Recommended Draft Policy ARIN-2022-12

Direct Assignment Language Update

Status: Under Discussion
Shepherds: Doug Camin, Leif Sawyer

Current Text (20 March 2024)

AC Assessment of Conformance with the Principles of Internet Number Resource Policy:

Draft Policy ARIN-2022-12: Direct Assignment Language Update, conforms to the principles of the ARIN Policy Development Process. This draft policy is found to be fair, impartial, and technically sound. Based on community feedback and AC discussion we motion to move ARIN 2022-12: Direct Assignment Language Update, to Recommended Draft. If adopted this policy aims to update the language of Number Policy Resource Manual to remove references to the deprecated term “assignment” and use the term “allocation,” which conforms with current ARIN business practices.

Problem Statement:

As a result of ARIN’s fee harmonization direct assignments are no longer being utilized within ARIN databases therefore language around that has been deprecated and should be modernized and aligned with current ARIN practices.

Policy Statement:

Section 2.5:

Update definition of Allocation and Assignment to reflect current practice.

FROM:

“Allocation - IP addresses delegated to an organization directly by ARIN for the purpose of subsequent distribution by the recipient organization to other parties.

Assignment - IP addresses delegated to an organization directly by ARIN for the exclusive use of the recipient organization.”

TO:

“Allocation - A block of IP addresses issued from ARIN directly to customers. These IP addresses may be further reassigned or reallocated accordingly.​

Assignment - This term is no longer used to describe IP addresses issued by ARIN.

Section 2.6:

Change “receiving assignments of” to “issued.”

FROM:

“2.6 End User

An end-user is an organization receiving assignments of IP addresses exclusively for use in its operational networks.”

TO:

“2.6 End User

An end-user is an organization issued IP addresses exclusively for use in its operational networks.”

Section 2.8

Change “allocated or assigned” to “issued.”

FROM:

“2.8. Registration Services Agreement (RSA)

Number resources allocated or assigned by ARIN under these policies are subject to a contractual agreement between ARIN and the resource holder. Throughout this document, any and all forms of this agreement, past or future, are simply referred to as the Registration Services Agreement (RSA).”

TO:

“2.8. Registration Services Agreement (RSA)

Internet number resources issued by ARIN under these policies are subject to a contractual agreement between ARIN and the resource holder. Throughout this document, any and all forms of this agreement, past or future, are simply referred to as the Registration Services Agreement (RSA).”

Section 3.6.3:​

Change paragraph 1 text​

FROM: “This policy applies to every Organization that has a direct assignment, direct allocation, or AS number from ARIN”​

TO: “This policy applies to every Organization that has Internet number resources issued by ARIN"​

RESULT: “This policy applies to every Organization that has Internet number resources issued by ARIN (or one of its predecessor registries) or a reallocation from an upstream ISP. This includes but is not limited to upstream ISPs and their downstream ISP customers (as defined by NRPM 2.5 and 2.6), but not reassignments made to their downstream end user customers.”

Section 4.2.2:​

Replace text as follows

FROM:​ “All ISP organizations without direct assignments or allocations from ARIN qualify for an initial allocation of up to a /22, subject to ARIN’s minimum allocation size.​

All ISP organizations without direct allocations, direct assignments, re-allocations or reassignments automatically qualify for a /24. These organizations are exempt from requirements of showing the efficient utilization of previously held IPv4 space. These organizations may qualify for a larger than a /24 by documenting how the requested allocation will be utilized within the request size specified in 4.2.4.3.​

ISPs holding re-allocations and/or reassignments must show the efficient utilization of their resources consistent with the requirements in sections 4.2.3 and 4.2.4.​”

TO:​ “All ISP organizations without any IPv4 addresses from ARIN automatically qualify for an initial allocation of a /24. ISPs providing a 24-month utilization plan for the request size specified may receive up to a /22. ISPs holding re-allocations and/or reassignments must show the efficient utilization of their resources consistent with the requirements in sections 4.2.3 and 4.2.4.​”

Section 4.3.2:​

Change paragraph 1 text​

FROM: “End-user organizations without direct assignments or allocations from ARIN qualify for an initial assignment of ARIN’s minimum assignment size.”

TO: “End-user organizations without an IPv4 allocation from ARIN qualify for an initial allocation of ARIN’s minimum allocation size.”​

Section 6.5.8:​

Change section title​

FROM: “Direct Assignments from ​ARIN to End-user Organizations”​

TO: “End-user Allocations”​

Section 8.5.4: ​

Change section text ​

FROM: “Organizations without direct assignments or allocations from ARIN qualify for transfer of an initial IPv4 block of ARIN’s minimum transfer size.”

TO: “Organizations without an IPv4 allocation from ARIN qualify for transfer of an initial IPv4 allocation of ARIN’s minimum transfer size.”​

Section 8.5.6: ​

Change section text ​

FROM: “Organizations with direct assignments or allocations from ARIN must have efficiently utilized at least 50% of their cumulative IPv4 address blocks in order to receive additional IPv4 addresses. This includes all IPv4 space reassigned to their customers.”

TO: “Organizations with an IPv4 allocation from ARIN must have efficiently utilized at least 50% of their cumulative IPv4 address blocks in order to receive additional IPv4 addresses. This includes all IPv4 space reallocated and/or reassigned to their customers.”​

Timetable for Implementation: Three months

Staff and Legal Review (15 March 2024)

Staff Understanding

We understand that the intent of this Recommended Draft Policy is to update the definition of the terms “Allocation” and “Assignment” in section 2.5 of the Number Resource Policy Manual. Staff recommends that proposed definitions be changed to the following to be more precise and clearer as to the meaning of these terms in reference to ARIN practice and the policies in the NRPM .

• In Section 2.5, update definition of Allocation and Assignment to reflect current practice.
  • Allocation – the term allocation refers to a block of IP addresses issued from ARIN directly to customers. These IP addresses may be further reassigned or reallocated accordingly.
  • Assignment – this term is no longer used to describe IP addresses issued by ARIN.
• Staff suggests that consistent use of the term Allocation when the definition of Allocation is intended, instead of synonyms or other forms of the word, such as “allocated,” will add clarity and precision to the text. For similar reasons, staff recommends eventually making these updates to the entire NRPM.

Implementable as Written? Yes

Impact on ARIN Registry Operations and Services: None

Legal Review

There is no legal objection to proposed language, but as this is the first time that the terminology has been reviewed in many years, Legal notes that use of the term “issued” rather than “allocated or assigned” in Section 2.8 would make the language consistent with the terminology used in the Registration Services Agreement (RSA).

Implementation Timeframe Estimate: Three months

Implementation Requirements:

• Staff training
• Updates to public documentation

Proposal/Draft Policy Text Assessed: 1 March 2024

History and Earlier Versions

Related Meetings