Some questions regarding this proposal.

1. What is the involvement of the "another RIR" in this process with regard to IP address space issued by this RIR. a. Must or should this "another RIR" region have a policy in place to allow such transfers?

b. As this policy indicates a gain in fees for APNIC, there would a corresponding loss of fees for the "another RIR". Should this policy acknowledge that this RIR can or should assess a transfer fee as this policy allows APNIC to do for address space leaving its region.

2. How does this policy apply to legacy address space.

a. What about legacy address space where there is no relationship between the address space holder and the "another RIR"?

b. What about legacy address space where there is a relationship between the address space holder and the "another RIR"?

c. The same two questions (2a and 2b) but as applied to APNIC.

Ray

-----Original Message----- From: sig-policy-bounces@lists.apnic.net [mailto:sig-policy-bounces@lists.apnic.net] On Behalf Of Randy Bush Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 10:34 PM To: Policy SIG Subject: [sig-policy] prop-068-v001: Inter-RIR transfer policy

Dear SIG members

The policy proposal 'Inter-RIR transfer policy' has been sent to the Policy SIG for review. It will be presented at the Policy SIG at APNIC 27 in Manila, Philippines, 23-27 February 2009. The proposal's history can be found at:

http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-068-v001.html

We invite you to review and comment on the proposal on the mailing list before the meeting.

The comment period on the mailing list before an APNIC meeting is an important part of the policy development process. We encourage you to express your views on the proposal:

- Do you support or oppose this proposal? - Does this proposal solve a problem you are experiencing? If so, tell the community about your situation. - Do you see any disadvantages in this proposal? - Is there anything in the proposal that is not clear? - What changes could be made to this proposal to make it more effective?

randy and jian

_______________________________________________________________________

prop-068-v001: Inter-RIR transfer policy ________________________________________________________________________

Author: Geoff Huston gih@apnic.net

Version: 1

Date: 16 January 2009

1. Introduction ----------------

This is a proposal to allow the recognition and recording of address transfers between APNIC and other RIRs and between APNIC and NIRs.

2. Summary of current problem ------------------------------

prop-050, "IPv4 address transfers", proposes that APNIC recognise the transfer of IPv4 address resources between APNIC members. However, it does not address the following situations:

- A transfer between an APNIC member and a member of another RIR - A transfer between an APNIC member and a member of an APNIC-recognised NIR

3. Situation in other RIRs ----------------------------

No similar policy proposals have been adoped in other RIRs.

4. Details of the proposal ----------------------------

APNIC will recognise and register a transfer of IPv4 addresses in the following cases:

4.1 Transfer from APNIC member to another RIR or NIR member

The following constraints apply to the disposer of the IPv4 address disposer (the "source entity"):

- The source entity must be a current APNIC account holder.

- The source entity must be the currently registered holder of the IPv4 address resources, and not be involved in any dispute as to the status of those resources.

- The source entity will be ineligible to receive any further IPv4 address allocations or assignments from APNIC for a period of 24 months after the transfer.

- In making any future IPv4 address resource requests to APNIC, for as long as IPv4 address resources are available from APNIC, following the expiration of this 24 month ineligibility period, the source will be required to document the reasons for the IPv4 address resource allocation.

The following constraints apply to IPv4 address block being transferred:

- Only IPv4 address blocks equal to, or larger than, a /24 prefix may be transferred.

- The address block must be in the range of addresses administered by APNIC, either as part of a /8 address block assigned by the IANA to APNIC, or as part of a historically-assigned address block now administered by APNIC.

- The address block must be allocated or assigned to a current APNIC account holder.

APNIC will require the details of the receiving entity of the transfer, and will confirm that the receiving entity and the IPv4 address block meets the eligibility criteria established by the RIR or NIR nominated by the receiving entity prior to approval of registration of the transfer.

The transfer process:

1. APNIC will update the registration records relating to the transferred addresses.

2. APNIC will adjust the source's address holdings as of the date of transfer.

In terms of membership and/or service fee calculations this shall be processed in the same manner as a return of address holdings to APNIC as of that date.

3. The following transfer details will be published by APNIC in a public log of resource transfers:

- Source - Recipient - Recipient RIR or NIR - Address resources - Date of transfer

Transfer fees:

APNIC may charge the source entity a service fee on the transfer transaction. The transfer service fee may vary according to the total size of the address block being transferred.

The transfer fee schedule shall be set initially by the APNIC Executive Council upon adoption of this policy. The transfer fee schedule will be included as part of any future review of APNIC fees and charges.

4.2 Transfer from member of another RIR or NIR to APNIC member

The following constraints apply to the recipient of the IPv4 address disposer (the "recipient entity"):

- The recipient entity must be a current APNIC account holder.

- The recipient entity of the transferred resources will be subject to current APNIC policies. In particular, in any subsequent APNIC IPv4 address allocation request, the recipient will be required to account for all IPv4 address space held, including all transferred resources.

- APNIC fees payable by the recipient will be assessed on the basis of all resources held.

The following constraints apply to IPv4 address block being transferred:

- Only IPv4 address blocks equal to, or larger than, a /24 prefix may be transferred.

