On Mar 16, 2013, at 7:24 AM, Alex Le Heux <aleheux@kobo.com> wrote:
(Tore Anderson wrote:) Current policy says about assignments: «In general, addresses can be replaced on a one-to-one basis. Valid assignments can be replaced with the same number of addresses if the original assignment criteria are still met.»
The way I see it, this opens up for the new LIR (the alloc buyer) to inherit the documentation relating to the assignment from the old LIR (the seller), and on that basis make a new assignment that happens to consist of the exact same addresses as before.
You're probably right. Right in the sense that this can be resolved by a kind of creative policy interpretation and/or the RIPE NCC playing fast and loose with policies and procedures in the name of being reasonable.
Just for reference, the concept of being able to transfer an existing block from one party to another also has a basis in the early Internet Registry system documents, i.e. RFC 2050 (1997), which included the guideline: "The transfer of IP addresses from one party to another must be approved by the regional registries. The party trying to obtain the IP address must meet the same criteria as if they were requesting an IP address directly from the IR." Clearly, the policy as developed by the RIPE community is what truly matters, but it should be noted that the outcome will not be new ground in any case. FYI, /John John Curran President and CEO ARIN