Re: And so it ends...

[Jeffrey Lyon <jeffrey.lyon () blacklotus net>]

On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 3:02 PM, Jay Ashworth <jra () baylink com> wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "John Curran" <jcurran () arin net>
>
> > On Feb 3, 2011, at 2:34 PM, Jay Ashworth wrote:
> > > I strongly suspect that his question is actually "Does ARIN have any
> > > enforceable legal authority to compel an entity to cease using a
> > > specific block of address space, absent a contract?"
> >
> > ARIN has the authority to manage its database, and does so according to
> > the community developed policies. This includes changing the entries
> > which designate the address holder, and specify that there is now a new
> > address holder.
> >
> > None of this has to do with how entities configure their routers or
> > servers.
>
> Sure it does.  If best common practice is for network operators to get
> address space from ARIN, and someone gets a block from you that you've
> supposedly adversely taken back from, say, Goldman Sachs, and starts
> using it, then *someone* is going to drink your milkshake, whether it be
> the new user or the old one.
>
> There is some reasonable expectation that if you claim to be the
> Source of All Good (Address) Bits, and you hand out a block that's in
> dispute, that whomever relied on that will have an action.
>
> It's an unpleasant position to be in, but you *are* there, make no mistake.
>
> Cheers,
> -- jra

I think what John Curran is trying to say is that ARIN does not have
the authority to reclaim any space, as it merely provides a
registration service for the benefit of operators who recognize ARIN's
database as legitimate. Similarly, no one is required to recognize the
"rights" of legacy block holders which opens the doors for the
operator community to declare those blocks as bogons until the legacy
holders decide to play nice and release the space to an RIR.

In short, no one can take their space by force but we as a community
can stop recognizing them as legitimate owners.

My highly controversial two cents,
-- 
Jeffrey Lyon, Leadership Team
jeffrey.lyon () blacklotus net | http://www.blacklotus.net
Black Lotus Communications - AS32421
First and Leading in DDoS Protection Solutions