APNIC will require the details of the source entity of the transfer, and will confirm that the source entity and the IPv4 address block meets the eligibility criteria established by the RIR or NIR that holds the address registration prior to approval of registration of the transfer.

The transfer process:

1. APNIC will update the registration records relating to the transferred addresses.

2. APNIC will adjust the recipient's address holdings to include the transferred addresses as of the date of the transfer.

In terms of membership and/or service fee calculations this shall be processed in the same manner as an allocation or assignment of address holdings to the recipient as of that date.

To preserve aggregation capabilities the transfer recipient may notify APNIC that the transferred address may be returned to the unallocated APNIC address pool, and a different address of the same size may be registered to the recipient of the transfer. This option would be available to the recipient of the transferred address, at the discretion of the recipient, and subject to availablility of an alternate address block from APNIC

3. The following transfer details will be published by APNIC in a public log of resource transfers:

- Source - Source RIR or NIR - Recipient - Address resources - Date of transfer

Transfer fees:

APNIC may charge the recipient entity a service fee on the transfer transaction. The transfer service fee may vary according to the total size of the address block being transferred.

The transfer fee schedule shall be set initially by the APNIC Executive Council upon adoption of this policy. The transfer fee schedule will be included as part of any future review of APNIC fees and charges.

5. Advantages and disadvantages of the proposal -------------------------------------------------

5.1 Advantages

This proposal, by acknowledging the existence of address transfers and registering the outcomes, would ensure that the APNIC address registry continues to maintain accurate data about resources and resource holders. The proposal also ensures that those parties who currently rely on the accuracy of this registration information can continue to rely on the currency and accuracy of this information in good faith. In particular, it would:

- Ensure that the APNIC registry continues to reflect the current actual status of IPv4 resource holdings by APNIC account holders.

- Mitigate the risks to the integrity of the network, and its routing and addressing infrastructure in particular, associated with the unregistered transfers of IPv4 addresses.

- Provide a stronger incentive for unused IPv4 address space to return to active use, helping to satisfy residual demand for IPv4 address space across the IPv6 transition.

5.2 Disadvantages (and responses)

5.2.1 Altering the traditional concepts of IP addresses

This proposal has the potential to alter a number of traditional preconceptions relating to addresses and their value, including challenging the concept that addresses are not in and of themselves assets and addresses do no in and of themselves have monetary value outside of the narrow constraints of use in networks for routing and end point identification. Changing these common percpetions about addresses and their use opens up the potential for a number of responses, including:

- The loss of strong aggregation capability in the address space, with the consequent load being imposed on the routing system.

- The significant shift away from a universal need-based address allocation model in the underlying policy framework.

- The treatment of addresses as property with the associated legal ramifications in terms of corporate and contract law.

- The imposition of taxes on addresses and their movement.

- The potential for unfairness and inequities to be realized in terms of access to addresses for use by network service providers.

Response:

A number of factors mitigate the risks above:

- As the transition to IPv6 gathers pace, any residual value of IPv4 addresses would fall in line with the decreasing value proposition of IPv4-based services in an increasing IPv6 network.

- If this policy were to be adopted while IPv4 addresses are still available from APNIC, APNIC's established IPv4 address allocation process would continue to provide an alternative source of supply of IPv4 addresses to the industry.

5.2.2 Proposal diverts attention from address reclamation and resuse

It has been argued that the proposal diverts attention from policy development that encourages IP address reclamation and reuse.

Response:

To date the level of return and reclamation of addresses has been minimal. Aside from price-based mechanisms it is unclear that further policy refinement would alter this situation.

Even if policy development encouraged address reclamation and reuse, there is the distinct possibility that the amount reclaimed addresses would be smaller than the amount needed for APNIC to continue to allocate addresses on a needs-basis after the unallocated address pool has been exhausted.

An open and significant issue is how APNIC could fairly ration limited addresses when faced with a much larger set of demands. In other words, concentrating on relamation and reuse policies rather than transfer policies also contains significant issues that may prove challenging to resolve as a policy matter.

5.2.3 Potential for APNIC to be cast as a regulator

If APNIC adopted this policy, APNIC may be cast as a regulator of a secondary market in addresses. Concerns have been expressed that APNIC has no experience, expertise nor the authority to enforce regulatory actions. Such a role may also expose APNIC to additional litigation.

Response:

This proposal does not advocate such a role for APNIC. The scope of this policy is explicitly limited to the conditions that would allow APNIC to recognise and record a transfer of addresses in its registry.

There is a general belief that adoption of this policy would act as an incentive for a market in addresses. However, that does not imply that markets would act outside existing regulatory structures. Nor does it mean that market participants would be immune from existing regulatory measures within their respective regimes.

The potential for additional liabilities associated with this policy should be the subject of legal review by an appropriately qualified party.

6. Effect on APNIC members ----------------------------

APNIC members will have the ability to register the transfer of IPv4 address resources between APNIC members.

7. Effect on NIRs -------------------

This policy would allow NIRs to determine their own transfer policies, and allow the transfer of resources between APNIC members and the members of an NIR based on meeting the respective eligibility criteria for the transfer.

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