21 Jul
2019
21 Jul
'19
3:06 p.m.
Hello Ronen,
I think many of your questions would be answered if you read the
article I wrote on the subject at <https://www.ampr.org/amprnet>.
But one point that I want to make even more strongly is that there
is NO plan to sell any more of the AMPRNet address space now or at
any time in the future.
Please note that we discussed this matter for many many months
before moving ahead. EVERYONE who has ever had control over this
address space was unanimously in favor of selling the unused (and
likely never to be used) space to forward the goals of Amateur
Radio, and that is what we have done. We think it is for the best.
And none of us gets any reward for any of this except for the feeling
of having done the right and proper thing. We each of us have
received a number of thanks and congratulations, along with a lot
of vitriol, hate, and threats from small-minded hotheads.
We all apologize for the secrecy, but it was forced upon us in order
to participate in the IP address global marketplace. That is not
an open arena, and likely never will be. And that is not our doing.
Large corporations and governments, those who are the only possible
buyers of the required magnitude, do not conduct their business
details in public. By keeping it under wraps during the negotiations,
we and the negotiators we employed were able to obtain the best
sale price available.
After months of negotiation, this all went surprisingly quickly
from proposals to accomplished fact, in a matter of just a few days.
With more than 50 million dollars that now must be spent on promoting
amateur radio by supporting those that make ham radio what it is
and what it can be, we believe that the address space now converted
to funds will do more good for more hams and the future of amateur
radio than any unused idle addresses held for an unlikely future
use could possibly do.
In the near future, we expect to invite interested groups (and
later, when we have the clerical support to handle the paperwork,
individuals) to apply for funding to support their projects, whether
they be fundamental research, scholarships for education, design of
new algorithms or technology, or the construction of Amateur
facilities. The granting committee is being formed as we speak,
and we will publish a document on how to qualify for funding as
soon as we can -- it is being written now.
Best wishes and 73,
- Brian