2008-3 Previous Version [Archived]

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View the current policy proposal text.

The following version was archived on 26 August 2009.

Draft Policy 2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

Date: 23 March 2009

Policy statement:

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network

A community network is any network organized and operated by a mostly volunteer group operating as or under the fiscal support of a non-profit organization or university for the purpose of providing free or low-cost connectivity to the residents of their local service area. To be treated as a community network under ARIN policy, the applicant must further certify to ARIN that the community network staff is at least 50% volunteer and that the annual budget for community network activities is less than $250,000.

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]

b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4 policy currently in effect or be a qualifying Community Network as defined in Section 2.8, with assignment criteria defined in section 6.5.9.

[Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]

6.5.9 Community Network Assignments

6.5.9.1 Qualification Criteria

To qualify for a direct assignment, a community network must demonstrate it will immediately provide sustained service to at least 100 simultaneous users and must demonstrate a plan to provide sustained service to at least 200 simultaneous users within one year. For community networks located in rural regions or in the Caribbean and North Atlantic Islands Sector, the numbers in these qualification criteria may be relaxed at ARIN’s discretion.

6.5.9.2. Initial assignment size

The minimum size of the assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a larger assignment must provide documentation of the characteristics of the Community Network’s size and architecture that require the use of additional subnets. An HD-Ratio of .94 with respect to subnet utilization within the network must be met for all assignments larger than a /48. These assignments shall be made from a distinctly identified prefix and shall be made with a reservation for growth of at least a /44. This reservation may be assigned to other organizations later, at ARIN’s discretion.

6.5.9.3. Subsequent assignment size

Additional assignments may be made when the need for additional subnets is justified. Justification will be determined based on a detailed plan of the network’s architecture and the .94 HD-Ratio metric. When possible, assignments will be made from an aggregatable adjacent address block.

Rationale:

this policy was originally proposed by community network operators to provide them with the ability to receive a direct assignment of IPv6 address resources from ARIN. the operators of such networks have expressed their need to have a stable and globally unique address assignment with which to number their network infrastructure. many such networks are not able to meet the current criteria for a PI IPv6 assignment from ARIN. in an environment where connections to outside networks may come and go, a stable internal address structure would be very valuable. additionally, the ability to exchange routes with others, whether locally or tunneled, and thereby have native IPv6 connectivity, would be quite beneficial. these operators were also hopeful that, once this new class of address assignments was created, they could pursue lower annual fees for community networks through the ARIN Consultation and Suggestion Process (ACSP).

there could also be a number of potential benefits to allowing community network participants to begin using IPv6 addressing. some of these networks have many technically capable and adventurous members who would be motivated to begin developing and/or experimenting with the software extensions which will be needed to support IPv6 prefix selection among multiple IPv6 prefixes when establishing remote connections. also, participants in networks receiving such assignments will have the necessary global-ID to experiment with the various proposals currently being developed for separating network locater from network ID.

also, during the more than one year timeframe that this policy has been under consideration, other people have suggested other scenarios where community networks would provide a valuable resource. one such proposal was discussed at one of the Caribbean Sector meetings where some participants pointed out the efforts were being made in remote or sparsely populated areas to establish community networks which would serve as connections back to educational resources for distant learning capabilities. there are also many still wild areas of North America where such community networks could provide improved connectivity over telephone modems.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate.

The following version was archived on 30 January 2009.

Policy Proposal 2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Allocation

Author: Joshua King

Date: 16 September 2008

Proposal type: new

Policy term: permanent

Policy statement:

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network
A community network is a generic reference to a network that is
operated by a group of people living in a particular local area
organized for the purposes of delivery or provision of free or low-cost
network services to the residents of an incorporated or unincorporated
regional municipality, city, town, village, rural municipality,
township, county, district or other municipality or other such
geographic space, however designated. In order to qualify as a community
network under this policy, the community network must certify to ARIN
that their staff is at least half volunteer and that their annual
revenue is less than $250000 (in 2009 dollars, adjusted for inflation).
Legal responsibility for the network as a whole must be held by an
organization either possessing non-profit status or fiscally sponsored
by a non-profit organization or university.

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]
b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4
policy currently in effect or be a qualifying Community Network as
defined in Section 2.8, with allocation criteria defined in section 6.5.9.

[Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]

6.5.9 Community Network Allocations
6.5.9.1. Initial assignment size
Organizations defined as Community Networks under section 2.8 are
eligible to receive a direct assignment. The minimum size of the
assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a larger assignment must
provide documentation of the characteristics of the Community Network’s
size and architecture that require the use of additional subnets. An
HD-Ratio of .94 with respect to subnet utilization within the network
must be met for all assignments larger than a /48.

These assignments shall be made from a distinctly identified prefix and
shall be made with a reservation for growth of at least a /44. This
reservation may be assigned to other organizations later, at ARIN’s
discretion.

6.5.9.2. Subsequent assignment size
Additional assignments may be made when the need for additional subnets
is justified. Justification will be determined based on a detailed plan
of the network’s architecture and the .94 HD-Ratio metric. When
possible, assignments will be made from an adjacent address block.

6.5.9.3. Number of customers
Community Networks seeking an allocation must demonstrate that they
provide for a user base of at least 100 through connectivity to homes
and businesses, public facilities, public access points, or mobile
users. Community Networks with user bases of under 200 must also submit
a plan for doubling their service base over the next year.

Rationale:

There are currently a number of projects globally that aim to develop
community network infrastructure and related technologies. These are
usually coordinated by volunteer-run, grassroots organizations which
lack many of the resources of traditional internet service providers and
other network operators. They have diverse goals, including public
policy, software development, and implementation of community services
and resources. Many of them provide services free of charge, and thus
lack any paying user base. However, in order to create and maintain
community networks that are often composed of hundreds if not thousands
of inexpensive consumer-grade network devices, a significant amount of
address space will be required. Current-generation workarounds to this
problem, such as NAT, not only make it difficult to develop
next-generation decentralized network technology by segmenting the
community’s architecture from the Internet as a whole, but will cease to
be as viable a stopgap as the Internet moves towards IPv6 integration.

Community-based, volunteer-run organizations that are operated with an
eye towards the public good often do not have the resources to qualify
as an LIR under the current policy. They are often multi-homed networks
utilizing multiple, relatively inexpensive consumer-grade internet
uplinks and lacking the funds to meet the qualifications for an IPv4
allocation, but which wish an avenue to develop future IPv6 capability
for their constituent users. If this proposal is adopted, I intend to
immediately move forward with the process to request a change in fee
structure for community networks so that they are permitted to pay a
small percentage of their annual revenue in lieu of a flat fee. By
establishing a procedure by which these organizations can seek to
acquire the resources they require for further development, ARIN can
reach out to this active community and establish a small but definite
space for them in the future of Internet.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate.

The following version was archived on 16 September 2008.

Policy Proposal 2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Allocation

Author: Joshua King

Date: 18 August 2008

Proposal type: new

Policy term: permanent

Policy statement:

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network

A community network is a generic reference to any network that is
operated by a group of people living in a particular local area
organized for the purposes of delivery or provision of free or low-cost
network services to the residents of an incorporated or unincorporated
regional municipality, city, town, village, rural municipality,
township, county, district or other municipality or other such
geographic space, however designated. Legal responsibility for the
network as a whole must be held by an organization either possessing
federal non-profit status or fiscally sponsored by a non-profit
organization.

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]

b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4
policy currently in effect or be a Community Network as defined in
Section 2.8, with allocation criteria defined in section 6.5.9.

[Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]

6.5.9 Community Network Allocations

6.5.9.1. Initial assignment size

Organizations defined as Community Networks under section 2.8 are
eligible to receive a direct assignment. The minimum size of the
assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a larger assignment must
provide documentation of the characteristics of the Community Network’s
size and architecture that require the use of additional subnets. An
HD-Ratio of .94 with respect to subnet utilization within the network
must be met for all assignments larger than a /48.

6.5.9.2. Subsequent assignment size

Additional assignments may be made when the need for additional subnets
is justified. Justification will be determined based on a detailed plan
of the network’s architecture and the .94 HD-Ratio metric. When
possible, assignments will be made from an adjacent address block.

6.5.9.3. Number of customers

Community Networks seeking an allocation must demonstrate that they
provide for a user base of at least 100 through connectivity to homes
and businesses, public facilities, public access points, or mobile
users. Community Networks with user bases of under 200 must also submit
a plan for doubling their service base over the next year.

