Re: "Leasing" of space via non-connectivity providers

[Bill Woodcock <woody () pch net>]

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On Feb 5, 2011, at 10:27 AM, bmanning () vacation karoshi com wrote:
> If I justified an allocation 20 years ago, under the then current policy, it's presumptuous to presume the power of 
> expropriation.

No one presumes it, and a lot of us are in the same boat as you, some of the addresses we're using predating the RIR 
system.

That said, there will always be people who will turn up on the mailing list, participating in the public policy 
process, who are not in that boat, and whose interests differ significantly, and who will speak in favor of those 
interests.

And the consensus of the public, the people who participate in the public policy process, is what decides 

> If the RIR's and there active members want to take my right to use space away...

This is hyperbole.  The RIRs are not people, they have no desires, other perhaps than that of self-perpetuation.

I haven't heard _anyone_, active RIR member or otherwise, suggest that a right to _use_ space should be rescinded.  The 
only thing I've heard even the most vehement pro-reclamation people argue in favor of is reclamation of _unused_ space.

> I'm pretty sure that those arguments are going to be tested in the courts.


And ultimately, the courts uphold community standards.  Which is what the public expects.  If the community uses the 
public policy process to set a standard that you cannot meet, it's very _very_ unlikely that a court would side with 
you in the long term.  The community we live in generally believes that paint shouldn't have lead in it, and cars 
should have seatbelts, and people shouldn't beat their children when they get frustrated, and although each of those 
things was deemed a god-given right at one time, the courts would not side with someone who did any of them, anymore.

So I think the two questions here are whether you really have a grievance (I don't believe you do, since you haven't 
described a problem that many of the rest of us wouldn't also face), and if so, whether and how you can better your lot 
(and I think the answer to that is to participate in the public policy process and help establish community norms that 
you're comfortable with, rather than hoping that a court will buck the tide).

                                -Bill




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