Michael.Dillon@btradianz.com wrote:
But in the end, IP addresses are not property, therefore they cannot be assets and cannot be transferred. They can only be kept if they are in use on network assets which are transferred and which continue to be operational. And even then, most people have no choice as to which specific address block they use. They simply take what the ISP gives them.
One could probably debate that statement for a long time. Saying they are "free" to me is technically inaccurate. If you are getting PI space, you have to pay registration fees, which incurs cost on behalf of the party. A growing number of ISPs are now charging "leasing" fees or similar fees for the usage of PA addresses. As IP address scarcity goes up, I wouldn't be surprised if leasing fees become higher and/or if ARIN fees become more steep as an attempt to weed out people who are trying to horde address space. While IP addresses certainly are not a tangible asset, and a defined intrinsic value can not be determined, there does seem to be a value to them, if only speculative at best. Best Regards, -Michael -- Michael Nicks Network Engineer KanREN e: mtnicks@kanren.net o: +1-785-856-9800 x221 m: +1-913-378-6516