ARIN’s free pool is effectively drained, with fewer than 150,000 IPv4 numbers remaining in block sizes of 256 or 512. All of the angst over how to handle the dwindling IPv4 free supply can be put to rest. The big question is “what now” given that IPv4 number requests have continued to climb over the years.
The question of whether IPv4 numbers qualify as property has been the subject of much discussion over the years. As lawyers working within this domain, the principals of Avenue4 have researched the subject extensively. Although the answer is not as crisp as many would like, after balancing the conflicting considerations, we believe the common law supports finding property rights in IPv4 numbers.
As the ARIN free pool steadily dwindles to empty – now with the lowest number of IPv4 addresses of any RIR, prices bottom out, and news on IPv4 exhaustion picks up speed. Meanwhile, the UK government comes off the sidelines, selling its first trance of numbers in the IPv4 market.
ARIN and LACNIC are now running neck and neck for most depleted free pool. RIPE’s interRIR transfer policy should be ready for primetime in August and LACNIC is again exploring whether it wants to join RIPE, ARIN and APNIC in the global transfer market.