The Regional Internet Registries are conducting a Internet community consultation process regarding the recent ITU IPv6 Country Internet Registry (CIR) proposal. In collaboration with the other Regional Internet Registries, APNIC hosted a special session at APNIC 29 / APRICOT 2010 to give the global Internet Community an opportunity to discuss the issues and ramifications of the alternative model proposed by the ITU.

For those interested in the outcome of the recent face-to-face session, a raw transcript and session summary statement are available here:

http://meetings.apnic.net/29/program/consultation

I’d like to thank APNIC for hosting this session as it is important to discuss these issues publicly in timely manner so that input can be brought to the the March 15-16 ITU IPv6 study group meeting in Geneva. By having a public discussion of these important issues, APNIC (as an ITU-D sector member) can submit the outcome for further consideration in this process.

While the ITU IPv6 study group is a closed meeting, I have received an invitation to participate on March 15-16 in Geneva on ARIN’s behalf as an “invited expert”, and at that session I will focus on the comments covered in the public consultation that was just held. If you have additional input on this topic that you would like to have considered, please review session materials and then contact your regional internet registry, or your organization/company/government ITU representative if you are aware of one. I will also take comments on the CIR proposal until the ITU IPv6 study group meeting start on 15 March, and will try to do my best to convey the input received.

As you can tell, we’re attempting to be as accommodating as possible to the ITU as they explore the issues in this area, and their processes are significantly different than Internet Registry System regarding how input is received and considered. At this point, ARIN considers it very important to support these educational efforts, and hope that it will result in better overall understanding of the success that is today’s Internet Registry System.

I hope this post helps the Internet community understand where we are in this interesting process.

Thank you for your feedback and support!