On 12/15/2011 09:07, Justin M. Streiner wrote:
I tend to think of squatting in the sense of using a resource (could be an IP address block, could be an empty house, could be just about anything) that the person who is using it does not have permission to do so. I would think that definition holds up even when taking into account that people do not own their IP address allocations. An RIR or ISP assigning address space to a particular entity would establish a legitimate (but not irrevocable) claim to use a block of address space.
Squatting is maybe one notch above hijacking in this sense.
Well here's the thing about allocations. All an IP allocation is, is a entry in a data base saying an ORG has a right (from an RIR perspective) to use use an address range. Now a AS can actually use any IP space it wants internally, and if it gets another AS to accept their routes for that IP space and that AS's peers agree to accept those routes, the first AS can actually use that IP space. The RIR or IANA has zero legal authority to stop this as it's just a bunch of private networks agreeing on some one using IP space. Now this gets a lot more fun as we get closer to true IPv4 exhaustion. If there is a business case between two or more providers to side step a RIR process and recognize IP allocations that the RIR does not, who really has the power to stop them? Think about this, if you're a service provider in the US, and the big US networks agree to route your IP space that is actually registered to some network in Kazakhstan according to the RIR's, what will happen? from the service providers perspective the average user will have access to 99% of the US networks (which is really all people want :) and most likely half way decent connectivity to other AS's. Sure, this sucks, but 99% of the people don't care, and still provides better connectivity to services people want than IPv6 does. So follow the money and see how IPv4 exhaustion plays out ;) -- Bryan Fields 727-409-1194 - Voice 727-214-2508 - Fax http://bryanfields.net