[governance] IPv6 address allocations to DOD

[Ian Peter]

Thanks John, I appreciate your reply. But for the record, can you confirm
exactly how many IP addresses have been allocated and/or reserved for US
Dept of Defence? (not all of us can read /16 or /13 and make sense of it).
It would be good to know the exact number. Can anyone give me authoritative
information on this, as media reports are widely different. Also, am I right
that this is the largest allocation made to date?

I gather from your comments (and those passed on by McTim earlier) that an
application of this size lead to a considerable amount of discussion and
internal clarification before an allocation was made. Glad to hear it. But I
am still puzzled as to what the documented need would be for such a large
allocation.

However, as you say

> ARIN isn't in a position to disclose the
> application information related to any allocation, regardless of the nature
> of the applicant

Which, while understandable, is a great pity. We do have an international
climate where the sometimes "special" relationship of internet governance
groups with the US government is viewed with suspicion, and this large
allocation without explanation will only fuel those fires.

Thanks again for being as open with your reply as you could as ARIN CEO. But
of course I remain curious and I am sure others do as well.

Ian Peter



> From: John Curran <jcurran at arin.net>
> Reply-To: <governance at lists.cpsr.org>, John Curran <jcurran at arin.net>
> Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:38:17 -0500
> To: Ian Peter <ian.peter at ianpeter.com>
> Cc: "governance at lists.cpsr.org" <governance at lists.cpsr.org>
> Subject: Re: [governance] IPv6 address allocations to DOD
> 
> On Jan 27, 2010, at 11:46 PM, Ian Peter wrote:
>> ...
>> In either case, the number is huge, in excess of allocations to bodies who
>> have greater neeeds for IP numbers, and hardly allocated on the basis of
>> need.
> 
> The allocation was made based on documented need.
> 
>> I wonder if someone can let us know the correct number allocated or reserved
>> for US DOD use? It would also be useful to know how the decision on the
>> allocation was taken.
> 
> The allocations are all in the WHOIS database, which is public by nature.
> 
> The US DoD made a request to ARIN for IPv6 allocations.  Such requests are
> covered by NDA because they contain proprietary information, just as every
> request received from carriers, enterprises, hosting companies, etc.  Due
> to the size of the request, it's safe to assume that there was lots of
> additional communication and documentation required to show why & how
> such an allocation was needed.
> 
>> If the number was simply allocated because it was asked for, that seems a
>> very naïve decision in an age where claims of information imperialism are
>> being made. Surely someone in the relevant internet governance area (ARIN?)
>> would have thought about the policy implications?
>> 
> 
>> Or if there was simply no choice - US DOD gets what it wants, no questions
>> asked, questions need to be raised about the independence of internet
>> governance structures.
> 
> Allocations are made based on documented need in accordance with the
> established policy.  Policy is determined by the community based on the
> Policy Development Process, which is documented at:
> <https://www.arin.net/participate/how_to_participate.html>.
> 
> At present, there is no limit on address allocation size for IPv6,
> although the community could always adopt one as policy.
>> 
>> Yes I know, there are plenty of numbers available (they said that with IPv4
>> as well). But that's hardly the point.
> 
> Correct. Conservation is a basic principle of IPv6 allocations.
> 
>> Can someone enlighten us with the details of this allocation and how it was
>> made?
> 
> I hope this explanation helps.  ARIN isn't in a position to disclose the
> application information related to any allocation, regardless of the nature
> of the applicant.
> 
> /John
> 
> John Curran 
> President and CEO
> ARIN
> 
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