On Feb 3, 2011, at 3:42 PM, David Conrad wrote: > Second, neither ICANN nor the USG has (to my knowledge) declared the RIRs to > be "successor registries" (whatever they are).
David - ARIN succeeded Network Solutions in 1997 in the performance of IP number assignment, Autonomous System number assignment, and IN-ADDR.ARPA tasks. > However, pragmatically speaking, the folks who matter in any of this are the > ISPs. The RIRs exist primarily as a means by which ISPs can avoid doing a > myriad set of bilateral agreements as to who "owns" what address space to > ensure uniqueness. If the RIRs reduce their value by no longer providing > that service in an effective way (e.g., by doing what you suggest), I suspect > the ISPs would find other entities to provide global uniqueness services. Full agreement on that point. /John
