On Feb 3, 2011, at 3:42 PM, David Conrad wrote:
Second, neither ICANN nor the USG has (to my knowledge) declared the RIRs to be "successor registries" (whatever they are).
David - ARIN succeeded Network Solutions in 1997 in the performance of IP number assignment, Autonomous System number assignment, and IN-ADDR.ARPA tasks.
However, pragmatically speaking, the folks who matter in any of this are the ISPs. The RIRs exist primarily as a means by which ISPs can avoid doing a myriad set of bilateral agreements as to who "owns" what address space to ensure uniqueness. If the RIRs reduce their value by no longer providing that service in an effective way (e.g., by doing what you suggest), I suspect the ISPs would find other entities to provide global uniqueness services.
Full agreement on that point. /John