IP addresses are now assets

Paul Graydon paul at paulgraydon.co.uk
Fri Dec 2 05:55:56 UTC 2011


On 12/1/2011 7:20 PM, John Curran wrote:
> Wayne -
>
> Your subject line (IP addresses are now assets) could mislead folks,
> so I'd advise waiting to review the actual sale order once approved by
> the court before making summary conclusions.
>
> ARIN holds that IP address space is not property but is managed as a
> public resource.  Address holders may have certain rights (such as the
> right to be the registrant of the address block, the right to transfer the
> registration, etc.) but these rights intersect with additional rights to the
> same address blocks which are held by the community (such as the right
> of visibility to the public portion of registrations).  The registry policies
> (set by the community via open and transparent processes) govern the
> intersection and application of these rights.
>
> For this reason, ARIN works with parties transferring their rights in IP
> address space to make sure that the documents reflect that sales of
> rights are subject to the transfer policies in the region, including in this
> particular case.  A party may transfer their rights to IP addresses, and
> such rights may have value to an estate, but this does not make the
> IP addresses "property" per se.
>
> Thanks!
> /John
>

Why'd you have to spoil the fun?  You're supposed to wait a few days, 
let the pointless righteous fury build up and then step in and try to do 
the firefighting thing.  It's must have been all but a month since the 
last time this flared up, it's surely about time it flared up again?  
Wouldn't want anyone to miss out on the fun ;)

Paul




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