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I have mixed feelings on this, not so much that the /10 was sold - I also saw no real need for amprnet to hold onto such a large unused block when something positive could be done with it. From a ham software developer's point of view however and to WHOM it was sold to I have some issues to which I'll explain:
First I'll tackle to whom it was sold: Daily my logwatch is filled with botnet attacks from Amazon! They ignore reports when you file them... not very good business practice IMHO. They're the #1 offender I see to my block with botnet attacks in the USA. To help them expand is also by action promoting botnet attacks! Not good. By not selling to them would help squeeze their space and perhaps by default help squash some of these botnets that they let run wild within their datacenters.
Secondly, as a software developer I have a ruleset in my software that allows for specific things based on the subnet of 44.0.0.0/8. Not knowing about this ahead of time and preparing for when the event were to take place now leaves me to scramble to get a security release out that engages more filters for 44-net as a whole when I could have had a release out prior to this even occurring. I don't know if or how this may affect other developers however knowing ahead of time and being *prepared* makes a transition a lot smoother and with less panic. Rule of the 7 P's: Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Here there was no time allocated in developer preparation. Very sad to see. It should have been stipulated by ARCD that such secrecy not be allowed within the amateur community to the buyer.
I know many hams who want to be on amprnet but haven't a clue on the basics of system administration, router configs, etc that I basically spend a full-time job's worth assisting almost 24/7. Again knowing ahead of time could have helped me help them a lot easier than having to scramble... rule of 7 P's once again applies.
We're in the hobby of communications and in this case there was ZERO until the "damage" was done. Hopefully this can also be a learning experience for the "board" that future sales (and I do see them coming) are discussed with everyone involved including those who are active on ampr.org prior to anything being finalized.
Brian et al have done a fabulous job in maintaining amprnet for many many years... however how this was handled I feel could have been done a lot better. Please consider being a lot more vocal to the community as a whole in the future.
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