Dear SIG members,
The proposal "prop-144-v002: Reserve pool under Experimental Allocations Policy"
has been sent to the Policy SIG for review.
It will be presented at the Open Policy Meeting (OPM) at APNIC 53 on
Wednesday, 02 March 2022.
https://conference.apnic.net/53/program/schedule-conference/#/day/10
We invite you to review and comment on the proposal on the mailing list
before the OPM.
The comment period on the mailing list before the OPM is an important
part of the Policy Development Process (PDP). 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?
Information about this proposal is appended below as well as available at:
http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-144
Regards,
Bertrand, Shaila, and Ching-Heng
APNIC Policy SIG Chairs
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prop-144-v002: Reserve pool under Experimental Allocations Policy
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Proposer: Anupam Agrawal (anupamagrawal.in@gmail.com)
Simon Sohel Baroi (sbaroi@gmail.com)
Amrita Choudhury(amritachoudhury@ccaoi.in)
1. Problem statement
--------------------
The existing experimental allocations policy predates the PDP, with the policy being first published
on 29 December 2003 as a document apnic-109-v001. The goals enumerated in apnic-109-v001 have been
carried forward as Section 5.7 in apnic-127 which is to provide fair access to Internet resources for
genuine researchers, to encourage development of new technologies and refinement of standards.
There appears to be no condition in apnic-127, Section 5.7.2 - Experimental Allocations Policy dealing
with eligibility criteria restricting experimental allocations or mentioning from which /8 the IPv4
resource needs to be given. Hence, it can be construed that if the request for experimental allocation
satisfies requirement as mentioned in Section 5.7.2.1 or Section 5.7.2.2, then the requestor is eligible
to receive it.
In terms of request, in the last 10 years, APNIC has made only two experimental allocations:
- IPv6 only in 2010 and
- IPv4 and IPv6 (same organization) in 2018 and there are indications
of receiving a request for IPv4 only.
Herein, the policy being silent on the quantity of allocations which can be made under Experimental Policy
is resulting in operational concern for APNIC secretariat as to whether allocations can be done under this
policy from the last /8 IPv4 addresses available with APNIC.
2. Objective of policy change
-----------------------------
The objective of the policy change is to provide reasonable assurance to the community on continuous availability
of IPv4 addresses to engage in experiments and use the addresses as per the guidelines of the experimental policy.
This will be in line with the spirit of Experimental RFCs being developed in IETF and the intended goal of the policy.
3. Situation in other regions
-----------------------------
All the other regions (except RIPE) do have an experimental allocation policy, but none have a reserved pool for the purpose.
4. Proposed policy solution
---------------------------
We propose adding the following text to Section 5.7.2 of the policy document.
ˇ§A dedicated /21 IPv4 address space has been reserved under this policy for five years from the date of implementation of
this policy to use for Experimental allocation requests. This reservation will expire 5 years after the policy implementation.ˇ¨
Additionally, we propose to alter Section 5.7.5 of the policy by replacing the words IP resource application fee with the
words assessment of a Memberˇ¦s annual fee.
5. Advantages / Disadvantages
-----------------------------
Advantages:
This will make the experimental allocation policy clearer and forward looking. It will ensure continuous availability of IPv4
address space for the researchers including the academic community from the 54 economies of Asia Pacific region wherein
research and education networks are increasingly getting engaged with experimentation requiring Internet resources.
The proposed changes in Section 5.7.5 will align the policy with the fee schedule.
Disadvantages:
There are no perceived disadvantages of this proposal.
6. Impact on resource holders
-----------------------------
There is no impact on resource holders as this is a reservation request for experimental allocation from the existing resources.
7. References
-------------
Nil.