ARIN-prop-327: Reduce 4.18 maximum allocation

Date: 26 October 2023

Proposal Originator: Mike Burns

Problem Statement:

4.18 waiting times are too long, making justifications untimely by the time a request is met. New entrants to the waiting list are expected to wait three years for their need to be met under current policy, with a waiting list of around 700 at this point. Data indicates that reducing the current /22 maximum further to a /24 would significantly reduce this waiting period, and further tightening the requirements by replacing the /20 recipient maximum holdings with a /24, and preventing multiple visits to the waiting list queue.

Policy Statement:

In section 4.18, replace the second sentence “The maximum size aggregate that an organization may qualify for at any one time is a /22.” With “The maximum size aggregate that an organization may qualify for is a /24.”

Remove the next sentence “Organizations will be able to elect a smaller block size than they qualify for down to a /24.”

Replace the next sentence “Organizations which hold more than a /20 equivalent of IPv4 space in aggregate (exclusive of special use space received under section 4.4 or 4.10) are not eligible to apply.” With “Organizations which ever held any IPv4 space other than special use space received under section 4.4 or 4.10 are not eligible to apply.”

Remove the sentences: “Multiple requests are not allowed: an organization currently on the waitlist must wait 90 days after receiving a distribution from the waitlist or IPv4 number resources as a recipient of any transfer before applying for additional space. ARIN, at its sole discretion, may waive this requirement if the requester can document a change in circumstances since their last request that could not have been reasonably foreseen at the time of the original request, and which now justifies additional space.”

Remove the sentence: “Restrictions apply for entities who have conducted recent resource transfers. These restrictions are specified in Section 8 for each relevant transfer category.”

Add the sentence: ”Waiting list recipients must demonstrate the need for a /24 on an operating network.”

In section 8.3 Conditions on the source of the transfer, remove this sentence: “The source entity will not be allowed to apply for IPv4 address space under Section 4.1.8. ARIN Waitlist for a period of 36 months following the transfer of IPv4 address resources to another party.”

In section 4.22 replace the sentence: “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.” With “All ISP organizations without direct assignments or allocations from ARIN qualify for an initial allocation of a /24.”

Timetable for Implementation: Immediate. Needs more careful review for intersection with other elements of the NRPM. Need to be careful with existing list member treatment.

Comments: I haven’t scanned the NRPM for other mentions of 4.18 that may need to be addressed. I think section 4 can be drastically simplified further with this change. My intention in requiring demonstrated need is avoidance of the situation at RIPE where every new entrant got an automatic allocation, which resulted in many new entities incorporated only to receive this allocation. I noted a serendipity in the number of waiting list entries (703) and the amount of entries that could have been met with a /24 cap (703) in John Sweeting’s ARIN 52 presentation. Current waitlist entrants should be grandfathered-in but their maximum allocation reduced to /24.