The Results of the RIPE 88
Policy Discussion
May 29, 2024
by Akeyla Wallace
Last week, RIPE 88 was held in Krakow, Poland. During the conference, the Address Policy Working Group (APWG) met and discussed policy and services updates, reviewed potential policies, and made their selection for the two open co-chair seats. In the first part of the meeting, the two co-chair candidates, Erik Bais and Alex Le Heux, were elected into the positions without conflict. However, on May 28, 2024, the networking world was saddened to learn of Erik Bais sudden death; a terrible loss for the community.
After the co-chair selection was completed, “Options for Revising the IPv6 PI Assignment Policy”, where RIPE-738: IPv6 Address Allocation and Assignment Policy would be updated was discussed. The RIPE community approved of this update in a general sense but had a couple of inquiries on how the policy would affect RIPE members. The first inquiry revolved around how the updated policy would resolve two separate IPv6 requests of /48s coming from the same LIR. The proposer responded that RIPE NCC would assign a /44 block of IPv6 addresses to the LIR to satisfy both requests. Another inquiry addressed the need for a clear definition of an “End-Site” and the response was that adding this definition should be a separate policy proposal as it would affect more than just this section of the RIPE policy. The final inquiry was if a user can extend to a /46 from a /48 without renumbering their system. In response, the proposer mentioned that there is already a provision for this situation in the policy.
A potential proposal that was presented for the first time to the community was PI Policy Simplification. which seeks to limit IP address statuses to allocated, assigned and aggregated. This update is theorized to offer clarity, consistency, more policy oversight, and simpler policy/procedures. This potential proposal would also give membership room to evolve based on our current reality as the membership structure is rigid and based on IPv4 distribution. The RIPE community had pushback with regards to removing statuses as it would remove information regarding the contractual requirements of the address space from the public view. Taking away this visibility could result in errors in the request of resources, complicate resource transfer policy, and have further implications for legacy resource holders. Furthermore, the community is confused as to what other consequences may result from the implementation of this policy and its ultimate goals. Finally, the community recommended the proposer consult the Database Working Group before submitting preliminary proposal text to the Address Policy Working Group Mailing List (APML). As there was a need to move onto the next subject during the policy session, Erik Bais requested that any further questions for the proposer be submitted via the APML.
The potential policy “Limiting Membership and Allocating IPv4 Subnets in Less Developed Countries” was not discussed during the APWG policy session, however, there were many interesting updates delivered to the community.
From RIPE NCC Registration Services, we received the following updates:
- Currently, the RIPE NCC IPv4 waitlist is stable at around 1,000 LIRs with a wait time of 16-18 months and RIPE NCC will provide 260 /24 allocations over the next 6 months.
- IPv6 stockpiling is becoming more of an issue, resulting in an increased workload, a lack of oversight and a restriction of membership growth. RIPE NCC is reviewing this issue and is looking for workable solutions.
- Since the RIPE NCC began issuing only 6-digit (32-bit) ASNs in January 2024, there have been few complaints and they have reached full policy compliance.
- RIPE NCC asked if the organization should take a more active role in the PDP. Community members expressed interest in having RIPE NCC employees make suggestions for policy proposals.
RIPE NCC will host their 89th Regional Meeting in Prague, Czechia from October 28, 2024 to November 1, 2024.