AS path geeks: At the risk of invoking ire and eliciting comparisons to the widely-reviled and growing practice of selling IPv4 addresses, I'm wondering if anyone has sold legacy AS numbers for quick cash. For example, NASA has AS23 among others, and does not use 23. Could they help fund a Mars mission study or two by offering it to the highest bidder? Or would they be lucky to top the $500 ARIN charges for a 32-bit ASN? How about AS1? Level3 uses a different AS. There's one nonpaying customer advertised from AS1, and despite their historical involvement creating the first predecessor of the internet, I bet DoD Network Information Center would be willing to use a different AS for the single prefix advertised by 1 now, if Level3 asked them nicely. Is Level3 leaving money on the table? I looked a bit for any transfer or change policy that might apply without success. Given these are legacy assignments, I have a feeling the POC could be changed without merger or acquisition, and I bet the AS descriptive name could be as well. I know I'd personally find a low AS number worth a pretty penny, if I could find a willing seller. I recognize there's no practical shortage of AS numbers. BGP's preference for low AS numbers doesn't come into play much. On the other hand, a low AS number can't hurt at the human level when negotiating peering or attracting customers. Cheers, Dave Hart