5-6 APNIC Open Policy Meeting Report

The five-day APNIC Open Policy Meeting was held in Brisbane, Australia, from October 24 through 28, 2000, and included such activities as APNIC training, SIG meetings, and the APNIC General Meeting.

Although the majority of participants were APNIC members, and members of the NIRs and RIRs under APNIC, APNIC meetings are in principle open to non-members as well.

APNIC Training

A training session was provided for APNIC applicant members, to help them better understand relevant policies and to facilitate smoother application. This training can also be provided at the request of a member, not only during the APNIC Open Policy Meetings.

SIG Meetings

SIGs aim is to listen to the voices of concerned communities. For each session (such as Address Policy, Routing, Whois database, IPv6) presenters present their opinions and ideas on a specific theme, and participants are invited to join in discussions. A total of 23 presentations were provided this time, including those postponed to a later occasion due to time restrictions. Participants took part in heated exchanges of opinions and questions.

For details of the SIG presentations, please refer to the following URL:

http://www.apnic.net/meetings/

IPNIC IP-WG made the following presentations:

Address Policy SIG

"Separate Assignment Policies for ISPs and End Users" by Izumi Okutani

An argument was made as to the fact that most of the current Internet registry for ISPs were made based on their track records, not on their usage rates as specified in the Policy. It was proposed that such reality be reflected in the Policy in written form. A clearer definition of networks for ISPs and end users was called for. Thus, a consensus was not reached at this meeting, but was to be followed by further discussion.

"Service Guidelines for Common Evaluation Principles" by Ruri Hiromi

Following a suggestion made at the previous SIG meeting, it was proposed that either a working group or a mailing list be established to exchange common service guidelines for review between registries, aside from policy issues. A consensus was reached for the discussions to be continued via mailing list

Whois database SIG

"Private Information Protection in the APNIC Database" by Akinori Maemura

A presentation was made on JPNIC's efforts regarding handling of DBPI, and it was proposed that APNIC review the same issue. ARIN commented that they were partially implementing the method as an alternative for ISPs. However, concerns were raised over the procedure of information disclosure and the needs for considering the circumstantial differences between Japan and Australia. Further discussions are to follow.

Routing SIG

"Importance of IRR " by Kuniaki Kondo

Explanations were made regarding the importance of APNIC's hosting an IRR, as well as on JPNIC IRR study group. APNIC commented that they were reviewing the possible database preparation for an IRR.

IPv6 SIG

"JPNIC Efforts on IPv6" by Takashi Arano

A presentation was made on JPNIC's efforts regarding IPv6.

Others

Among other presentations that invited much debate, APNIC proposed the further clarification of PA assignment conditions. It was argued that each condition needed more specific definition, and this topic was left for further discussion.

A proposal was made on uniform assignment of /48 IPv6 addresses for networks that prefer static allocation.

JPNIC also supported the proposal and a consensus was reached among the SIG members. The development needs to be followed as to how this method will be actually applied.

APNIC General Meeting

As was the case with the previous meetings, APNIC, ARIN, and RIPE NCC reported on their current status. For each SIG presentation, participants indicated consensus by a show of hands.

The major agenda for this Meeting was the election of APNIC EC and ICANN ASO AC.

Akinori Maemura was elected as the new APNIC EC member representing JPNIC IP-WG. KRNIC Seung Ming Lee was chosen as ASO AC.

It was argued that members needed to continue reviewing topics raised in the SIGs, and an agreement was made to carry on discussions via mailing list.

The next APNIC Meeting is to be held in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with APRICOT. Anyone interested is welcome to participate, in addition to APNIC members.