[address-policy-wg] RE: Private address space in IPv4 and IPv6 [was something irrelevantly titled]

> My point of view: RIR-s space is for routing on the Internet. 
> Not for private use! So it MUST be routed on the Internet. 

This is wrong. The Internet Protocol (IP) was not invented
only to create the public Internet. It was created so that
all networks, that want to interconnect with another 
network, have an internetworking protocol that does the job.
The public Internet is the biggest internetwork but it is
not the only one. Globally unique addresses are required
so that a network can interconnect with other networks
without renumbering.

The RIRs are not there to serve the Internet. They are
there to serve the users of IP technology which is
a bigger group than just the Internet. It is OK for
RIPE to provide services that are only needed on
the Internet, but it is not nice if RIPE would stop
providing services to IP users who are not connected
to the Internet.

In English, the word "private" has different meanings
which cause confusion. In addition we use the word
"network" to refer to both networks and internetworks
which adds to the confusion.

--Michael Dillon