Private address and static IP as an commercial offer.

Arif OKTAY wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I appreciate if  someone clarifies the situations for the following;
> 
> 1- Address Translation and Private Address Space Usage. Some of my 
> customers want to use public addresses with no technical reason. Their main 
> concern is to avoid the extra expenditure for a NAT/proxy/firewall. Should 
> I force them to use one ?

To quote ripe-185:

	"Private Address Space: Using private addresses helps
	to meet the conservation goal.  For this reason,
	users should always be informed that private
	addresses might be a viable option. In particular,
	private address space can be employed if not all
	hosts require network layer access to the Internet.
	Although users are not required to use private
	address space even if it would satisfy their needs,
	it is important that they have considered the possi-
	bility. The private-considered field in the network
	overview form should be checked after the requester
	has indicated whether it is applicable for the
	user's network."

Thus, as long as a customer is made aware of the possibility of using private
address space, there is no *requirement* that private address space is
actually used.

> 2- I've seen the following advertisement on the net. Doesn't this 
> constitute a violation of the policy as " IP addresses does not have any 
> commercial value". There wasn't any extra info whether this amount was 
> billed for dns records or any other service. Advertisement was from ARIN 
> region.
> 
> "For just an additional $15/month, you can get a single static IP address - 
> perfect for using your company's VPN (Virtual Private Network) or accessing 
> the corporate network. The Static IP feature is only available at your 
> residential location. Currently, the feature is only available for new 
> customers in certain areas. For more information and to order your Static 
> IP address today, please call x-xxx-xxx-xxxx and ask for the "Static IP 
> feature". "

In the RIPE region, again ripe-185 applies:

                2) Charging Policies
                     A Local IR must publish its charging policy.
                     The policy is defined in ripe-152 [Norris96a]:
                     "Address space is a finite resource with no
                     intrinsic value and direct costs cannot be
                     ascribed to it. While they may not charge for
                     address space as such, registries may charge
                     for their administrative and technical ser-
                     vices. Registries must publish their operating
                     procedures and details of the services they
                     offer and the conditions and terms that apply,
                     including scales of tariffs if applicable."

Not knowing the details of this particular providers service, it's hard to
comment too much.  The $15/month (which may or may not be seen as reasonable)
would probably be seen as an additional charge for "administrative and
technical services" for the static IP *feature* rather than a charge for the
IP address itself.

James