RE: IP-block fees and ARIN

[Jim Fleming <JimFleming@doorstep.unety.net>]

On Sunday, April 12, 1998 10:30 AM, John Curran[SMTP:jcurran@bbnplanet.com] wrote:
@Good morning Karl...   comments interspersed as usual.
@
@/John
@
@At 09:45 AM 4/12/98 -0500, Karl Denninger wrote:
@
@>Well, ARIN was *given* this by the IANA, but I've yet to see evidence that
@>the delegation was proper or lawful - or that the IANA *legitimately* had
@>control or oversight to do so.
@
@The IANA appears to have been doing such delegations for
@many years under the implicit endorsement of ISOC, IAB,
@FNC, and the IETF community.   Along these lines, the
@creation of ARIN was not significantly different that 
@of the other regional IP registries.
@

It is very different.

1. Jon Postel is on the Board of ARIN (http://www.arin.net)
2. NSI people are not only benefiting from their NSI stock IPO but now ARIN
	Has it occurred to anyone that maybe other people besides NSI people
	deserve to participate in these U.S. Government programs ?
3. IN-ADDR.ARPA appears to be under ARIN's control
4. It also appears that the .ARPA TLD is controlled by ARIN
	Of course, the U.S. Government was duped into thinking that
	IP addresses and TLDs have nothing to do with each other.
5. Companies have allocations in blocks now inherited by ARIN, they are locked in.
	The ISOC complains about "lock-in" in the TLD arena, but turns their head here.
6. ARIN is a private company, non-profit means nothing, expenses can still be hidden.
7. No procedure exists to allow other private companies to do this.
8. The U.S. Government gave away assets without any proper procedures, (bids, etc.)
9. Apparently the InterNIC databases were copied and transferred to ARIN by NSI.
	The NSF claims they have no control over the databases. Yet, apparently they
	can authorize these transfers.

@>Further, ARIN's rates were set before ONE SINGLE MEMBERSHIP had been sold,
@>were essentially set unilaterally by Kim Hubbard, ...
@
@The BoT was involved in establishing the initial rates (as is 
@to be expected given financial responsibilities of a trustee).
@The proposed rates were publicly posted, discussed at length,
@presented at NANOG several times, and did undergo significant 
@evolution as a result.
@

The mailing lists clearly state that the rates were set based
on the APNIC and RIPE models. This appears to be price fixing.

@I'm not one to judge IANA's legitimacy; there appear to be 
@dozens of folks already debating that topic.
@

The U.S. Government has funded people to handle Internet resource
allocations. The U.S. Government has also funded many aspects of the
Internet from the Root Name Servers, the the back-bones and all the
way to organizations like MERIT that funds NANOG.

Now that U.S. citizens and taxpayers want to make sure that they
are getting their money's worth and that fair and proper procedures
are being used to distribute resources, these people want to deny that
they have been working for the U.S. Government. They now want to
make their own rules. They want to take U.S. Government assets and
go develop private companies to exploit those assets. They expect
the U.S. taxpayers and citizens to step aside as they impose their
new cyberspace taxes on the community, all to pay for their non-profit
perks.

@>ARIN's *operational expenses* as an association should be paid for by
@>membership dues and nothing more.  The allocation function should be charged 
@>out only for the CLEARLY DOCUMENTABLE incremental cost for providing EACH 
@>allocation.  If there are fixed expenses which accrue due to the management
@>of EXISTING space, then they should be also charged out at the CLEARLY
@>DOCUMENTED incremental cost of providing each.
@>
@>Anything else is contrary to the proper functioning of a non-profit 
@>stewardship function.
@
@Actually, it's an cost-allocation model that did receive significant
@discussion at the BoT level.  If this is how the members want things
@to go, speak up.
@

Maybe ARIN should disclose ALL financials on their web site.

Maybe ARIN should disclose ALL IP allocations as they are made each week.

Also...
What are all these NSI people being paid ?
How much NSI stock do they own ?

Were any other people given the opportunity to do this job ?
Who was interviewed ?
Where are the U.S. Government records of those interviews ?

@>Note that the ACTUAL incremental cost of providing a robotic-like allocation
@>function is EXTREMELY low.  The problem is, as soon as you allow "discretion"
@>into the decision process, then it gets EXPENSIVE.  
@
@Absolutely.  The key to low costs is removing discretion and the human
@component.  I will note that the guidelines established by the AC with
@respect to utilization verification, etc., will be a very significant 
@factor in the overall cost per allocation.
@

I do not believe that the people behind ARIN are concerned about costs.
They are operating in one of the most expensive regions of the U.S.

@>I believe that other organizations could provide this function at a lower
@>cost.  
@
@Once there are crisp guidelines, I'm personally of the opinion
@that the allocation function could potentially be better
@automated (or even outsourced)   At the present time, we lack 
@the specificity necessary to even consider such an approach.
@It is, however, within the AC's ability to bring clarity in 
@this area.
@

John,

What you lack is authority. Just because the National Science Foundation (NSF)
was put between a rock and a hard place by NSI and did not have the clear
presence of mind to recognize that the InterNIC is/was not NSI and failed to
execute U.S. Government procedures in the proper manner, does not give ARIN
the right to walk in and homestead assets or cart them off to use in their private
company. Those assets belong to U.S. taxpayers. They paid for their development.

If the assets are going to be distributed, it should be done in a fair manner.
Allowing the NSF to drop them on a street corner in Virginia is not fair. Just
because NSF officials could not understand the nature of the assets does not
matter. They still have no right to give them away, especially to the people they
gave them to. They have already bent over backward to give NSI everything they
need. When does it end ?
-
Jim Fleming
Unir Corporation
IBC, Tortola, BVI