of "request" are not prohibited by this policy proposal.  Indeed, while
the RSA and LRSA are recognized as current forms of request for
services, the ARIN community may choose to develop additional mechanisms.

Prior to implementing this policy, ARIN should attempt to contact the
address holders that would have services removed as a result of this
policy.  Specifically, ARIN should make them aware of the loss of
services, explain the potential impact of losing reverse mapping DNS
services, etc. If an affected address holder cannot be reached by ARIN,
or refuses to communicate with ARIN on this topic, then ARIN may
consider their contact attempt to be satisfied.

Timetable for implementation:  Immediately