Greg Skinner wrote:
>
> Have the smaller ISPs ever approached EuroISPA or any of the other ISP
> associations and asked them to lobby on their behalf?
I don't know if they have or not. But "here" for me is the U.S.
There's no EuroISPA here. What chance does a small ISP have in the
U.S.A., when ARIN won't give them a block? My ISP has been waiting
for 4 years, and he has the money. Meanwhile, his upstream provider
treats him like *&%$*, won't configure his zone files properly,
won't let him be multi-homed, lets him get hacked by not providing
protections, etc. When he complains to the upstream, they tell him
that they're having even worse problems with their upstream
provider. And on and on...
> An alternative for the ISPs you feel are getting squeezed is to try to
> enter into private peering arrangements with other ISPs. Perhaps
> these ISPs could form their own association and apply for a routable
> IP block.
According to what I've read in Ole Jacobsen's IP magazine about
peering, it can cause more trouble than it solves. There are
questions of compatability. And peering creates its own economic
problems.
It's a work-around in a situation that favors a strict economic
hierarchy. Such things are always half-baked. I don't see any
solution from the grass roots up. It has to start from the top of
the pyramid, the address allocators. And maybe they will have to
solve some of the routing problems first, although a better pricing
arrangement would do a lot to help, I think. And some rules about
service (between upstream providers and downstream ISPs).
On their own, though, they have no incentive to change the way
things are run. It's something that an organization like ICANN, but
well directed instead of making the situation worse, ought to be
able to do. Many people were hoping that, as well as straightening
out the DNS, the NewCo was going to tackle the addressing
inequities. Now that hope seems forlorn.
============================================================
Michael Sondow I.C.I.I.U. http://www.iciiu.org
Tel. (718)846-7482 Fax: (603)754-8927
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