"It's the end of the world as we know it" -- REM

Mon Apr 29 05:55:09 UTC 2013

On 4/29/13, Jérôme Nicolle <jerome at ceriz.fr> wrote:
> Therefore it is inevitable to reclaim unused address space as long as
> there's a demand for IPv4, wich will still be strong as long as major
> players refuse to do their jobs.

The RIRs are very limited in what unused resources they could seek to
reclaim; therefore, even if there are efforts, there are not likely to
be a large number of resources reclaimed for the forseeable future --
not within 12 months.

Such policy methods as transfer to specified recipient rules, and the
ARIN STLS, for example,   are the most likely path towards address
"reclamation".

The addresses that cannot be reclaimed in that manner, are probably
uneconomical to reclaim,  due to the resources, and long amount of
time it would take a RIR to implement.

> Moreover, I think it's necessary for all responsible LIR and RIRs to
> take a stand and vote policies to reclaim address space from networks
> who are still not deploying IPv6 as those obviously don't want to be a
> part of the Internet anymore.

The RIRs policy making authority is limited by certain contractual
obligations, to resource holders, and to the community, and the RIRs
cannot arbitrarily reclaim resources.

They also cannot force a holder of a resource to release or abandon
it, and attempts to do so for lack of V6 deployment,  would only serve
to reduce the legitimacy of the RIR, and result in network
instability.

The registration services agreements, at least in North American
region say that the RIRs cannot revoke resources solely for lack of
use.    And some effort of the sort would more likely wind up in the
courts.

Tthe RIRs are not permitted or don't have authority to reclaim any
IPv4 resources based on solely non-deployment of IPv6,  even if there
was some policy to that effect.

> Jérôme Nicolle
--
-JH