IP Address News

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IP Address News - Providing you with a single site about IP Addresses News and Usage

Category Archives: IPv4

ARIN XXIX meeting update

ARIN’s XXIX regional meeting in Vancouver, Canada concluded last week.  A couple of notable discussions occurred.

An updated IPv4 transfer policy 2012-1 was discussed alongside the 2011-1 inter-RIR transfer policy which is pending implementation and board adoption.  ARIN staff noted that the inter-RIR transfer policy will be ready for implementation in about 90 days.  I expect that the ARIN board will implement and move forward with implementing inter-RIR transfers using the revised 2012-1 text which is currently in last call on the public policy mailing list.

A policy 2012-3 to allow ASN numbers to be transferred in a method similar to the existing IPv4 transfers was recommended for last call.  While the circumstances for transfer are different compared with IPv4 transfers, ARIN’s general counsel is recommending that adopting the policy reduces legal liability for ARIN.  During the meeting it was also noted that there is an existing bankruptcy case pending which contains an ASN which has been requested to be transferred.  It seems likely that the board will adopt this policy in due time.

Finally, the community considered a policy 2012-4 to reverse the current 3 month supply restriction on IPv4 allocations.  This policy would have modified the policy to allow a 12-month supply while ARIN has at least a /8 equivalent in its free pool.  This policy would likely have caused the run-out in the ARIN region to proceed faster.  The policy was recently abandoned by the Advisory Council which indicates the current 3 month supply policy is likely to continue until ARIN’s IPv4 free pool is exhausted.

 

ARIN publishes commentary on transfers via bankruptcy

ARIN has published a commentary written by its legal counsel and two affiliates regarding the transfer of IPv4 addresses in the ARIN region.  The article, published in the Bloomberg BNA’s Bankruptcy Law Reporter, outlines the contract language that ARIN suggests buyers and sellers of IPv4 addresses use in their contracts to ensure a smooth and expedient transaction.

The commentary certainly outlines ARIN’s point of view of the legal and contract issues which exist regarding the transfers.  While some (e.g. legacy address holders) likely will disagree with some of the assertions in the commentary, this commentary does lay out ARIN’s stance, such as IP addresses are not property but “interest in the registration right to IP Numbers and the IP Numbers.”  While some organizations might choose to use the courts to assert alternate methods of transfer, those entities who generally would like a more expedient transfer process will likely benefit from following the advice contained within the article.

ARIN: Suggested Guidance for Bankruptcy Trustees, Debtors-in-Possession, and Receivers

Milton Mueller of the Internet Governance Project has also published on his blog a response to this guide.

ARIN propagandizes the bankruptcy bar

2011 IP address usage statistics

Geoff Huston has recently published on his website his annual look at IP address usage in the various regions of the world.

A few notes from the report:

  • With the exhaustion of the IPv4 pool in the APNIC region, the total number of IPv4 addresses allocated declined from the previous year.  In 2011, 201 million addresses were allocated compared with 248 million in 2010.
  • A substantial “run on the bank” occurred as the APNIC pool depleted in 2011.  The number of addresses jumped from an average of 2.3 million addresses per week in 2010 to 6.9 million in the first 4 months of 2011.
  • Geoff’s RIR exhaustion model still predicts a depletion of the RIPE IPv4 pool in mid-2012.  ARIN’s IPv4 pool is currently expected to last until around the end of 2013.

http://www.potaroo.net/ispcol/2012-01/2011.html