[address-policy-wg] Input Requested: How to Ensure Responsible ASN Resource Management

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for the feedback received so far.

As Aleksi noted, there are indeed valid reasons why ASNs seem to be 
unused. We have some data on this from our AS Number Clean up project.
When asked if the resource is being used, about 2/3 of ASNs have been 
returned, about 1/3 are expected to be used soon, and only a very small 
number have been used by transit providers or IXPs.

Of the more than 8,000 ASNs not visible in the routing system, about 52% 
are 16-bit ASNs.

As mentioned by Kaj, the members of RIPE NCC clearly voted against 
charging for ASNs. So we wanted to ask this working group if there are 
other ways to improve the situation?
Something that falls under the authority of the RIPE community, such as 
developing RIPE policies or guidelines for Registration Services.
For example, are you in favour of us being more active in trying to 
clarify the status of ASNs that seem to have been unused for a long 
period of time?

Kind regards,

Marco Schmidt
Manager Registration Services
RIPE NCC

On 08/06/2023 16:55, Nick Hilliard wrote:
> Marco Schmidt wrote on 08/06/2023 14:30:
>> We also plan to intensify our ongoing project to clean up unused 
>> Autonomous System (AS) Numbers [2]. Almost 2,000 unused ASNs have 
>> been recovered as part of this work so far. Do you support our 
>> approach here? And are there other ways we could improve the 
>> situation? Perhaps you could add clarification on requesting and 
>> returning ASNs in the relevant RIPE policy, or maybe we could give a 
>> stronger mandate and responsibility to the sponsoring LIRs.
>
> Hi Marco,
>
> There are good reasons to clean up unused ASN16s, as they are 
> categorised by policy as scarce resources. There isn't a compelling 
> reason to get as excited about ASN32s, other than to say that normal 
> good stewardship practices should apply.
>
> Unfortunately there is a disconnect between RIPE policy and RIPE NCC 
> practice in regard to charges for ASNs. This is a real shame because 
> paying for resources is one of the simpler ways of creating positive 
> pressure to return them if they're unused. The community would benefit 
> from the board re-thinking this.
>
> Nick