"Leasing" of space via non-connectivity providers (was: Re: And so it ends... )

Thu Feb 3 17:36:05 UTC 2011

On Thu, 3 Feb 2011, John Curran wrote:

> On Feb 3, 2011, at 11:32 AM, Jon Lewis wrote:
>
>> My point being, the leasing of IP space to non-connectivity customers is already well established, whether it's technically permitted by the [ir]relevant RIRs.  I fully expect this to continue and spread. Eventually, holders of large legacy blocks will realize they can make good money acting as an LIR, leasing portions of their unused space to people who need it and can't get it, want it and don't qualify, etc.
>>
>> These start-up LIRs won't be bound by RIR policies, both because in some cases they'll be legacy space holders with no RSA with their region's RIR, and because they won't be worried about eligibility for future RIR allocations of v4 space...because there won't be any.
>
> For the ARIN region, it would be nice to know how you'd like ARIN perform
> in the presence of such activity ("leasing" IP addresses by ISP not providing
> connectivity).  It's possible that such is perfectly reasonable and to simply
> be ignored, it's also possible that such should be considered a fraudulent
> transfer and the resources reclaimed.  At the end of the day, the policy is
> set by this community, and clarity over ambiguity is very helpful.

I'm not saying that ARIN should.  Even if I thought ARIN should, I suspect 
the policy process (to develop policies governing org to org IP space 
leases) would be a waste of everyone's time, because I seriously doubt any 
policy attempting to forbid or control such activity would be possible to 
enforce.  I merely meant to point out that it's already happening, and 
IMO, will continue and spread.  Additionally, I suspect any attempt by the 
RIRs to become the sole brokers or clearing houses for org to org IP space 
transactions within their regions will be futile.

There may be some utility to the RIRs providing such a function, but I 
don't believe the RIRs will be able to control the markets and prevent 
ad-hoc LIRs from popping up and operating however they see fit.

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  Jon Lewis, MCP :)           |  I route
  Senior Network Engineer     |  therefore you are
  Atlantic Net                |
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