At 11:10 AM 5/19/95 MST, peter@swan.lanl.gov wrote:

...

What's being asked for here is what a lot of businesses might consider proprietary or trade secret type information. There are few secrets on the Internet, we all know, once the network is in place, but plans for expansion and new business ought to be confidential until the day the circuit is turned on.

It is the case that several regulatory agencies ask for similar information when an organization requests allocation of spectrum. For example, in the US the FCC asks for an "independent" engineering review for several classes of spectrum allocation.

peter

Hate to argue with someone named after the Saint :). One of the things I've learned over the years is that just because someone else does something doesn't make it right. So far, we're not a regulated industry, and I think most of us wish to keep it that way. So comparisons to regulated industries aren't, IMHO, a great thing because someone might get the idea that we want to be regulated. One of our recent US Presidents said something like this: "If you want more of something, subsidize it; if you want less of something, tax it; and if you want to kill it, regulate it." Let us not ask, or suggest that we're asking, for something we don't want. The internet community is a vital, vibrant collection of some of the brightest, most thoughtful people in the world. Sure we have disagreements and problems, and sure there are some who don't follow the rules that we've agreed to live by. Peer pressure is clearly the way to deal with those problem folks. One of the beauties of the way that we do things now is that we try something for a while, and if it doesn't work, we change it. That's a luxury we could well lose if IP addr's, etc., are dealt out by government bureaucrats who might also be dealing out license plates at the same time (seems like you get everything else at the Secretary of State office here in Michigan :) ). I much prefer to deal with members of the internet community. That said, when you're dealing with a limited resource, sale of that resource is clearly the best way to see it allocated correctly because most people won't buy more than they need. And I suggest that CIDR blocks might actually be more valuable than the component addresses they contain, because of the benefits a CIDR block gives its owner (one might actually make a living from assembling and brokering CIDR blocks, I suppose). So when someone switched providers, it might well be in the provider's best interest to buy back the addresses to preserve the value of the block. That repurchase could in part compensate the moving party for the expense of renumbering. I'm kind of thinking out loud here. I'd enjoy any constructive criticism offered. Peter _____________________________________________________________________ Peter Kline | pots 313-730-1130 AGIS - Internet Backbone Services | fax 313-563-6119 22015 West Outer Drive | national pager 800-790-1216 Dearborn, MI 48124 | peter@agis.net | "Adapt, Innovate, Overcome!"