Meeting of the ARIN Advisory Council - 20 October 2023

San Diego, CA

Attendees:

  • Leif Sawyer, Chair (LS)
  • Kat Hunter, Vice Chair (KH)
  • Doug Camin (DC)
  • Andrew Dul (AD)
  • Gerry George (GG)
  • Brian Jones (BJ)
  • Kendrick Knowles (KK)
  • Anita Nikolich (AN)
  • Amy Potter (AP)
  • Gus Reese (GR)
  • Chris Tacit (CT)
  • Alicia Trotman (AT)
  • Matthew Wilder (MW)
  • Alison Wood (AW)
  • Chris Woodfield (CW)

ARIN Staff:

  • Michael Abejuela, General Counsel
  • Alyssa Arceneaux, Scribe
  • John Curran, President and CEO
  • Eddie Diego, (ED) Policy Analyst
  • Jenny Fulmer, (JF) Staff Attorney
  • Richard Jimmerson, Chief Operating Officer
  • Lisa Liedel, Director, Registration Services
  • John Sweeting, Chief Customer Officer

Observers - ARIN Board:

  • Nancy Carter, Trustee
  • John Curran, Trustee
  • Peter Harrison, Trustee
  • Tina Morris, Vice Chair
  • Rob Seastrom, Trustee

1. Welcome

The Chair called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. PT. He welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted that it was election season. The presence of a quorum was noted.

2. Agenda Review

The Chair reviewed the agenda with the Council and called for any comments. AD asked for discussion of the editorial process and the Policy Development Process (PDP). The Chair noted the item for discussion under Any Other Business.

3. Approval of the Minutes

(Exhibit A)

There were no comments.

“The ARIN Advisory Council approves the Minutes of 21 September 2023, as written.”

The Chair called for any comments. There were no comments.

The motion carried with no objections.

4. Draft Policy ARIN 2022-12: Direct Assignment Language Update.

DC stated that based on feedback from ARIN 52 and conversations from that feedback, the policy shepherds will be waiting on other policies that will affect this draft policy. They will not be recommending moving this policy forward at this time. After any new developments, they will take appropriate action.

5. Draft Policy ARIN 2023-1 Retire 4.2.1.4 Slow Start.

BJ stated that he would like to move this policy to recommended draft policy status, but it was noted by the Chair that a staff and legal review had not yet been conducted. BJ withdrew his request for motion and stated he will await the results of the staff and legal review.

6. Draft Policy ARIN 2023-2: /26 initial IPv4 allocation for IXPs.

MW stated that there was great community feedback received, but the policy still needs work to ensure that the community understands what the policy is trying to accomplish. GG stated that he would like ARIN staff to review reverse DNS smaller than a /24.

It was moved by AD, and seconded by AP, that:

“The Advisory Council abandons Draft Policy ARIN 2023-2: /26 initial IPv4 Allocation for IXPs.”

The Chair called for discussion. MW stated that although there was opposition voiced by members of the Community, the policy did receive some community support. He also noted that this is only the first ARIN meeting where the policy has been presented. AD believed that this policy was not necessarily worth the time and that it did not appear well supported. He stood behind his motion to abandon.

AP believed the policy was not technically sound.

AT stated she would like to see what comes up in in the research, but believed it was too early to abandon the policy completely. DC agreed with AT, stating that after researching, if found technically sound, it could move forward.

The motion to abandon failed with 12 against and three in favor, via roll call vote.

The Chair asked MW to continue researching and to come back to the AC at a later date.

7. Draft Policy ARIN 2023-3: Amendment of the Waitlist Agreement to Include a Restriction on Leasing

CT stated that there were very good discussions at the microphone during ARIN 52 that canvassed the relevant issues. He then indicated that based on everything he had heard and after consulting with GG, he will be making a motion to abandon this policy. He indicated that there are three reasons for this: (1) with the waitlist duration increasing significantly and the small quantities of addresses that can be obtained via the waitlist, there is no longer material incentive to obtain addresses for leasing: (2) trying to get consensus on a definition of “leasing” would take a long time and be very difficult based on the experience of other RIR, and there is not much utility in doing so given the first point; and (3) a policy that seeks to restrict leasing is unlikely to be enforceable by ARIN at the present time.

It was moved by CT, and seconded by KH, that:

“The Advisory Council hereby abandon, Draft Policy ARIN 2023-3: Amendment of the Waitlist Agreement to Include a Restriction on Leasing.”

The Chair called for a discussion. It was noted that this does not solve the problem that is trying to be solved, and there may be other ways to address the issue. CW stated that finding a workable definition of ‘leasing’ is going to be the most difficult part.

The motion carried unanimously, via roll call vote.

8. Draft Policy ARIN-2023-4: Modernization of Registration Requirements.

AN stated that there were good comments during the discussion and believed that the Community was able to understand the policy, but she would like to look at more of the comments on the Public Policy Mailing List (PPML) before moving the policy forward. She requested a staff and legal review.

9. ARIN-2023-5: Clean-up of NRPM Sections 4.3.4, 4.4, 4.10 and 6.10.1.

AW stated that the feedback from ARIN 52 strongly indicated that this is not an editorial policy, otherwise there were no other concerns from the Community. She noted that there was one additional editorial suggestion that would remove the term ‘block’. The question was asked that if this change was made, would another staff and legal review be required. The Chair stated that it would not, and the policy could move forward with that change.

