Draft Policy 2011-6: Returned IPv4 Addresses

[ARIN]

Draft Policy ARIN-2011-6
Returned IPv4 Addresses

On 17 February 2011 the ARIN Advisory Council (AC) selected "Returned
IPv4 Addresses" as a  draft policy for adoption discussion on the PPML
and at the Public Policy Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico in April.

The draft was developed by the AC from policy proposal "ARIN-prop-131.
Section 5.0 Legacy Addresses". Per the Policy Development Process the AC
submitted text to ARIN for a staff and legal assessment prior to its
selection as a draft policy. Below the draft policy is the ARIN staff
and legal assessment, followed by the text that was submitted by the AC.
Note that the AC revised the draft policy text after they received the
assessment from staff.

Draft Policy ARIN-2011-6 is below and can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2011_6.html

You are encouraged to discuss Draft Policy 2011-6 on the PPML prior to
the April Public Policy Meeting. Both the discussion on the list and
at the meeting will be used by the ARIN Advisory Council to determine
the community consensus for adopting this as policy.

The ARIN Policy Development Process can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/pdp.html

Draft Policies and Proposals under discussion can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/index.html

Regards,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


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Draft Policy ARIN-2011-6
Returned IPv4 Addresses

Date: 17 February 2011

Policy statement:

4.1.9 Returned IPv4 Addresses

All IPv4 addresses returned to, recovered, or revoked by ARIN will be
made available for registration and distribution in the ARIN region
within 30 days.

Rationale:

Adopting this proposal will result in the clarification of the status of
returned IPv4 addresses. IPv4 address resources should not sit idle due
to lack of policy clarity.

Timetable for implementation: Immediately


#####


STAFF ASSESSMENT

Proposal:  "Section 5.0 Legacy Addresses" (pp 131)
Policy Version (Date): 16 Feb 2011
Date of Assessment: 15 Feb 2011

1.  Proposal Summary (Staff Understanding):

This policy proposal would require all legacy IPv4 address space
returned to ARIN to be added to the available inventory for redistribution.

2.  Comments

   A.  Staff Comments:

     1.  The wording of the proposal seems to indicate that any legacy
space, including a /8, that gets returned to ARIN gets added into ARIN’s
inventory and made available for redistribution within 30 days.  In all
other instances where a legacy /8 has been returned to ARIN,  ARIN has
returned that space to IANA.  This proposal would change that standard
practice.

     2.  This policy would conflict with existing ARIN-2009-3 (Global
Proposal): Allocation of IPv4 Blocks to Regional Internet Registries,
which was adopted by the ARIN Board in January 2010, and    allows for
designation of legacy space to be returned to IANA.  This policy
proposal should specifically indicate whether legacy space should not be
designated for return to IANA if that is its intent.

3.  This policy would be become section 4.1.9 in the NRPM if adopted.
This may require the title of the policy to be modified.

   B.  Legal Comments

     Pending

3. Resource Impact

This policy would have minimal resource impact from an implementation
aspect.  It is estimated that implementation would occur within 3 months
after ratification by the ARIN Board of Trustees.

The following would be needed in order to implement:

   • Updated guidelines
   • Staff training

4.  Proposal Text:

Section 5.0 Legacy Addresses
5.1 Returned Legacy Addresses

Legacy IPv4 addresses returned to or recovered by ARIN will be made
available for registration and distribution in the ARIN region.

Rationale:

Adopting this proposal will result in the clarification of the status
of returned legacy addresses. IPv4 address resources should not sit
idle due to lack of policy clarity.