MS is seeking to buy 666k IP's from Nortel in a bankruptcy sale. These are blocks that weren't assigned by ARIN, but originally by IANA, so the rules in ARIN are a bit different.
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2011/3/23/4778509.html
The question that is raised is "Why?". If MS had an immediate need for IP space, they could have gone to ARIN and got it for far cheaper. If they didn't have an immediate need for space, but are instead stockpiling for the future, they may be in violation of ARIN's rules, as IP addresses are considered a scarce resource.
Some questions raised by this on NANOG: Will ARIN accept the sale and give the blocks to MS, and in the process justify a IP address grey market? Can MS justify the need to ARIN? Could ARIN revoke the blocks themselves, declare the space free and assign it to someone else? In that case, what will happen if MS starts to announce the blocks from their AS? What if both MS and the entity that received the block announces it? Will the upstream carriers drop traffic from someone as large as MS?
Of course, the judge could not approve the sale, in which case the above is a moot point.
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2011/3/23/4778509.html
The question that is raised is "Why?". If MS had an immediate need for IP space, they could have gone to ARIN and got it for far cheaper. If they didn't have an immediate need for space, but are instead stockpiling for the future, they may be in violation of ARIN's rules, as IP addresses are considered a scarce resource.
Some questions raised by this on NANOG: Will ARIN accept the sale and give the blocks to MS, and in the process justify a IP address grey market? Can MS justify the need to ARIN? Could ARIN revoke the blocks themselves, declare the space free and assign it to someone else? In that case, what will happen if MS starts to announce the blocks from their AS? What if both MS and the entity that received the block announces it? Will the upstream carriers drop traffic from someone as large as MS?
Of course, the judge could not approve the sale, in which case the above is a moot point.
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