Re: [aso-policy] RIR proposal

[Bill Manning <bmanning@ISI.EDU>]

% There are of course examples in the past where IANA allocations have
% been made in a framework where consequent through would suggest
% an alternative action. Bill note advocates IANA as a place where
% 'reasonable requests' can be made, predicated that in order for
% a request to reach IANA the entire RIR structure would've had to
% have been subverted in some way in order to get to IANA in any case.

	"subversion" is not the issue here. what is important
	is the fact that fundamental changes in the way addressing
	is managed have occured with some frequency in the past
	and there is no reason to believe this will not continue
	into the future. In the evolution of IPv4, two major shifts
	included the original imposition of the the subnet model
	(classes) and then the imposition of CIDR. Both these changes
	were derived from outside the existent RIR nee IR process
	and were tested in the engineering community with direct
	access to the IANA for addressing changes.

% What is NOT at issue here is the ability of ICANN to set global
% policy for the RIRs - what IS at issue is that it is then
% most unseemly for IANA to have some independet ability of
% allocation OUTSIDE OF THESE VERY POLICIES THAT ICANN WANTS
% TO IMPOSE ON THE RIRs my emphasis). Of course if the response
% were to be that the allocations would conform to these policies,
% then there would be no problem in making the allocation through
% the RIR structure in the first place, right?

	This is a capability that the IANA has always had. The 
	proposal is asking the IANA to abdicate this flexablity
	to the RIRs. 


% I would like also to note that much thought has gone into this
% proposal, and that thought is based on the RIR policies and
% processes to date, and based on the acceptance of the ICANN
% structure into the future. These policies reflect what we have
% learned about address resource administration in the Internet, and
% how we manage to strike a balance between the myriad of interests
% that are at play in this environment. To claim, as Bill does, that
% IANA somehow needs the reserve ability to exercise resource allocation
% based on its ability to make hasty decisions with no visible rationale
% (synonyms for 'quick action' and 'long term vision' I believe)
% is one which I do not believe is in the best interests of the
% Internet, nor in the best interests of its panopoly of interested
% parties.

	True, much thought has gone into the proposal and I don;t
	think it should be abandoned. I do believe that the policies
	reflect the RIR lessons of the commodity Internet and it is
	reasonable for ICANN to take these types of proposals under
	serious consideration. After all, ICANN is a very new organisation.
	However it is prudent to note that the whole RIR structure
	is of recent vintage as well. My particular RIR is about
	three years old and the others are roughly the same. The IANA
	task has had about two decades of experience.  

	So yes, I do think it is wise to allow the IANA to retain
	its ability to delegate as we have seen in the definition
	and early deployment of the 6bone, before the RIRs had any
	understanding of the various issues.  There are times when
	a decision must be made -AND- documented when there is no
	"visible rationale".  The net 39 experiment was one recent
	example. This would not have happened within the construct
	of the RIR proposal and without it having been managed by the
	IANA, the Internet would be much worse off now. I'll agree
	that the IANA retaining its discresionary capability is 
	a potent tool and that it is reasonable to ask that its
	use receive careful scrutiny.  It is unreasonable to abdicate
	that capability because the "panopoly" of commercial interests
	wish a stable future. In a bad light, this could be viewed as
	an attempt by the RIRs to restrict entry into the address
	registration arena.

	
%    Geoff Huston
% 
%     Member, Executive Committee, APNIC

	Are you speaking for the APNIC EC?

--bill
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