It was moved by AW, and seconded by CT, that:

“The ARIN Advisory Council moves ‘ARIN-2023-5: Clean-up of NRPM Sections 4.3.4, 4.4, 4.10 and 6.10.1’ to Recommended Draft Policy status, with the changed wording.”

The Chair called for discussion. There were no comments.

The motion carried unanimously, via roll call vote.

10. ARIN-2023-6: ARIN Waitlist Qualification.

AT stated that there was much feedback from the Community, but she would like to garner more interest - especially on the PPML. She stated that she would not be making a motion at this time.

AD stated he wanted to discuss his opposition to this policy. As suggested at the microphone - to insert a paragraph “to use all this stuff below.” He likened this to the transfer policy language in Section 4 and had moved the language to Section 8 to make clear the specific rules that apply to transfers. The thought process is to do the same with the waitlist - find the specific rules, and move them into the waitlist and get rid of the rest. He noted it is a suggestion and the AC is welcome to take it on, but the AC should be clear on the text moving forward and continue to discuss it.

CT stated that he would like further clarification on the Org ID definition issue. The definition of “Org ID” used in the policy was taken directly from the website, but asked what is staff looking for to ensure that the use of the word accurately reflects how it is applied in practice? The President noted that the website is not set in stone. If a new definition is accepted, staff and legal will make the needed changes. CT hypothesized making the definition more general - an organization that obtains resources from ARIN. The President noted that some of ARIN’s customers have multiple instances in the registry (multiple IDs). If you need this in the policy, then the AC needs to decide for what purpose the definition is needed - organization and not Org ID.

MW stated that this came out of the Number Resource Policy Manual Working Group (NRPM WG), and it does not want to renumber the material sections. The waitlist references multiple sections. AD agreed but asked that at this point in time, shouldn’t the rules be the same for any organization? To get this block, meet these criteria and you receive it. It may simplify the process.

The Chair thanked AT and stated that he looked forward to seeing the continued work.

11. ARIN-2023-7: Clarification of NRPM Sections 4.5 and 6.11 Multiple Discrete Networks and the addition of new Section 2.18 Organizational Identifier (Org ID).

CW stated that the policy received very good feedback, however there were questions about having it in one policy or if it should be split into two policies with language to be more inclusive. He would like to take that feedback and make some edits to this section.

CT stated that he would like further clarification on the Org ID definition issue. The use of the word “record” was taken directly from the website, but what is staff looking for? The President noted that the website is not set in stone. If a new definition is accepted, staff and legal will make the needed changes. CT hypothesized making the definition more general - an organization that retains resources from ARIN. The President noted that some of ARIN’s customers have multiple instances in the registry (multiple IDs). If you need this in the policy, then the AC needs to decide for what purpose the definition is needed - organization and not Org ID.

12. ARIN AC Working Groups

  • Number Resource Policy Manual Working Group (NRPM WG) Update. CT stated that the WG had several policies in play at this meeting and the WG was about to start on Section 6 of NRPM. This section was written differently, style-wise, than other sections; and the WG will begin working on it.

  • Policy Experience Report Working Group (PER WG) Update. AW stated that they have a lot of work in front of them and was hopeful to get the group together to begin assigning work.

  • General comment on Working Groups: CT stated that one challenge is getting enough participation in the WGs. He suggested that ARIN may want to invite new AC members to WG meetings as observers, following the ARIN elections, so that they can sit in to see if they would like to join a group when their terms start in the new year. If they decide to join, they can jump in quickly to help with the workload.

13. Any Other Business

The Chair called for any other business items.

  • Changes in Employment and Affiliation. None reported

  • Acknowledgments: CT thanked the AC stating that he has enjoyed working with this Council and the collegial environment. The Chair thanked CT for all of his hard work, stating that CT helped to influence him directly. The Chair also thanked other AC members, who were leaving the AC, for their hard work and their friendship.

  • Editorial Process and the PDP: AD corrected a statement he had made regarding the PDP at the AC’s September meeting by noting that a policy proposal could be eligible for the editorial process; and he informed the Council that he and the Policy Analyst are working to get the flow chart to match the policy.

  • Working Group Members.: The Chair noted that he and the Vice Chair discussed setting the number of members in working groups. One working group has a small number and the other has a large number. He stated that they were thinking of limiting the number of members on working groups and wanted to ask the Council their thoughts – specifically, no more than 5 members per group, but suggestions were welcome.

    AW asked if this could be a fluid recommendation dependent on the amount of work. The Chair responded that they could start with 5 members and increase the number of members when needed. AD noted that 4.6 is usually the optimal number on a team.

    The Vice Chair noted most of the working group’s members are veteran AC members. If working groups get too large, then it becomes difficult to assign policy. During this election we will have a large amount of new incoming AC members. We will need to be careful that we do not run out of people to shepherd policies.

14. Adjournment

The Chair entertained a motion to adjourn at 1:37 p.m. PT. AD moved to adjourn, seconded by KH. The meeting adjourned with no objections.