[rpd] New Proposal - "Number Resources Transfer Policy (AFPUB-2015-GEN-001-DRAFT-01)"

[Owen DeLong]

I am neutral regarding this proposal at this time. My comments are intended strictly for informational purposes.

> On Nov 3, 2015, at 3:47 AM, Seun Ojedeji <seun.ojedeji at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Members,
> 
> We have received a new policy Proposal - "Number Resources Transfer Policy (AFPUB-2015-GEN-001-DRAFT-01)"
> 
> Number Resources Transfer Policy
> 
> ID:              AFPUB-2015-GEN-001-DRAFT-01
> Policy Name:     Number Resources Transfer Policy
> Submitted:        29 October 2015
> Status:        Under Discussion
> Author:          Mark Elkins, mje at posix.co.za <mailto:mje at posix.co.za>, Posix Systems
> 
> 
> 1.0 Summary of the Problem Being Addressed by this Policy Proposal:
> 
> AFRINIC is the only Regional Internet Registry without a Transfer policy for the movement of numbering resources - both in and out of the Region. APNIC, RIPE NCC and ARIN have compatible Transfer Policies, so it would seem wise to be compatible with them.

This is not true… There are 5 regions and LACNIC also has no such policy at this time, though a couple of proposals have been discussed there without consensus so far.

It is not clear to me that a lack of such a policy is in and of itself a problem or that such compatibility is necessarily in the interests of the AfriNIC region as a whole.

> 2.0 Summary of How this Proposal Addresses the Problem
> 
> The Policy solves the issue of an African organisation using space in another Region. This Proposal currently does not attempt to address Legacy Resources (IPv4 and ASN's) - that is resources that are in the AFRINIC Region and were acquired before ARIN existed. Legacy Resources may be moved out of the AFRINIC region and redeployed freely. They may however be subject to the receiving RIR's policies.

The assertion made here may or may not be accurate. In the ARIN region, ARIN applies the same policies and procedures to the transfer of resources which were registered prior to ARIN’s inception as any other resource. There is no such thing as a “legacy resource”, only “legacy registrations”. To transfer a resource in the ARIN region, the recipient must sign a Registration Services Agreement and the transferred resources are not “legacy”.

RIPE has taken a different approach.

I don’t know whether AfriNIC has made a decision on this subject either as an organization or as a community. Certainly a decision should be made if one has not already been made. However, any such decision should be made through the policy development process with proper and deliberate action by the community and the board, not by assertion in the ancillary text included with another policy proposal.

>                
> 3.0 Proposal:
> 
> 3.1 The source entity must be the current rights holder of the IPv4 address resources recognized by the RIR responsible for the resources, and not be involved in any dispute as to the status of those resources.
> A. Source entities outside of the AFRINIC region must meet any requirements defined by the RIR where the source entity holds the registration.

It may be worth applying greater specificity/clarity here… “To transfer resources from another region, the source entity must comply with and are subject to the applicable source entity policies of the source RIR.”

> B. Source entities within the AFRINIC region will not be eligible to receive any further IPv4 address allocations or assignments from AFRINIC for a period of 12 months after a transfer approval, or until the exhaustion of AFRINIC's IPv4 space, whichever occurs first. This restriction is excluded if the Resource is transferred to the same business entity operating in a different region. 
> C. Source entities within the AFRINIC region must not have received a transfer, allocation, or assignment of IPv4 number resources from AFRINIC for the 12 months prior to the approval of transfer request. This restriction excludes Mergers and Acquisitions transfers and Transfers to the same business entity in a different region.
> D. The minimum transfer size is a /24.
> 
> 3.2 - Conditions on recipient of the transfer:
> 
> A. The conditions on a recipient outside of the AFRINIC region will be defined by the policies of the receiving RIR.
> B. Recipients within the AFRINIC region will be subject to current AFRINIC policies and sign an RSA for the resources being received.
> C. Recipients within the AFRINIC region must demonstrate the need for up to a 24-month supply of IPv4 address space.
> D. The minimum transfer size is a /24.

This proposal is, essentially, a combination of ARIN NRPM 8.3 and 8.4 and as near as I can tell implements nearly identical effective policy.

However, be aware that under this policy, entities in the RIPE region would be eligible to transfer AfriNIC resources based merely on the assertion of a plan to use 50% of the requested addresses within  5 years. (RIPE’s current inter-RIR recipient policy). Once the resources have been transferred to the RIPE region there are almost no restrictions on the subsequent transfer of the resources.

Under this proposed policy, I believe it would be trivial for entities in Africa to create temporary entities strictly for the purpose of exporting and monetizing AfriNIC resources 12 months after obtaining their initial resources.

Whether this 12 month delay provides an adequate protection or whether any such protection is desirable is a matter I leave for the consideration of the community.

Owen

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