nanog mailing list archives

Re: The Mother of all Solutions (Was Class B for Sale or Rent)


From: Benjamin Inman Vaughn <sedriss () Prophet-indy org>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 00:16:25 +0000 ( )


        Less ARIN and NIC are run by the principles Adam Smith described
in the early Nineteenth Century. I don't know, maybe Address assignment is
controlled by the unseen hand of god.

        The beginning and end of it is that selling address space is
against RFC's and ethics, and it should be left at that.

----------------------------
Benajmin Vaughn
Sedriss@IRC
sedriss () prophet-indy org OR
"whois BV209"
"And the rest is silence."
----------------------------

On Sun, 9 Mar 1997, Ehud Gavron wrote:

      Let me add a word to Brett's comments.  This IS a world-scale
      economy.

      If a LARGE GROUP OF NETWORK PROVIDERS (that's us, btw, nanog),
      decided TOMORROW that WE will assign address space and route to
      it, there is no force in the world that will charge for it, or
      be able to change it.

      Here's the Ehud Scenario:
              1. Tomorrow Paul Vixie gets a pirate hair up his dec alpha
                 and puts in 64.in-addr.arpa. through 126.in-addr.arpa.
                 in F.
              2. We start assigning nets from this block (64/8-126/8).
              3. We start routing to this block (ok, I don't own a backbone
                 yet, but let me use "we" meaning nanog for now ;)

      Is this unlawful?  No.  There's no law about announcing routes,
      nor about delegating them in private internets.  For practical
      purposes, NANOG members form a private internet.  

      Is this unethical?  Some would say 'Sure, only the InterNIC and
      IANA can assign IP addresses.'  Some tell me this thinking is
      obsolete.  Jim Fleming would salivate, and Karl Deninger would
      laugh.  Well, maybe.  
      
      Is this impractical?  I dunno.  I figure we could bribe Paul with
      $ 2000 per assignment regardless of size (after all, two NS entries
      are all the same cost).  After about 52 /24s, he'd double his 
      yearly retainer income (all figures guesses with no real basis)
      and probably be able to retire to Caymans.  (That's a Brett Scenario).

      Oh yeah, it's my idea, so I want anyone who gets an allocation from     
      this scheme to send me a bottle of single-malt Scotch.

      Let me know if I've left something out.

      Ehud

      p.s. If I've pissed off anybody in this post, send me a private
           note via us mail.  Be sure to include a bottle of single malt
           Scotch or your note will be returned.  Just like email to admin@crl


So that I'm not misunderstood let me say this:

1: I do not neccessarily agree with the sale of IPs, personally, I don't
think its a good idea

2: This is a real world economy now, outdated academic practices which are
currently being enforced are as wrong as the sale of IPs.

3: Wether you, ARIN, or anyone else likes it or not, IPs are for all intents
and purposes a resellable commodity, otherwise ARIN et all can (ala Jim
Flemming) be called on as being a Monopoly.

4: The simple fact of the matter is that the RFCs are not at any time, the
law of the land. They are at best guidelines and good ideas set down for
others to follow, but there is no rule stating that you _must_ follow them.

5: Before you start chasing wild geese selling Class B address space I
suggest you go back and check on all those folks that got space long before
there were any 'restrictions and justifications'. I have no doubt that there
is a veritable feast of IPs sitting unused at MIT, USC, and other such
institutions that would be better used elsewhere instead of sitting in a
corner like a dusty grad student.

6: Finally and most importantly, stop pretending you still live in the world
of happy academia where everyone is willing to follow the rules you set down
just because you're the proffessor and they're the student. This just does
not work anymore, you may scoff at people like Jim Flemming but for each one
you knock down there is another one to learn from his mistakes and take his
place. Do not pretend you can sit idle and call people who don't fall in
line behind you names so that you can sit back in your dusty chair and
pretend nothing is wrong. The internet as a whole is growing at an unthought
of pace and your failure to keep up will not be fixed by being tight assed
and making it harder on those that follow. Eventually someone else will take
the forefront and throw you off your high horse like yesterdays newspaper.
You purport to be leaders of the internet, then its about time you acted
like it and start to solve the problems instead of trying to make the
problems go away by being ignorant of reality.


[-]                Brett L. Hawn (blh @ nol dot net)                       [-]
[-]                Networks On-Line - Houston, Texas                       [-]
[-]                           713-467-7100                                 [-]


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