[AFRINIC-rpd] RE: IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment proposal

[Andrew Alston]

I only want to really comment at this point on one section of thisŠ

> An RIR may also request remote access to the network in question but not
>be limited to:
>
>- Colocation customer equipment (Hypervisors, Routers, Servers, Switches).
>- Core routers.
>- DHCP servers.
>- Hypervisors.
>

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS

I am pretty sure if RIPE or ARIN demanded access to the confidential
networks of any applicant they would be told to take a flying leap, and I
would REALLY hope that the same would apply in Africa.  It is *NOT* the
job of an RIR to be the IP police, it is *NOT* the job of an RIR to have
access to the internal workings of any ISP's network, it is *NOT* the job
of an RIR to evaluate design, it is *NO BUSINESS* of the RIR to have
access to the internal configurations of any of its members.

The RIR staff are NOT and are not MEANT to be network engineers, nor do I
believe they have the skill or the training to adequately deal with such
access.  Furthermore, the confidentiality agreements in the MSA are in NO
way sufficient to cover this.  In addition, the security concerns and
flaws this would raise are immense, you're gonna hand external access to a
third party to the core routers of an major ISP from external addresses
that may or may not be adequately protected themselves? Give me a break.

In addition to thisŠ you want members to grant the RIR access to their
CUSTOMERS equipment? On what planet does an AfriNIC member have the right
or the authority to grant AfriNIC access to third party equipment?

SorryŠ but let me forget diplomacy for a whileŠ what exactly have you been
smoking?

Andrew