Re: Digital Element, Neustar (Transunion) & ipinsight.io)

[John Sweeting via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

ARIN’s current Out of Region policy can be found in Section 9 of the ARIN Number Resource Policy Manual, see 
https://www.arin.net/participate/policy/nrpm/#9-out-of-region-use
From: Jon Lewis via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>
Date: August 25, 2025 at 11:36:59 AM EDT
To: David Conrad via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>
Cc: Jon Lewis <jlewis () lewis org>
Subject: Re: Digital Element, Neustar (Transunion) & ipinsight.io
Reply-To: North American Network Operators Group <nanog () lists nanog org>
On Sat, 23 Aug 2025, David Conrad via NANOG wrote:


The problem is the assumed binding of <IP address, geographic address> in the “northern hemisphere” or wherever. This 
has never been guaranteed, has always been questionable, and, historically, was actively discouraged, at least by the 
RIRs (“the Internet does not use geopolitical boundaries for address allocation”, handwaving away the RIR geographical 
monopolies).

Huh?  It wasn't that many years ago, ARIN considered "out of region" utilized IP space to not qualify as "utilized" for 
purposes of qualifying for additional allocations by showing your existing allocations were sufficiently utilized.

Though that issue is relatively moot at this point, that policy did eventually change.


The problem, as I think you pointed out earlier, is that various parties, for good or ill, need there to be an <IP,geo> 
binding, even if it doesn’t really exist, so using what information they have, they make it up as they go along.  
Sometimes (usually) it works. Sometimes, it doesn’t. The crux is that, when it doesn’t, the mechanisms to fix the 
binding, such as they are, sucks

This varies quite a bit from one IP Geo provider to the next.  Some are pretty good (have web pages where you can do 
test queries against their data, will accept your geofeed data if you tell them where to get it, etc.).  Others (like 
Digital Element) seem to be entirely opaque and obtuse.


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Jon Lewis, MCP :)              |  I route
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