[address-policy-wg] [policy-announce] 2014-05 New Draft Document and Impact Analysis Published (Policy for Inter-RIR Transfers of Internet Resources)

Hi, 

Thank you for the analyses.  

> You can find the full proposal and the impact analysis at:
>    https://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2014-05

I see some issues that aren't consistent in the wording of the policy,
especially in terms of Legacy and PI space holders (non-members) and:  

> Address space may only be re-allocated to another resource holder who is a
member of an RIR that allows transfers.
  
Both PI space holders and Legacy holders are not always members of an RIR.
I'm speaking with my RIPE region community member experience here. So it
could be that in for instance ARIN or APNIC all resource holders are members
of the RIR, but here in the RIPE region that isn't (always) the case. 

> When Internet number resources are transferred from another RIR, the RIPE
NCC will work with the resource holder to fulfil any requirements of the
sending RIR.

Suggested wording: 
When Internet number resources are transferred from another RIR to the RIPE
Region, the RIPE NCC will work with the receiving party and the resource
holder and the sending RIR to confirm the qualification requirements in
order to complete transfer. 

It is more specific to the intend, however as the RIPE NCC is put in a
position to check if the receiving party qualifies following a needs
assessment according to the policy of another RIR, the RIPE NCC needs to be
in contact with the receiving party, the resource holder and the sending
RIR. 

On the part of arbitration, the policy as it is described in the Summary of
the Proposal is a nightmare I think.. 

The Summary of the proposal states : 
> If another RIR has a different policy, the RIPE NCC should create an
operational procedure that satisfies the requirements of both RIRs in order
to allow transfers to and from its service region 

I understand the intend of what it stated, but I don't think that the NCC
should be put in a position where Axel would come opposite from the board of
ARIN or APNIC and have them sort out the procedure, without a proper
arbitration procedure in place outside the RIR's ... 
What if a transfer isn't going as planned and it does pass the arbitration
in the RIPE region ... the sending RIR doesn't agree with the arbitration
out-come ... And what is next ? Will the NCC take the other RIR to court ?
Or is there an arbitration process for RIR's ?  

Personally I think that the policy should state that the party in the RIPE
Region should deal with the arbitration in the RIPE region and that the
sending or receiving party in the other RIR should convert to the
arbitration in their respective RIR. Or agree by agreement which of the 2
RIR's their arbitration will be used (and with that choice to apply their
policy)  if we keep the policy as it is currently on the table.. 

If the intent of the policy, as it is currently, is that the RIPE NCC should
adhere to the policy of the more strict assignment policy of the other RIR,
state in the policy specifically that the other RIR needs to do the need
justification checking with the receiving party and approve the transfer
prior to submitting the transfer for processing to the RIPE NCC. 
They have the best knowledge of the policy in that specific RIR and if they
don't agree with the justification or qualification of the receiving party,
their arbitration can also be used, without getting the RIPE NCC in a
squeeze between a rock and a hard place or putting a requirement in place
for the RIPE NCC staff that they should get intimately familiar with other
RIR their addressing policy. 

If the other RIR approves the transfer based on their current policy at that
time (as if it is an intra-rir transfer ) it can be submitted to the RIPE
NCC for administrative processing, as the RIPE NCC has a more liberal
addressing policy towards transfers than any other RIR. 

I hope that I've made my point on the topic and with that also suggested a
way forward. 

I really don't like a policy that has too many open ends or topics that we
haven't addressed enough and already know up-front that the other RIR's
don't agree with. 

Regards,
Erik Bais