[AfriNIC-rpd] The "Out of Region Sales for IPv4 Space" Policy Proposal is now Online

Tue Feb 15 18:21:48 UTC 2011

On Feb 15, 2011, at 9:57 AM, Andrew Alston wrote:

> Hi All,
> 
> There is a second version of this policy proposal which I have emailed to
> policy-submission and will hopefully be posted soon, but some comments:
> 
> 
> > For now, I am neutral with regard to this proposal.
> >
> > I do have some questions I think are worth considering...
> >
> > 1. By runout in one of the other RIRs, it is possible AfriNIC's inventory
> > could be less than
> > a /8. In such an event, this policy would allow AfriNIC to sell its entire
> > remaining inventory.
> > Is that the intent?
> 
> Negative, the soft landing policy as it currently stands would prevent this
> policy from taking effect if this is the case.  I however do not believe
> that is even vaguely likely.
> 
I would say this policy conflicts with the soft landing policy in that
regard. As such, usually the most recently adopted policy wins in
such cases of conflict. I confess I am not sure how the AfriNIC
rules resolve conflicts between policies such as these.

> >
> > 2. The premium price of 2x current rate will be well below likely market
> > prices in the
> > address trading markets established by ARIN, RIPE, and APNIC policies. (not
> > sure
> > if LACNIC has a trading policy), virtually guaranteeing that AfriNIC will be a
> > preferred
> > source unti the inventory is exhausted. Likely you could significantly
> > increase the
> > pricing if you tied this policy to market values in some way. If the intent is
> > to maximize
> > revenues for AfriNIC, then, perhaps that would be worth considering.
> 
> The LIR * 2 membership fee is a "foreign penalty", it is not meant to
> MAXIMIZE revenues, it is simply meant to make it slightly more fair.  People
> aren't BUYING ip space under this proposal, they are taking membership of
> AfriNIC from an external source.  Therefore the LIR Rate * 2 is a membership
> rate + external penalty almost, and is recurring revenue.
> 
The policy should probably state that as the intent. The current
wording makes it sound more like revenue for AfriNIC is the
over-arching goal.

> >
> > 3. I believe the claims that AfriNIC space will be used by foreign entities
> > whether AfriNIC
> > makes it available or not are essentially specious and mostly FUD[1]. However,
> > the
> > passage of policies like this could turn such statements into self-fulfilling
> > prophecies.
> > Is that the intent?
> 
> No, since I do not agree with you whatsoever that this is "fud."  I've seen
> enough talk in the general industry about how this can be achieved through
> shelf companies and other such means to indicate that people are already
> thinking along these lines.  This policy is meant to discourage it being
> done via subterfuge and legitimize it.
> 
I've seen the same talk. I believe that talk to be FUD. Using
the FUD from other sources does not substantiate a claim
that it is not FUD.

People will steal anyway. I do not favor legitimizing theft so that
people will not conceal it through subterfuge.

Owen

> >
> > Owen
> >
> > [1] FUD -- Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt: An attempt to bolster one's argument
> > by presenting
> > the specter of some future event, no matter how unlikely, as a serious threat.
> >
> > On Feb 15, 2011, at 6:46 AM, Mukom Akong T wrote:
> >
> >> Dear Colleagues,
> >>
> >> You can find it at
> >> http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2011-v4-003-draft-01.htm.  See a
> >> text version below:
> >>
> >> Regards
> >> ________
> >>
> >>
> >> Unique identifier: AFPUB-2011-v4-003-draft-01
> >> Draft Policy Name: Out of Region Sales for IPv4 Space
> >> Author: Andrew Alson | aa at tenet.ac.za | TENET South Africa
> >> Draft Policy Version: 01
> >> Submission Date: February 10th 2011
> >> Related Policies:
> >>
> >>
> >> 1.0 Summary of the Problem Being Addressed by this Policy Proposal
> >>
> >> With IANA already developing policies for the transfer of space between RIR’s
> >> and with the depletion of IPv4 space in other regions approaching faster and
> >> faster every day, there is a high likelihood that the rest of the world will
> >> turn to the unused African allocations for more IPv4 space.  With AfriNIC
> >> having enough space to last what amounts to a couple of years, there is
> >> sufficient space to allow for sale of a portion of this space outside of the
> >> African region.
> >>
> >> 2.0. Summary of How this Proposal Addresses the Problem Above
> >>
> >> This proposal prevents the situation where foreign entities are trying to
> >> grab the space through illicit means, and regulate the distribution of the
> >> space while providing some benefit back to the African community.  This
> >> policy will also allow for further revenue streams into AfriNIC, which can be
> >> used for the active promotion and development of IPv6.  Further more, the
> >> policy will prevent a situation where we are sitting with large blocks of
> >> unused IPv4 space long after such space becomes useable, due to the rest of
> >> the world having migrated to IPv6.
> >>
> >> 3.0 The proposal:
> >>
> >> On the date of depletion of IPv4 resources within either the
> >> RIPE/APNIC/LACNIC/ARIN regions, AfriNIC will make available space out of a
> >> single unallocated /8 for sale to foreign entities.
> >>
> >> 3.1  Such space will be sold at a premium price, currently for the purposes
> >> of this proposal at LIR rate + 100% in order to allow for growth in AfriNIC
> >> revenue streams .
> >>
> >> 3.2 The foreign entities applying for this space will have to meet all
> >> standard AfriNIC space allocation requirements.
> >>
> >> 3.3 No more than one /8 out of the available AfriNIC space will be made
> >> available for this purpose.
> >>
> >> 4.0 Summary
> >>
> >> While this policy may seem like a potential way to allow the rest of the
> >> world to pillage the African resources, it can be argued that the space will
> >> be used by foreign entities irrespective of the will of the African
> >> community.  This policy merely allows the African community to, in some small
> >> way, benefit from the resources we have available.
> >>
> >> _______
> >> <tamon.vcf>_______________________________________________
> >> rpd mailing list
> >> rpd at afrinic.net
> >> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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