What’s Happening at RIPE 88?
May 14, 2024
by Akeyla Wallace
RIPE NCC is hosting their 88th Regional Meeting from May 20, 2024 to May 24, 2024 in Krakow, Poland. Typically, the RIPE community would gather at his event to network, share updates about the networking industry and discuss any recently proposed policies. However, there are no policy proposals currently up for an official discussion. The last policy proposal that was discussed, Add AGGREGATED-BY-LIR status for IPv4 PA assignments, was accepted on April 15, 2024 and the updated policy section, IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment Policies for the RIPE NCC Service Region, was published as RIPE-822 the same day. This proposal was then moved from the current policy proposals page to the archived policy proposals page.
Though there are no proposals listed on the current policy proposals page, there is a potential proposal going through a preliminary discussion in the RIPE Address Policy Working Group Mailing List (APWG). The proposal, titled “Limiting Membership and Allocating IPv4 Subnets in Less Developed Countries”, was submitted to the APWG mailing list on April 9,2024 and seeks to reduce the potential for IPv4 hoarding and allow for the increased allocation of these addresses to “less developed countries”. The goal of the proposal would be reached by introducing a two RIPE NCC membership maximum per entity and allowing the allocation of more than one /24 block of IPv4 addresses to entities that are registered in countries that are deemed to be “less developed” to encourage their transition to IPv6.
The community responded with questions on a few parts of this proposal. The first question was how will RIPE NCC determine that a country is “less developed”? The proposal’s author responded that RIPE NCC will need to use metrics such as GDP, internet penetration rates and infrastructure. Another question, that has not been addressed by the proposer, was how would limiting membership help with the distribution of /24s when an entity can create shell companies to get around the restriction? Finally, the community requested further clarification on how allocating more /24 blocks to qualifying entities would encourage them to transition to IPv6. The proposer responded that it is their intent that the increase in allocation will allow these entities to fulfill their needs while gradually transitioning to the new protocol. As of April 10, 2024, there has not been any further discussion on this potential proposal.
Another potential proposal currently in discussion is “Options for Revising the IPv6 PI Assignment Policy”, where the proposer is looking to update RIPE-738: IPv6 Address Allocation and Assignment Policy. This revision is being sought in order to improve IPv6 accessibility for small organizations by reducing fragmentation, restricting how the addresses are utilized, allowing for the allocation of a /64 per device, and streamlining assignment procedures. The parts of the policy that are being focused on are sections 2.6, 2.9, 5.4, and 7.1. The response from the community has been that these updates are needed and should be implemented.
These potential proposals will be discussed during the Address Policy sessions on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Also on the agenda is the selection for the two open co-chair seats. The candidates are Erik Bais, who is a current co-chair and has volunteered to serve as co-chair again, and Alex Le Heux, who has been filling in as interim co-chair and would like to take up the mantle in an official capacity. To participate in these discussions, please register to attend the conference either onsite (for a fee) or online (for free).