[ncc-services-wg] End User Agreement question

Dear Hank,

>>> While reviewing the suggested RIPE NCC End User Agreement located at:
>>> http://www.ripe.net/lir-services/resource-management/independent-resources/independent-assignment-request-and-maintenance-agreement-1
>>> I see in section 4.3.a:
>>>
>>> "The End User shall use the Independent Internet Number Resources assigned to it for internal purposes within its own network only."
>>>
>>> Legal counsel has stated that based on the text provided, any IP address block or ASN assigned could only be used within a company/corporate/organization Intranet and publishing such resource on the global Internet would violate the End User Agreement.
>>
>> I am afraid the word "use" is misinterpreted by the legal counsel.
>> In the context of the End User Agreement, use means use for identifying
>> a host, i.e. the quoted text does not allow the End User to configure
>> an IP address form that range on a host that is not in their own network.
>> This is further clarified in point 4.3.b.
>
> In our context the End User wants us to "park" an ASN under our LIR.  Your interpretatio of "use" - "used to to identify a host" - does not cover the ASN instance.

You are right, I am sorry, I was concentrating on IP addresses as for
ASNs it makes even less sense to use them within the company only.

If we are talking about ASNs, the document we have to look at is:
http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-525 (Autonomous System (AS) Number Assignment
Policies).

Here we find the following (2.0 Assignment Criteria):

"In order to help decrease global routing complexity, a new AS Number should be used
only if a new external routing policy is required, see RFC1930."

Paragraph 3.0 (Returning AS Numbers) also says:

"If an organisation no longer uses the AS Number, it must be returned to the public
pool of AS Numbers. The RIPE NCC can then reassign the AS Number to another
organisation."

Therefore it is clear that an ASN is not intended to be used "internally", moreover,
you are not supposed to "park" it.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
Janos

> -Hank
>
>
>> I am sure you are aware of all I quote below, but I gathered these to help
>> you in clarifying the issue with the legal counsel.
>>
>> Please note that the End User agreement says in Article 1 Definitions:
>> "Assignment:
>> act by which the RIPE NCC enables the End User to use Independent Internet
>> Number Resources for its internal use. This may involve the publication in
>> the RIPE Database of the End User as the assignee of the respective Internet
>> Number Resources."
>>
>> You can have a look at http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-553
>> "IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment Policies for the RIPE NCC Service
>> Region"
>>
>> The paragraph 2.0.1. says:
>> "Public IP addresses are assigned to be globally unique according to the
>> goals described in Section 3 of this document."
>> and paragraph 3.0.1. says:
>> "Uniqueness: Each public IPv4 address worldwide must be unique. This is an
>> absolute requirement guaranteeing that every host on the Internet can be
>> uniquely identified."
>>
>> The world wide uniqueness is indispensable for the reliable communication
>> on the Internet (and would definitely not be relevant in case you used the
>> IP addresses in your own network only - see RFC1918).
>>
>> I hope this helps.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Janos
>>
>>> Who has used this draft agreement and did you change the text?  Strange that no one has spotted this before.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Hank
>>>
>>>
>
>