[address-policy-wg] do IP addresses have a financial value?

Marshall and all,

  I wouldn't know actually.  But thanks for the concern and
consideration regardless.  >:)

Marshall Eubanks wrote:

> On Oct 8, 2008, at 8:05 AM, Jeffrey A. Williams wrote:
>
> > Jim and all,
> >
> > I must agree with Jim here.  I can say that our IPv8 addresses
> > have for whatever reason become extremely valuable, as discrete
> > offers for IPv8 address space I am getting has in two months,
> > jumped by 3x.  Of course we never sell IPv8 address space,
> > as our policies only allocate based on demonstrated need
> > and time to full usage.
> >
>
> Indeed. Jim Fleming must be proud.
>
> Regards
> Marshall
>
> > Jim Reid wrote:
> >
> >> On 9 Oct 2008, at 08:28, Andy Davidson wrote:
> >>
> >>> Addressing doesn't have latent worth right now because as an LIR
> >>> with a justifiable need, I can beg resources from a hostmaster, at
> >>> no (or a small marginal - if billing score is implicated) direct
> >>> cost.
> >>
> >> I'm not convinced by that argument Andy and IMO it's unlikely to
> >> stand
> >> up to scrutiny by an auditor or the tax authorities. The two of us
> >> could agree to trade some commodity and claim that what was traded
> >> had
> >> no value. That doesn't make it so in the eyes of the taxman or our
> >> company auditors.
> >>
> >> In some respects IPv4 space today has parallels with .com stock
> >> options. [Remember them?] At the point of acquisition they had a
> >> marginal value -- "fair" market price -- that was close to zero. Most
> >> stayed there or depreciated. :-( But when the circumstances were
> >> right, the options became very valuable and those holding them got
> >> rich.
> >>
> >>> I therefore can't trade any of these address resources because
> >>> others can do the same.  This means that today the addresses have no
> >>> value.
> >>
> >> Just because someone can't or doesn't want to trade something doesn't
> >> mean it has no value. We know that there have been examples where
> >> companies have merged or been acquired for the address space they
> >> held
> >> and that space determined the price of the transaction. And there
> >> is a
> >> grey market in address space outside the RIR system. Which implies
> >> that addresses do have a value.
> >

Regards,

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