[AfriNIC-rpd] Updated Version of the "IPv4 Soft Landing Policy" now Available Online

[Owen DeLong]

On Feb 21, 2011, at 5:10 AM, Dr Paulos Nyirenda wrote:

> 
> Two areas of concern in [3] and [3.9.2] and proposals for changes as follows:
> 
> In [3] the second sentence in [3] needs revision.
> 
>> [3] The Proposal
>> 
>> This policy (IPv4 Soft Landing), applies to the management of address 
>> space that will be available to AfriNIC after the current IPv4 pool is 
>> depleted. The purpose of this document is to ensure that address space 
>> used in a manner that is acceptable to the AfriNIC community especially 
>> during this time of scarcity.
> 
> so that it reads:
> 
> "The purpose of this document is to ensure that address space -- is assigned and/or 
> allocated -- in a manner that is acceptable to the AfriNIC community especially during -- 
> the time of IPv4 exhaustion --- ."
> 
I think the use of the word scarcity is cleaner, but, have no strong opposition to exhaustion.

> In [3.9.2], I am concerned that the proposal is leaving matters of policy to the 
> "prerogative" of the Board as follows which I think should be revised to follow the 
> spirit in [3.6]
> 
>> 3.9.2
>> When AfriNIC, can no longer meet any more requests for address space 
>> from the last /8 pool because the pool is either empty or has no more 
>> contiguous blocks, the Board will based on the demand and other factors 
>> at the time exercise their prerogative to replenish the exhaustion pool 
>> with whatever address space that will be available to AfriNIC at the 
>> time in a manner that is in the best interest of the community.
> 
> This proposal in [3.9.2] should be revised to avoid prerogatives as follows: 
> 
> When AfriNIC, can no longer meet any more requests for address space from the last /8 
> pool because the pool is either empty or has no more contiguous blocks, -- AfriNIC shall 
> follow policies in effect at the time to replenish resources -- 
> 
I think this is very risky. The reality of the situation described her is that the policy
community will be unable to react fast enough to adapt policy to a rapidly changing
situation. The board is elected to be able to, among other things, handle decisions
which must be made more rapidly than policy can address them. This is just such
a situation and I believe that we must give the board discretion, or, simply recognize
that the pool cannot and will not be replenished (which is not an unlikely outcome
of board discretion, by the way).

Everyone should be prepared to face the fact that when the pool is empty, it may
be impossible to refill it. While IPv4 addresses remain particularly useful, their
value will be such that I suspect AfriNIC and its members would have trouble
competing in a bidding war against corporations in the other regions.I doubt
there will be other sources of significant resources by the time AfriNIC exhausts
the final /8, and I'm not even sure that source will have a supply.

