[address-policy-wg] 2009-01, Global Policy for the allocation of IPv4 blocks to Regional Internet Registries

michael.dillon at bt.com wrote:
>> Note  however that ARIN is the odd man out here. All the 
>> other RIRs have agreed on the original wording, so it may not 
>> be up to *us* to do anything.
>>     
>
> Actually it is up to us to do something.
>
> Now that ARIN has approved a policy with substantially different
> wording, there is not going to be a global policy covering this. 
>
> RIPE needs to decide if we are happy with separate regional policies, or
> if we are willing to adopt ARIN's wording in an attempt to reach a
> global policy.
>
> Of course, if there is not much desire to change anything, then de
> facto, ARIN's policy is regional and there will be no globally
> consistent policy. That is roughly how the NRO process works.

For clarity, ARIN has not yet approved 2009-3.  The ARIN AC has revised 
it, and the revised version is going to be up for adoption discussion at 
the Dearborn meeting.  If the community supports the revised version, 
and the ARIN AC votes to adopt it, then the other RIRs can decide 
whether they want to adopt that text as well.

Without global consensus, this policy doesn't really do much for us.  It 
is written as a Global Policy because it directs IANA how to 
redistribute returned address space.  That portion of the policy has to 
go through as a Global Policy, or not at all.

-Scott