IPv4 address exchange

Tue Apr 19 21:26:59 UTC 2011

On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 5:16 PM, Benson Schliesser
<bensons at queuefull.net> wrote:
> Without defining what an optimal cost might be, my comment was intended to show that our current baseline already results in a surplus.

I don't think the cost of IPv4 addresses has anywhere to go but up.
This mysterious Nortel/Microsoft transaction would seem to give
credibility to an assumption of increasing cost.  Therefore, it stands
to reason that the cost of "database services" associated with being a
holder of IP addresses will be inconsequential.

If I wanted to own www.abc.com, I could do that for a pretty low cost
of < $20/year through the various dot-com registries.  I am pretty
sure ABC would not sell it to me for any price I could afford.  Thus,
the cost of that domain name lies not with the database services but
with the unique string.

If anyone thinks that won't be true for IP addresses, by all means,
let that person propose to overhaul the IN-ADDR system and possibly
the WHOIS database.  I do not think stakeholders will agree with their
views.  IP addresses are finite, and the cost of acquiring them will,
in all likelihood, dwarf the cost of publishing ownership/custodial
information or operational DNS records.

-- 
Jeff S Wheeler <jsw at inconcepts.biz>
Sr Network Operator  /  Innovative Network Concepts