Owen

> Regards,
> 
> Paulos
> ======================
> Dr Paulos B Nyirenda
> NIC.MW & .mw ccTLD
> http://www.registrar.mw
> 
> 
> On 21 Feb 2011 at 13:53, Mukom Akong T wrote:
> 
>> Dear Colleagues,
>> 
>> An updated version of  the "IPv4 Soft Landing Proposal" is now available 
>> on our website at 
>> http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2010-v4-005-draft-01.htm
>> 
>> A text version of the proposal is included below:
>> 
>> Regards
>> 
>> _____
>> 
>> Unique Id:      AFPUB-2010-v4-005-draft-01
>> Author(s):       Douglas Onyango | Digiclear E.Africa Ltd | 
>> ondouglas at yahoo.com
>> Draft Version: 11
>> Submitted:      2010-11-25
>> Updates:
>>    a. AFPUB-2005-v4-001
>>    b. AFPUB-2007-GEN-001
>> 
>> 
>> [1] Summary of the Problem Being Addressed by this Policy Proposal
>> 
>> Because the Global IPv4 free pool has run out, the IANA has implemented 
>> the Global Policy for the Allocation of the Remaining IPv4 Address Space 
>> - www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2009-v4-001.html meaning after the 
>> last /8, RIRs will nolonger receive Address space from the IANA as in 
>> the past. This puts AfriNIC in a precarious situation as the current 
>> allocation and assignment Policy cannot be sustained in the mid to longterm.
>> 
>> 
>> [2] Summary of How this Proposal Addresses the Problem
>> 
>> In order to ensure a smooth transition to IPv6,  AfriNIC's  pool  should 
>> be managed to provide members with address space  after the IPv4  pool 
>> is depleted.  This will help in maintaining IPv4 networks while 
>> deploying IPv6 networks   a practice that characterize the transition 
>> period. This document proposes a strategy for allocation and Assignment 
>> and maintenance of AfriNIC's IPv4 pool post exhaustion. This policy 
>> begins when AfriNIC starts to allocation space from the last /8
>> 
>> 
>> [3] The Proposal
>> 
>> This policy (IPv4 Soft Landing), applies to the management of address 
>> space that will be available to AfriNIC after the current IPv4 pool is 
>> depleted. The purpose of this document is to ensure that address space 
>> used in a manner that is acceptable to the AfriNIC community especially 
>> during this time of scarcity.
>> 
>> 3.1 Policy Documents to be affected:
>> 
>> IPv4 Allocation Policy 
>> http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2005-v4-001.htm
>> 
>> Proposal to Change the Allocation & Assignment Period to 12 months 
>> http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2007-GEN-001.htm
>> 
>> 3.2 Definitions:
>> 
>> Local Internet Registry (LIR)
>> 
>> A Local Internet Registry (LIR) is an Internet Registry (IR) that 
>> receives allocations from an RIR and assigns address space to customers 
>> who use its services. LIRs are generally ISPs and their customers are 
>> end-users and possibly other ISPs. LIRs must be members of an RIR like 
>> AfriNIC; which serves the Africa Region and part of the Indian Ocean 
>> (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles).
>> 
>> Existing LIR's
>> 
>> An Existing LIR is a LIR that assigns address space to 'end-users' and 
>> has already been assigned or allocated IPv4 address space by AfriNIC.
>> 
>> New LIR
>> 
>> A New LIR, is a LIR that assigns address space to 'end-users' and is a 
>> member of AfriNIC but has not been assigned or allocated any IPv4 
>> address space prior to the Exhaustion phase.
>> 
>> 
>> End User
>> 
>> An End User is an organization that receives assignments of IP addresses 
>> exclusively for use in its operational networks
>> 
>> Final /8 block of IPv4 address space, or "Final /8".
>> 
>> The Final /8 block of IPv4 address space, or "Final /8", is the /8 block 
>> of IPv4 address space that has been allocated by the IANA to AfriNIC in 
>> terms of section 2.2 C of the Global Policy for the Allocation of the 
>> Remaining IPv4 Address Space 
>> <http://www.icann.org/en/general/allocation-remaining-ipv4-space.html> 
>> at the time of exhaustion of the IANA pool of IPv4 address space. 
>> AfriNIC's version of the Global Policy for the Allocation of the 
>> Remaining IPv4 Address Space is also known as AFPUB-2009-v4-001 
>> <http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2009-v4-001.html>.
>> 
>> 
>> 3.3 Summary
>> 
>> This proposal describes how AfriNIC shall assign, allocate, and manage 
>> IPv4 resources during the "Exhaustion Phase" which begins when AfriNIC 
>> first needs to assign or allocate IP addresses from the Final /8 block 
>> of IPv4 address space.
>> 
>> 3.4 Current Phase:
>> 
>> The "Current Phase" is the status quo at the time of adoption of this 
>> policy.  During this phase, AfriNIC will continue allocating or 
>> assigning IPv4 addresses to LIRs and End Users using the current 
>> policies, including AFPUB-2005-v4-001 
>> <www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2005-v4-001.htm>, AFPUB-2006-GEN-001
>> <http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2006-GEN-001.htm>, and any 
>> future amended versions of such policies.
>> 
>> The current phase will continue until an otherwise-valid request for 
>> IPv4 address space from any LIR or end user to AfriNIC either (a) cannot 
