Opinions Differ Over Need for Global IPv6 Allocation Policy, Mechanism

GENEVA -- Countries and the Internet registry community are discussing the possibilities of a global policy for reserving IPv6 addresses and of the ITU’s becoming an additional Regional Internet Registry, said participants at a group meeting about IPv6 that continues through Tuesday. The U.S. and some other participants said current mechanisms work well and can adapt to future needs.

A draft global policy proposal for reserving a large IPv6 block, to help meet the future needs of developing countries is the group’s goal, the ITU website said. The group will discuss ways to ensure “equitable access” to IPv6 resources by countries, the site said. Any proposal would first be considered at the April ITU Council meeting, a spokesman said. It may also be considered for action at quadrennial policy-setting meetings in May and October, and in the five regional registries.

Several countries asked for a definition of the problem to be solved, a participant said. Some developing countries and others fear a repeat of the IPv4 allocation history with the IPv6 address space, he said, alluding to the possibility of overly liberal allocation in the early stages followed by tighter policies that leave people behind as resources run out.

Predicting future network scaling is difficult under the current first-come, first-served distribution IP address distribution methods, China said. Operators might need to apply for new IPv6 blocks with network development in mind, it said. The difficulty is that no one can show a need for IPv6 addresses, a participant said. The problem with needs-based assessments is that underdeveloped Internet economies can’t now show they need addresses, he said, and they're worried about what will happen in 10 or 20 years.

That regional registries have been given equal, large blocks of a very large IPv6 space may miss the point, a participant said. The blocks allocated are also large, he said. The registries have discussed and acknowledged the problem and tightened their policies, he said. Some countries believe that a block of IPv6 addresses should be reserved for each country, a participant said. The idea that emerged from talks among the ITU, ICANN and the registries was that the five registries might agree on a global policy to deal with the concern, he said.

The group is considering the ITU’s becoming an Internet registry, the ITU website said, and the group’s possibly proposing ways for the intergovernmental organization to manage a reserved IPv6 block. Talks are also focusing on the possibility of using a Country Internet Registry model for countries requesting national allocations, the website said. ITU-commissioned reports explored two approaches, open trading and the country registry approach of making a reservation to countries, a participant said.

There’s no value in introducing a country-based allocation system, said the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association. Introducing a country/national distribution mechanism for IP addresses would at best duplicate with current practices and could conflict with them, the association said. The change would introduce intractable confusion into the management of IPv6 addresses, it said, making it more complex and risky for the stability of the global Internet.

Participants suggested additional studies to first define the problem, a participant said. Studies and expert review are needed on whether current mechanisms are adequate for countries and business to get fair allocations of IPv6 addresses, the U.K. said.

The U.S. said it supports existing regional-registry methods for IP address allocation and management. The U.S. wants to spur dialogue with delegations and the registries. Cisco said the ITU can play a constructive role in the migration to IPv6 by building human resource capacity and supporting current mechanisms.

Any proposal shouldn’t duplicate, complicate or confuse current global assignment policies agreed on by all the regional registries, the U.K. said. Until the studies are done, the ITU might consider providing help to countries that need it allocating or managing IPv6 resources, the U.K. said.

New mechanisms don’t offer substantial benefits that would offset the substantial risk posed to the Internet infrastructure, said a study by the American Registry for Internet Numbers and others. Australia expressed qualms over possible unanticipated coordination issues with a new address allocation model that could affect the Internet’s stability. The country referred to law enforcement’s use of regional-registry resource location tools to link IP address allocations to organizations. The U.S. and the Internet Society said the current model works and can evolve to meet new demands. Others suggested finding possible solutions in the current system before making larger changes, a participant said.