I read the complaint. I don't like the fact that a lot of my friends are named in the suit, but I think there are some points worth discussing within the community: 1) IP address blocks are not 'property' "Domains are not property. The assignee of a domain has no ownership interest" Network Solutions made this same argument years ago. That was their shield against lawsuits when negligence (or worse) on NetSols part would cause a domain to be erroneously transferred. When mistakes were made, Network Solutions was notoriously unwilling to reverse the transaction to correct the error. Then they got sued for refusing to reverse a fradulent domain transfer, and they lost. The case had the side effect of setting the precedent that domains *are* in fact tangible property. Now when a registrar or registry makes a mistake, they can be legally held responsible. (What case was that? Kremen v. Network Solutions) I would say that's an improvement. 2) Why does ARIN believe that it can ignore a court order? 3) What's wrong with treating assignments like property and setting up a market to buy and sell them? There's plenty of precedent for this: Mineral rights, mining claims, Oil and gas leases, radio spectrum. If a given commodity is truly scarce, nothing works as good as the free market in encouraging consumers to conserve and make the best use of it. Joe McGuckin ViaNet Communications joe@via.net 650-207-0372 cell 650-213-1302 office 650-969-2124 fax