[Community-Discuss] Blog: A Comprehensive audit of the AFRINIC WHOIS Database

[Noah]

Hi Ronald

In short AFRINIC is paving the way and seeks the communities input on how
to handle the abandoned space.

When one attempts a whois query today, you will note a flag which AFRINIC
has slapped on most of the legacy space which has since been recovered some
of which is under dispute.

But we have an RIR in AFRINIC which is now trying to do something about it.

I am of the view that we perhaps engage the working group to see if we can
work out a policy on how to handle the space and/or getting it into the
free pool.

Noah



On Wed, 10 Feb 2021, 03:31 Ronald F. Guilmette, <rfg at tristatelogic.com>
wrote:


> In message <CAEqgTWah944VmGg7iRZ_9qvANgQTZt9QQsr33WjPCkcT+=-

> hqQ at mail.gmail.com>,

> Noah <noah at neo.co.tz> wrote:

>

> >While reading the report, I noted that among the recommendations on how to

> >make things better, was below.

> >

> >   - The report recommends that the AFRINIC community critically assess

> how

> >   best the accuracy of the information pertaining to Legacy Resource

> Holders

> >   can be improved and considers whether unused legacy resources should be

> >   left idle while AFRINIC exhausts its remaining pool of IPv4 addresses.

>

> Please note that this problem... which I personally like to call the

> "recycling problem"... is not at all unique to AFRINIC.  All five of the

> regional internet registries are suffering, to one degree or another,

> with the problem of what to do about long-abandoned legacy blocks.

>

> Although few people know even know about the problem, it is rampant, and

> it *is* a real and serious cause for global concern.  As I hope everyone

> in the AFRINIC region now knows, and as was already evident as far back

> as 2008, when I and Brian Krebs reported on the case of the "SF Bay Packet

> Radio" abandoned legacy ARIN /16 block, the Internet has become, in effect,

> a happy hunting ground for multiple gangs of essentially lawless marauders

> who have beo cme focused, quite specifically, on stealing or squatting

> specifically on abadonded legacy blocks.  And once they have successfully

> stolen or squatted on such blocks, these criminal miscreants have proven,

> time and time again, that they are not too particular about the kinds of

> customers they then lease parts of such pilfered IPv4 space to.  The result

> is that invariably, these crooks end up leasing their stolen IP space to

> yet other criminal enterprises, and that, in turn, endangers us all, we the

> global community of honest Internet users.

>

> Something should most certainly be doen to address this ongoing and

> recurring

> problem.  But it is legally somewhat tricky to take back legacy IP space

> which is not covered by any contract with any RIR.  Still that is no

> excuse not to try.

>

> I have previously put forward the idea that we can and should look to the

> well established principals of international maritime law in order to

> properly address this problem.  Under international maritime law the

> concept of abanndoned property, and rights relating to salvage, are

> quite well established.  It is way past time for the international

> internet, and the governance organizations thereof, to grow up, slip out

> of their infantile diapers, and for them to create at least some sensible

> legal framework and provisions for the recovery of abandoned property,

> especially those chunks of long-abandoned property that have long since

> become what any lawyer or any sane person would easly recognizes being

> an attractive public nuisance.  The fact that neither ICANN nor any of

> the RIRs has yet even begun this process is a sad commentary on the

> current state of "Internet governance", which might more aptly be called

> "Internet not-really-benign neglect".

>

> In short, "leadership" when it comes to Internet governance is, and has

> been for many years now, arguably non-existant, at least with respect to

> this issue, if not also with respect to many many others.

>

>

> Regards,

> rfg

>

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>

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