>> be fulfilled with the IPv4 address space available in the AfriNIC pool 
>> (with the exception of the Last /8), or (b) can be fulfilled, but would 
>> leave the AfriNIC IPv4 address pool empty (with the exception of the
>> Last /8).
>> 
>> The request that results in either of the above conditions being 
>> fulfilled will be the last IPv4 address space request that AfriNIC will 
>> accept from any LIR or End User in the Current Phase.  If the request 
>> can be processed in terms of the Current Phase policies, then it will be 
>> so processed; otherwise, it will be processed in terms of Exhaustion 
>> Phase policies.
>> 
>> AfriNIC will publicly announce that the Exhaustion Phase has begun at 
>> this point.
>> 
>> 3.5 Exhaustion Phase:
>> 
>> During the Exhaustion Phase, the following allocation and assignment 
>> policy will be used.  This policy applies to both LIRs and End Users, 
>> and applies at all times after the transition to the Exhaustion Phase.
>> 
>> The exhaustion phase will be divided into two parts:-
>> a) Exhaustion Phase 1
>> b) Exhaustion Phase 2
>> 
>> 3.5.1 Exhaustion Phase 1
>> During this phase, allocation/assignment of address space will continue 
>> as in the Current phase (/24 for a EU and /22 for a LIR) but the maximum 
>> will change from /10 to /13.
>> 
>> Allocations and assignments will be made from the /8 pool until we reach 
>> a /11. At this point the Exhaustion Phase 2 phase will kick in.
>> 
>> Exhaustion Phase 2
>> During this phase a minimum allocation/assignment size will be /27. And 
>> a  maximum of /22 per allocation/assignment.
>> 
>> 
>> 3.6) If any LIR or End User requesting IPv4 address space during the 
>> Exhaustion Phase does not already have IPv6 address space, then AfriNIC 
>> shall allocate or assign an IPv6 address block in compliance with the 
>> IPv6 allocation or assignment policies in effect at the time.
>> 
>> 3.7) The current allocation and assignment period of 12 months shall be 
>> changed to 8 months. This will help to ensure that LIRs request only for 
>> resources they need in the short to medium term, and promote fairness in 
>> the equitable distribution of the last IPv4 address pool.
>> 
>> 
>> 3.8 Allocation Criteria
>> 
>> In order to receive IPv4 allocations or assignments during the 
>> Exhaustion Phase, the LIR or End User must have used at least 90% of all 
>> previous allocations or assignments (including those made during both 
>> the Current Phase and the Exhaustion Phase).  In the case of new LIRs or 
>> End Users with no previous allocations or assignments, this requirement 
>> does not apply to their first allocation or assignment request.
>> 
>> 
>> AfriNIC resources are for the AfriNIC geographical region. For each 
>> allocation or assignment made during the Exhaustion Phase, no more than 
>> 10% of these resources may be used outside of the AfriNIC region, and 
>> any use outside the AfriNIC region shall be solely in support of 
>> connectivity back to the AfriNIC region.
>> 
>> 
>> 3.9 IPv4 Address Space Reserve
>> 
>> A /12 IPv4 address block will be in reserve out of the Last /8. This /12 
>> IPv4 address block shall be preserved by AfriNIC for some future uses, 
>> as yet unforeseen. The Internet is innovative and we cannot predict with 
>> certainty what might happen. Therefore, it is prudent to keep this block 
>> in reserve, just in case some future requirement creates a demand for 
>> IPv4 addresses.
>> 
>> 3.9.2
>> When AfriNIC, can no longer meet any more requests for address space 
>> from the last /8 pool because the pool is either empty or has no more 
>> contiguous blocks, the Board will based on the demand and other factors 
>> at the time exercise their prerogative to replenish the exhaustion pool 
>> with whatever address space that will be available to AfriNIC at the 
>> time in a manner that is in the best interest of the community.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Acknowledgments
>> Thanks to RPD-ML and especially Alain Aina and Alan Barrett for their 
>> contributions.
>> 
>> 
>> 4.0. Revision History (for all but the very first draft)
>> 
>> Version 1
>> Removed IPv6 Adoption plans and deployment as requirements for receiving
>> IPv4 address space in this policy as Members Technology choices are
>> outside AfriNIC's purview
>> 
>> Version 3
>> Changed the scope of the document to cover IPv4 address space outside
>> the /8 to avoid writing a new policy for IPv4 address space that
>> AfriNIC might have outside the /8
>> 
>> Version 5
>> Removed 4 blocks as maximum possible allocation blocks in policy
>> To eliminate the possibility of remaining with unusable space in the pool
>> 
>> Version 8
>> Changed the Minimum and Maximum Allocation sizes to /27 and /22 
>> respectively
>> to cater for small requests by members transitioning who only need small 
>> blocks for interoperability
>> 
>> Version 9
>> Made all the allocation/assignments only usable within the AfriNIC region
>> to curb Black Market practices that could crop up post exhaustion)
>> 
>> Version 10
>> Changed the Problem Statement due to Global IPv4 free pool running out
>> _____
>> 
>> 
> 
> 
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