On 22 Jul 2019, at 9:05 PM, Owen DeLong <o...@delong.com> wrote:
> ...
> The only thing I dispute here is that I’m pretty sure that the principals of 
> ARDC did request ARIN to make ARDC the controlling organization of the 
> resource. The question here is whether or not it was appropriate or correct 
> for ARIN to do so.
> 
> IMHO, it was not. IMHO, ARIN should have recognized that this particular 
> block was issued for a purpose and not to an organization or individual.

Owen - 

All IP address blocks were issued for some purpose, and this includes quite a 
variety of early networks that were issued for various research purposes.  
There are also blocks that were issued (or made available via community 
process) for special purposes; as noted, you can find that registry here - 
https://www.iana.org/assignments/iana-ipv4-special-registry/iana-ipv4-special-registry.xhtml
 
> That contacts were volunteers from the community that agreed to take on a 
> task. Even if the block ended up contactless, it should not have been open to 
> claim and certainly not to 8.3 or 8.4 partial transfer to another 
> organization away from that purpose.
> 
> Unfortunately, the incremental way in which this was done probably rendered 
> ARIN staff into a situation similar to the proverbial (and apocryphal) frog 
> in a pot of water.

Not at all. 

> At each step, it probably seemed on the edge, but still appropriate. This 
> was, of course exacerbated by the fact that the community didn’t really 
> notice anything amiss until this last step, because the individuals in 
> question were, by and large, trusted members of the community that appeared 
> to be continuing to act in the community’s interest.

Actually, the change in 2011 to ARDC was perfectly appropriate then, and would 
be approved if received today – 

        AMPRnet was assigned for Amateur Packet Radio Experimentation (a /8 
research assignment) with Hank Magnuski (or his designated successor) to 
determine how that was to be accomplished.   It is presently registered to 
ARDC, a public benefit not-for-profit whose purposes are “to support, promote, 
and enhance digital communication and broader communication science and 
technology, to promote Amateur Radio, scientific research, experimentation, 
education, development, open access, and innovation in information and 
communication technology”, and this change was made by a designated successor 
(Brian Kantor.)  

You might not like ARDC’s administration due to their apparent lack of 
engagement with the community, but it remains quite clear that any of the 
contacts in the lineage of the block could have requested the same update.
The change was compliant with the purpose of original issuance, and has been 
allowed for other projects/activities which similarly formalized their 
structure over time. 

> Honestly, I doubt most of the community was aware of (I certainly wasn’t) the 
> incorporation of ARDC and the subsequent transfer of control of 44.0.0.0/8 to 
> ARDC — The Enterprise vs. ARDC — The purpose. Had I been aware of that move 
> at the time, I certainly would have scrutinized the governance process for 
> ARDC and likely cried foul on that basis. That’s where I believe ARIN erred 
> most grievously in this process and that’s where I believe these resources 
> were hijacked to the detriment of the amateur radio community.

The resources were registered to a not-for-profit entity of similar purpose per 
the direction of the authorized contact.  In addition to the current contact, 
the organization’s board also contains those who were the authorized contact 
for the number block in the past and have contributed heavily to the amateur 
radio community.   If the same request to update the registration were to 
arrive today, it would be approved, as to do otherwise would require that ARIN 
unilaterally impose policy constraints on an address block that are neither 
documented nor are the output of any community process for the definition of a 
special assignment at the IETF. 

As for whether the recent transfer of a /10 portion was “to the detriment of 
the amateur radio community”, that is likely a topic that the amateur radio 
community should discuss with ARDC, and (as noted earlier) may not be 
particularly relevant to this mailing list or its subscribers. 

Thanks,
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers







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