[db-wg] proposal: new attribute 'geofeed:'

Hi Job

So if we were to create a new NWI with your suggested Problem statement:

    Associating an approximate physical location with an IP address
    has proven to be a challenge to solve within the current constraints
    of the RIPE database. Over the years the community has chosen
    to consider addresses in the RIPE database to relate to entities in
    the assignment process itself, not the subsequent actual use of IP
    addresses after assignment.

    The working group is asked to consider whether the RIPE database can
    be used as a springboard for parties wishing to correlate
    geographical information with IP addresses by allowing structured
    references in the RIPE database towards information outside the RIPE
    database which potentially helps answer Geo IP Location queries.

Would you say a possible Solution statement could be as simple as:

Implement a new "geofeed:" attribute in the INETNUM and INET6NUM
objects based on the IETF draft
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-opsawg-finding-geofeeds/
On deployment update any objects in the RIPE Database containing a
"remarks: Geofeed" with a correctly formatted url into a "geofeed:"
attribute.

cheers
denis
co-chair DB-WG

On Sun, 3 Jan 2021 at 19:11, Job Snijders via db-wg <db-wg at ripe.net> wrote:
>
> Dear DB-WG chairs,
>
> Today an acquaintance (who works at an ISP) reached out to me describing
> some annoying Geo IP location issues they were facing.
>
> I thought to myself "didn't we have a solution to such issues?" and was
> reminded of this thread.
>
> Chairs, how do we proceed to work towards the deployment of this new
> RPSL 'geofeed:' attribute? What is the next step?
>
> strawman problem statement for NWI process:
>
>     "Associating an approximate physical location with an IP address
>     has proven to be a challenge to solve within the current constraints
>     of the RIPE database. Over the years the community has choosen
>     to consider addresses in the RIPE database to relate to entities in
>     the assignment process itself, not the subsequent actual use of IP
>     addresses after assignment.
>
>     The working group is asked to consider whether the RIPE database can
>     be used as a springboard for parties wishing to correlate
>     geographical information with IP addresses by allowing structured
>     references in the RIPE database towards information outside the RIPE
>     database which potentially helps answer Geo IP Location queries."
>
> Outstanding questions to the group & authors of the geofeed draft:
>
>     - What would the RDAP integration look like? (as per George: ideally
>       WHOIS and RDAP stay aligned)
>     - Why not use the RPKI to distribute geofeed information?
>     - What downsides/risks/challenges down the road might exist? Will
>       this be the final and full solution to GeoIP challenges?
>     - Have any of the GeoIP aggregators/vendors responded to the
>       'geofeed:' initiative? What do the likes of amazon/google/maxmind
>       think of the format?
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Job
>