[address-policy-wg] The final /8 policy proposals, part 3.2

Michael,

On Sep 17, 2009, at 12:07 PM, <michael.dillon at bt.com> <michael.dillon at bt.com 
 > wrote:
>> Same thing that happens when the person in front of you in
>> the line at the cafetaria at work takes that last cupcake:
>> you're outta luck.
> Wrong!

Err, no.

> If RIPE has changed their policies so that they apply different
> criteria to you and your competitor, you are not out of luck. You
> now have grounds for a nice lawsuit against both RIPE and your
> competitor.

By this logic, RIR policies can never change or the RIR will get  
sued.  Obviously silly.

> The point is that if RIPE changes the policy, it has to do so in
> a way that does not convert the bad luck of running out of IPv4,
> into selective discrimination.

It isn't "bad luck", it is a function of having a limited resource.   
Bakeries do not get sued when they run out of cupcakes. I suspect all  
RIPE needs to do is ensure polices are non-discriminatory going  
forward (but then again, I'm not a net.lawyer.

Regards,
-drc