There are only 2 -3 bidders for a block of this size, an auction is not useful.
Selling if off as smaller chunks at a higher unit cost is high-effort, low return.
Leaving it site there and do nothing with it would be a travesty.
I really don’t know any of the principals personally, but I do know that they’ve cared for this block for years, put some systems and tools in place so we could all use it, and enabled things.
I’m supportive of this effort to monetize it and I’m eagerly awaiting more info on how we support the goodness that flows down from this.
I have so many words for the conspiracy theorists and negative naysayers, but I’ll hold that back and not contribute to the shitstorm.
On Thu, Jul 18, 2019 at 9:39 PM David Ranch amprgw@trinnet.net wrote:
Wow! This is rather big news but has also been VERY opaque to the AMPR community. I'm also surprised that the sale has already occurred and not auctioned off to say the highest bidder? Since ARDC is a corporation, when will we learn about the sale price and how this money will be *really* spent?
The bottom of https://www.ampr.org/amprnet/ does cover a little of this but it's all too vague for my tastes.
--David KI6ZHD
On 07/18/2019 07:47 PM, ARDC Board of Directors wrote:
Amateur Radio Digital Communications [ARDC] is a United States charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation that has long owned and managed the Internet address space known as the AMPRNet.
Nearly 40 years ago, early in the evolution of the Internet, this address allocation was acquired to be used for the mutual benefit of Amateur Radio and digital communications technology.
Amateur Radio operators ("hams") use the global radio spectrum set aside for them by international treaty in non-commercial ways to improve engineering, research, experimentation, training, education, and emergency communications. Having the AMPRNet available over the past four decades has facilitated integration of the Internet with radio-based technologies long used by hams. This long term interaction has been key to development of now ubiquitous wireless technology such as WiFi and the ability to browse the Internet or to stream various media to your mobile phone.
Over those past decades, a portion of the AMPRNet IPv4 address space has rarely been used, and recent utilization surveys show that it is not likely to ever be needed by hams.
Initially free, IPv4 Internet addresses are now highly valuable, and there is an international marketplace in which to sell them. ARDC has sold some of its unused and unneeded address space, but retains a more than ample supply of IPv4 addresses for current and future use by the many Amateur Radio operators worldwide. The sale amounts to some millions of dollars, which will be used in the furtherance of ARDC's continuing public benefit purpose.
Before the sale, the AMPRNet consisted of the addresses 44.0.0.0 through 44.255.255.255 (in Internet notation, 44.0.0.0/8). Post-sale, it consists of addresses 44.0.0.0 through 44.191.255.255 (44.0.0.0/9 plus 44.128.0.0/10). The uppermost 1/4 of the former AMPRNet address space (44.192.0.0/10) has been withdrawn from ham radio use and sold to another owner, however over 12 million IPv4 addresses remain for amateur radio use.
ARDC will use the proceeds of this address sale to further its mission to support, promote, and enhance Amateur Radio, digital communications, and broader communication science and technology by funding grants and scholarships for scientific research, experimentation, education, open access, and innovation in information and communications technology, with an emphasis on benefiting the international Amateur Radio service.
For further information, please see https://www.ampr.org/amprnet/.
Best wishes and 73, The ARDC Board of Directors
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