What triggered ARIN ?

[John Curran]

Jim - Excessive crossposting.  Please refer folks to one list
to carry on a discussion, rather than running one discussion
across three lists simultaneously.  I've replied to the naipr 
list for sake of simplicity.

>At 9:52 3/3/97, Jim Fleming wrote:
>
>Can the people promoting ARIN including the ISP/C clarify
>some of the following questions ?
>
>1. What triggered the sudden need for ARIN ?

    I believe ARIN is the result of planning for graceful
    transition of IP registration services from the InterNIC
    prior to the expiration of the current agreeement.  One
    might be able to claim that it is still early to start 
    on this activity, but it is far better to be too early
    than too late.  

    It's also important to note that the current costs of 
    IP registration services are being offset by the fees
    for DNS registration activities due to the combined 
    nature of the current operation (if I understand the 
    situation correctly) and that this situation may change
    dramatically with the emergence of new TLD registries.

>2. Has internal funding been removed or not ?

    See above.   I don't believe that any of the Int. Inf.
    Fund is being distributed, either to IP registry services
    or any other purpose, since there is a requirement to 
    establish a fairly independent process for disbursement.

>3. Is ARIN going to be funded from the Intellectual Intrastructure Fund ?

    In order to receive funding, there needs to be a process
    for applying for such funds.  To my knowledge that process
    does not exist today, but that doesn't mean it won't be 
    in place sometime soon.  
 
    Once there is a way to get at this fund, the next question
    is whether it would be an appropriate use of such monies. 
    In my personal opinion (and it's quite likely that other
    ARIN trustees feel differently), I would prefer to see 
    IP allocation services provided on a cost-recovery basis
    without any subsidy.  This is similiar in nature to the 
    other regional IP registries and avoids creating a strange
    motivation for folks in other regions to use ARIN...

    Having said that I'm generally against using such funds 
    for ARIN, I will contradict myself to some extent by 
    suggesting that it might be perfectly reasonable for 
    ARIN to seek some funding to operate during its initial
    phase (when members are few and startup costs are high).

Hope this helps,
/John