Re: [sig-policy]Proposal: Recovery of Unused Address Space
This is an excellent and very wise proposal. I believe and seem to
recall in regards to v4 addresses and improperly attended routing
tables was something Jim Flemming and Joe Baptista had recommended
several YEARS earlier and were scoffed at for doing so. Thank you
for your attention and recognition for their earlier correct evaluation
however belated...
Paul Wilson wrote:
> Following is another proposal for the coming APNIC meeting.
>
> Paul Wilson
> APNIC
> ====
>
> Proposal: Recovery of Unused Address Space
>
> Author: APNIC Secretariat
>
> Version 1.0
>
> Summary
>
> Within the address space managed by APNIC, there is a large quantity of
> "historical" address space which was allocated prior to the establishment of
> any service agreement by APNIC. This address space is not subject to any
> formal written agreement and policies regarding its usage may not be clear.
>
> In many cases historical address blocks are unrouted and therefore likely to
> be unused, and in many cases the original custodian of the address space is
> not contactable. Such address space is increasingly the target for
> hijacking or squatting, and may be used for illegal or antisocial purposes
> such as hacking and spamming.
>
> This document proposes to reclaim historical address space which has been
> previously allocated or assigned, but which is determined to be unused.
> After reclamation, such address space will be identifiable and therefore
> less likely to be targetted for misuse, and it may eventually be reallocated
> for active use as it is required by the Internet community.
>
> Definitions
>
> Historical address space is defined as address space which is not covered by
> a current agreement with APNIC (either by a membership or non-membership
> services agreement).
>
> Unrouted address space is defined as address space which has not been routed
> on the Internet for some specified period of time, as determined by the
> Routing Information Service (RIS) or other agreed means.
>
> Unused address space is defined as address space which is both unrouted and
> not used for any private purpose.
>
> Background
>
> APNIC has assumed management of historical address space from various
> sources, including the Early Registry Transfer (ERX) project, AUNIC, and
> APNIC's own early registrations. ERX is providing the majority of this
> space (originating from the early InterNIC and related registries), and is
> due for completion during 2004.
>
> It is clear that a significant amount of historical address space is not
> used, and has not been used for a long time. Currently, around 36% of all
> address space which has been allocated does not appear in the global routing
> tables. Assuming much of this space is unused, then such space could be
> made available for redistribution to other address space users, providing an
> improvement in overall address space utilisation and an extension of the
> useful life of the IPv4 address space as a whole.
>
> IPv4 address space has always been allocated or assigned on an understanding
> that it is for use in operational networks which are connected to the
> Internet, and for some time (at least since RFC2050) this has been a clear
> policy requirement. Although early allocation policies were not well
> formulated, it has never been accepted that address space could be acquired
> and kept indefinitely without being used.
>
> Proposal
>
> It is now proposed that where address space has been allocated or assigned
> but has not been used for a reasonable period of time, action should be
> taken to recover that address space.
>
> Under this proposal the following administrative steps would be taken:
>
> 1. A list of "top-level" historical address blocks will be obtained from the
> APNIC allocation manager. This will contain all historical address blocks
> directly allocated or assigned by APNIC itself, or by another registry and
> later inherited by APNIC.
>
> 2. For every block in that list, the Routing Information Service (RIS) will
> be consulted to determine whether the address block (or any portion of it)
> has been routed ince the establishment of the system in 2002. Blocks which
> have not been routed will be added to a list of unrouted blocks.
>
> 3. For every block which has not been routed, contact details will be
> obtained from available sources, and notification will be sent by available
> means of the intent to revoke unused address space. Responses will be
> tracked using dedicated return email addresses and APNIC's request tracking
> system.
>
> 4. Responses to these contacts will be handled as follows:
>
> A. if response is received and address space holder agrees to return address
> space, records will be updated accordingly, putting address space into
> "reclaimed" status.
>
> B. if response is received and address space holder does not agree to return
> address space, records will be updated accordingly. The handling of such
> blocks will be the subject of policies to be developed in future.
>
> C. if no response is received (or if only error responses or bounces are
> received) then the address block concerned will remain on the list for later
> action.
>
> 5. After all blocks have been processed, the process will pause for 2
> months, then steps 2-4 above will be repeated.
>
> 6. After a period of 12 months, address blocks which are still unused and
> for which no response has been received will be placed into "reclaimed"
> status.
>
> After this project is complete, tha process of monitoring the "used" status
> of APNIC address blocks may be operationalised, so that this status
> information is available for use in cases of membership closure, transfer or
> dispute.
>
> NIR Considerations
>
> NIRs may choose to follow this process with regard to unused address space
> which exists with address blocks allocated to them.
>
> It is hoped that NIRs may also provide assistance to APNIC in contacting the
> holders of unused historical address space which is located within their
> respective economies.
>
> Implementation
>
> It is proposed that this project should be announced and commenced 6 months
> after approval.
>
> * sig-policy: APNIC SIG on resource management policy *
> _______________________________________________
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> sig-policy at lists dot apnic dot net
> http://mailman.apnic.net/mailman/listinfo/sig-policy
Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Be precise in the use of words and expect precision from others" -
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