[rpd] Require newly created AS-SETs to have hierarchical names AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT01.

[Frank Habicht]

Dear PDWG,

a)
I support this proposal.

A colleague pointed out to me that this change is not all that needs to 
be done in this area - to improve IRR reliability. But we agree that 
this proposal is one very necessary step that absolutely goes in the 
right direction to avoid future creation of non-unique data.

d)
1. Question:
I understand "authoritative IRR databases" to mean the ones operated by 
RIRs. I hope everyone does the same. If not, should this phrase be 
defined in the proposal. I wish the proposal to succeed and wish to 
avoid this question to cause discussion or confusion later in the 
process. So I try to clarify it now.

2. about Language
"an authoritative IRR server can't be sure that the proposed set name 
doesn't exist in all other IRR databases"
I think if a name exists in 2 out of 4 of the other (RIR) IRR databases, 
then it can be said "it doesn't exist in all".
Should that instead be "that the proposed set name doesn't exist in any 
other IRR databases" ?
Or should that be "that the proposed set name is non-existent in all 
other IRR databases" ?
I think this is an editorial change...

3. under 'Proposal'
"The first element of the name must be an ASN"
I hope we all understand that 'element' will be the things separated by 
colons (":").
I would humbly like to suggest to add "preceded by AS-" at the end, so 
this becomes
"The first element of the name must be an ASN preceded by 'AS-'"
I think this would just be an editorial change...

4.
The necessity of "3. Other set types such as route sets are excluded." 
was questioned. It's not absolutely necessary. But I believe it can 
help. Maybe it can start with "For the avoidance of doubt: "  ??

not a big issue.


5.
Under the proposal Tab 
(https://afrinic.net/policy/proposals/afpub-2026-asn-001-draft01#proposal)
there is
"4. References
In other regions, all IPv4 addresses have been exhausted and it seems 
that the equivalent to the soft-landing is not any more an issue, 
because most of the existing members only can access IPv4 addresses via 
transfers."

this seems to be irrelevant for this proposal. Also the next section is 
also called "5. References". is it there by mistake?


I would like to emphasize that I did only suggest editorial changes and 
want for the proposal to succeed and get implemented in any case.

Thanks,
Frank Habicht



On 5/20/2026 8:37 PM, dacostadarwin at gmail.com wrote:
> Dear PDWG,
> 
> We have received a new draft policy proposal - Require newly created AS-SETs to have hierarchical names, ID AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT01 from author James Bensley.
> 
> The proposal contents are published at:
> https://afrinic.net/policy/proposals/afpub-2026-asn-001-draft01
> 
> We encourage you to take some time to go through the proposal contents and  provide feedback as follows:
> 
> a) Do you support or oppose the proposal?
> 
> b) If you oppose the proposal, state your reasons?
> 
> c) Is there anything in the proposal that is not clear?
> 
> d) What changes could be made to this proposal to make it more effective?
> 
> Regards,
> Vincent Ngundi & Darwin Da Costa
> AFRINIC PDWG Co-Chairs
> 
> 
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