[AfriNIC-rpd] Effectively dealing with IPv4 trading

Wed Feb 9 21:59:56 UTC 2011

Thanks for setting out some of the critical issues so clearly. The situation represents a serious challenge for AfriNIC and I wonder if there is any best practice we can use to guide us. It is clear that our credibility will be under attack and destroyed if black marketeering prevails but as you rightly point out your suggestions raise even more thorny questions. Since everyone knew that this (IPv4 depletion) was going to happen, I am pretty sure that there must be some strategy already worked on.... so I am looking forward to hearing from those who are closer to the action than I am, on how we can leverage this challenge into an opportunity.

best regards

Dorothy K. Gordon
Director-General
Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT
Mobile: 233 244 311 348
  BB  : 233 265005712
Direct Line: 233 302 683579
Skype:dgaitidg
Website: www.aiti-kace.com.gh

----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham Beneke" <graham at apolix.co.za>
To: rpd at afrinic.net
Sent: Wednesday, 9 February, 2011 9:07:34 PM GMT +00:00 Casablanca / Monrovia
Subject: [AfriNIC-rpd] Effectively dealing with IPv4 trading

As a follow on from Jackson Muthili's Transfer policy that has received 
no support (as far as I can see)...

I have a concern (shared by others I believe) that:

* As IPv4 gets closer to depletion there will attempts to trade 
resources by those with needs and those with surplus.

* Due to the resource consumption rate in the AfriNIC region we are 
likely to have available resources long after the other regions have 
depleted their supplies.

Many people are heavily opposed to free market trading of addresses.

 From an operational point of view I see networks incurring real costs 
in time and labour to renumber networks and free up resources. Should 
they not be compensated for this effort in some way? Would they have any 
motivation to renumber if they didn't?

Regardless of where the resources come from I feel that organisations 
still need to qualify on a needs basis to obtain addresses. But if two 
organisations qualify and there are insufficient addresses available 
then who receives them?

Is there anything more that we can really do to prevent local shell 
companies obtaining resources for usage outside of the region?

Whatever happens - it needs to be as transparent as possible. All 
address assignments need to be recorded and updated in the whois and 
this means that AfriNIC has to participate in the process. Does this 
mean that they provide a trading market? Or just provide operation 
support once trades have been completed? Will address recipients become 
AfriNIC members?