[Fwd: Kremen VS Arin Antitrust Lawsuit - Anyone have feedback?]

Michael Nicks mtnicks at kanren.net
Fri Sep 8 15:06:59 UTC 2006


Michael.Dillon at btradianz.com wrote:
> But in the end, IP addresses are not property, therefore
> they cannot be assets and cannot be transferred. They can
> only be kept if they are in use on network assets which are
> transferred and which continue to be operational. And even
> then, most people have no choice as to which specific 
> address block they use. They simply take what the ISP gives
> them.

One could probably debate that statement for a long time. Saying they 
are "free" to me is technically inaccurate. If you are getting PI space, 
you have to pay registration fees, which incurs cost on behalf of the 
party. A growing number of ISPs are now charging "leasing" fees or 
similar fees for the usage of PA addresses.

As IP address scarcity goes up, I wouldn't be surprised if leasing fees 
become higher and/or if ARIN fees become more steep as an attempt to 
weed out people who are trying to horde address space.

While IP addresses certainly are not a tangible asset, and a defined 
intrinsic value can not be determined, there does seem to be a value to 
them, if only speculative at best.

Best Regards,
-Michael

-- 
Michael Nicks
Network Engineer
KanREN
e: mtnicks at kanren.net
o: +1-785-856-9800 x221
m: +1-913-378-6516



More information about the NANOG mailing list