Rationale:

Community-based, volunteer-run organizations that are operated with an
eye towards the public good often do not have the resources to qualify
as an LIR under the current policy. They are often multi-homed networks
utilizing multiple, relatively inexpensive consumer-grade internet
uplinks and lacking the funds to meet the qualifications for an IPv4
allocation, but which wish an avenue to develop future IPv6 capability
for their constituent users. By establishing a procedure by which these
organizations can seek to acquire the resources they require for further
development, ARIN can reach out to this active community and establish a
small but definite space for them in the future of Internet.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate.

The following version was archived on 18 August 2008.

Policy Proposal 2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Allocation

Author: Joshua King

Date: 1 April 2008

Proposal type: new

Policy term: permanent

Policy statement:

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]

b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4 policy currently in effect or be a Community Network as defined in Section 2.8, with allocation criteria defined in section 6.5.9.

[Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]

6.5.9 Community Network Allocations

6.5.9.1. Initial assignment size

Organizations defined as Community Networks under section 2.8 are eligible to receive a direct assignment. The minimum size of the assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a larger assignment must provide documentation of the characteristics of the Community Network’s size and architecture that require the use of additional subnets. An HD-Ratio of .94 with respect to subnet utilization within the network must be met for all assignments larger than a /48.

These assignments shall be made from a distinctly identified prefix and shall be made with a reservation for growth of at least a /44. This reservation may be assigned to other organizations later, at ARIN’s discretion.

6.5.9.2. Subsequent assignment size

6.5.9.3. Number of customers

Community Networks seeking an allocation must demonstrate that they provide for a user base of at least 100 through connectivity to homes and businesses, public facilities, public access points, or mobile users. Community Networks with user bases of under 200 must also submit a plan for doubling their service base over the next year.

Rationale:

There are currently a number of projects globally that aim to develop community network infrastructure and related technologies. These are usually coordinated by volunteer-run, grassroots organizations which lack many of the resources of traditional internet service providers and other network operators. They have diverse goals, including public policy, software development, and implementation of community services and resources. Many of them provide services free of charge, and thus lack any paying user base. However, in order to create and maintain community networks that are often composed of hundreds if not thousands of inexpensive, commodity hosts and devices, a significant amount of address space will be required. Current-generation workarounds to this problem, such as NAT, not only make it difficult to develop next-generation decentralized network technology by segmenting the community’s architecture from the Internet as a whole, but will cease to be as viable a stopgap as the Internet moves towards IPv6 integration.

Even now, common community networking software solutions such as CUWiNware ((http://www.cuwin.net) and Freifunk (http://www.freifunk.at) have nascent IPv6 addressing support, but participating organizations lack the address space for widespread testing or adoption. As such, it is necessary to implement an procedure as soon as possible for these segregated networks to acquire address space. These organizations do not meet the criteria traditionally defined for LIR’s, and thus cannot acquire address allocations through existing templates. By establishing a procedure by which these organizations can seek to acquire the resources they require for further development, ARIN can reach out to this active community and establish a small but definite space for them in the future of Internet.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate.

The following version was archived on 1 April 2008.

Policy Proposal 2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Allocation

Author: Joshua King

Proposal Version: 1

Date: 4 March 2008

Proposal type: new

Policy term: permanent

Policy statement:

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]

b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4 policy currently in effect or be a Community Network as defined in Section 2.8.

Rationale:

There are currently a number of projects globally that aim to develop community network infrastructure and related technologies. These are usually coordinated by volunteer-run, grassroots organizations which lack many of the resources of traditional internet service providers and other network operators. They have diverse goals, including public policy, software development, and implementation of community services and resources. Many of them provide services free of charge, and thus lack any paying user base. However, in order to create and maintain community networks that are often composed of hundreds if not thousands of inexpensive, commodity hosts and devices, a significant amount of address space will be required. Current-generation workarounds to this problem, such as NAT, not only make it difficult to develop next-generation decentralized network technology by segmenting the community’s architecture from the Internet as a whole, but will cease to be as viable a stopgap as the Internet moves towards IPv6 integration.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate.