In message <24124.27418.388460.814191@gargle.gargle.HOWL>, Barry Shein <bzs@theworld.com> wrote:
Given events including the IPv4 runout etc perhaps it's long overdue that the RIRs should hire a professional big-name (we used to call them Big 5) accounting firm to audit or at least review IP address, ASN, etc. allocation.
I am not talking about money, I am talking about resource allocation.
That would be a step towards accountability. ...
Not sure how to break this to you, but the concept you appear to be talking about, i.e. employing an actual accounting firm to, you know, account for valuable IPv4 assets as, you know, valuable assets would, as far as i have been able to determine, represent a truly novel innovation in the world of Regional Internet Registries. During my investigation of the goings on down in AFRINIC, I had occasion to look at the company's audited financial statement for fiscal year 2015. This is a company that was effectively gifted with two /8 blocks, with current market value, as I calculated it on the back of a napkin, of over $250 million USD. In the one specific document that I looked at, which I believe was prepared by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) I saw no hint whatsoever of any part or portion of these assets being accounted for in any way. It was as if they didn't exist. I was all set to be freshly outraged at AFRINIC about this until I realized that it isn't just them. As far as I am aware at this moment, *no* RIR had ever had its accountants or auditors account for valuable IPv4 assets as assets. If I am wrong, which is quite possible, I would be happy to be proven so. Regards, rfg