[AfriNIC-rpd]Clarification from LACNIC. Was: The "Out of Region Sales for IPv4 Space" Policy Proposal is now Online

[Sofia Silva]

Just to clarify the situation at LACNIC region...

Nowadays at LACNIC region transfers are permitted only when it is due
to a merger, sale, or acquisition. According to the Policy Manual:

"LACNIC's policies do not recognize the non-authorized sale or 	transfer
of IPv4 address space and therefore such transfers shall be considered
invalid, with the exception of those subject to the provisions of
section 2.3.2.18, such transfers shall be considered invalid.

Should an ISP or end user change ownership due to a merger, sale, or
acquisition, the new entity shall register these changes with LACNIC. If
the name of the company is modified, legal documentation validating this
change of name shall be submitted."

There is also a policy allowing transfers between LIRs and/or End Users
within the LACNIC region which will come into force after LACNIC's pool
is depleted.

"2.3.2.18. Transfer of IPv4 Blocks within the LACNIC Region

NOTE: This section will come into force when LACNIC or any of its NIRs
becomes unable, for the first time, to cover an IPv4 block allocation or
assignment because of lack of resources.

IPv4 block transfers shall be allowed between LIRs and/or End Users
within the LACNIC region (hereinafter organizations) in accordance with
the conditions set forth in this section."

One of the conditions set forth as part of this policy is that "in order
for an organization to qualify for receiving a transfer, it must first
go through the process of justifying its IPv4 resource needs before
LACNIC. That is to say, the organization must justify before LACNIC the
initial/additional allocation/assignment, as applicable, according to
the policies in force."

In summary, in LACNIC region there is no policy for resource transfers
outside the region.

Kind regards,

Ing. Sofía Silva Berenguer
PGP Key ID: 0xAAD4EB5F
Hostmaster // Registration Service
LACNIC - http://www.lacnic.net
Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry

El 15/02/11 15:20, Owen DeLong escribió:
> 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?
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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?
> 
> 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 RIR¹s 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>_______________________________________________
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> 
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