[address-policy-wg] Re: [ncc-services-wg] Request Forms:

Hi!

>[...] The IPv4
>policy has been updated and a draft of the revised text is available for
>review by the community, now. It can be found at:
>
><http://www.ripe.net/ripe/draft-documents/ipv4-policies.html>
>[...]
>
>There are also a few advantages to the new forms that may not be apparent
>from the customer perspective but remain very important. Because the
>syntax-checking software at the RIPE NCC has been replaced the forms can be
>changed and updated more easily in the future. This means we can be more
>responsive to your needs than in the past.

Maybe I did get you wrong, but I don't think that the forms can be 
changed "on the fly".  A quote from the draft:

   6.1 Documentation for Assignments
   [...]
   The RIPE NCC provides forms for gathering the required information.
   The information requested in the forms must be collected by the LIR.
   [...]

Nothing wrong with this, but if we are expected to follow the wording 
the forms have to be stable.

>Also, providing services via the LIR Portal will let us improve the request
>process to make it easier and faster in the future.
>Thank you for your insights into these new forms. We are keen to get
>reactions from LIRs so that we can continue to improve and update them and
>the services we provide - both e-mail and web versions.

Looks like RIPE NCC gets a bit too webbish for us (as in the dilbert 
strip http://www.gaertner.de/~schuma/not-too-webbish.gif).  What about
providing a new autohm in ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/tools/ ?  We use 
autohm for each assignment to meet the documentation requirement 
of the current policy:

   5.1.1 Documentation
   [...]
   However, if a request needs to be approved by the RIPE NCC or if
   information is required in the event of an audit, the information 
   must be submitted on a current version of the IPv4 Address Space
   Request Form available from [...]

The IPv4 policy draft makes the need for autohm even clearer:

   [...]
   This is very important when an LIR makes assignments using its AW.

   If a request needs to be approved by the RIPE NCC or if information is
   required in the event of an audit, the information must be submitted
   on a current version of the request form found at:
   [...]

Most of our assignments fall into the "using its AW" category.
According to ripe-170 "Pro-active Audits of LIRs with little contact"
should exist.  Using autohm ensures that we could provide the documentation
in the required format on the fly.

Regards,
Joerg