Funny Money: 1+1=$50M??

[David R. Conrad]

[ONCE AGAIN, removed NSF folk from cc's.  WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO ANNOYING?] 

>Maybe the U.S. Government and the NSF/InterNIC you should hold
>an auction for ONE /8 and see how much it raises.

Great idea!  But since I figure I have as much right to auction
integers as anyone else, I hereby put some numbers (oh say, the range
denoted by 223/8) up for auction.  What do I hear?  Heck, I'll even
throw in a signed certificate for the proud buyer (just like Jim
claims he did for the integers he sold at $50 a pop (or something like
that)).  

Hmmm.  You don't suppose Jim could have ulterior motives here? 

>You apparently think it will bring $5 million.
>I claim that $50 million is more likely.

You know this.  From reports of transactions on the black market, the
prices for a /8 would appear to range somewhere between $4,096,000 and
$16,384,000 (assuming linear extrapolation from purported sales of
/16s).

>Are the costs of renumbering taken into account when
>	valuing IP blocks ?

You know this.  Presumably those organizations which have purchased
addresses on the black market did so.

>	Who is going to be responsible for those costs ?

You know this.  Presumably those people who incur them.

>	Will ARIN be addressing those costs ?

You know this.  No.  ARIN provides allocation services to those paying
its fees.

>What do corporations value their /8s at on their books ?

I suspect you'd need to ask those corporations.

>	Why do large companies get to avoid renumbering costs ?

You know this.  They may or may not avoid renumbering costs -- it
depends on the provider they use.

>	What advantage does that give large companies over small
>	companies and what is the value of those advantages ?

Presumably, you are also upset when you can't get a loan from a bank
at the same rate as multi-billion dollar companies. 

>	Will ARIN be addressing these issues ?

You know this.  No.

>Why are small ISPs forced to be tied to upstream providers ?

You know this.  It is called hierarchical addressing.

>	Who is going to be responsible for those policies ?

You know this.  Internet service providers.

>	What happens when small ISPs are put out of business
>		by large upstream providers who raise rates after
>		binding the ISP to their service by locking them
>		out of the IP allocation opportunities?

You know this.  If the small ISPs "are put out of business" then
presumably the employees will look for new jobs.  However, there is no
evidence that ARIN will result in small ISPs will be "locked out of IP
allocation opportunities" any more than they are now.

>	Will ARIN be addressing these issues ?

You know this.  No.

>To summarize:
>	1. Renumbering costs are significant to ISPs and
>		should be considered when valuing IP adddresses.

Obvious.

>	2. Large, legacy corporation advantages over small ISPs are
>		real and need to be addressed by the government.

By the government?  I don't think you want the Japanese government to
get involved in this, they're not very popular according to recent
poles.  Oh, did you mean some other government?  Canada perhaps?
Mexico?

>	3. Upstream provider allocations to ISPs are a severe
>		handicap and need to be reduced via PI allocations.

Just curious (not that I expect an answer): how do you propose to
route all those PI allocations?

Regards,
-drc