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