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Q: Worth of an IP subnet ( Answered,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Worth of an IP subnet
Category: Computers > Internet
Asked by: seanhowell-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 26 Nov 2002 21:49 PST
Expires: 26 Dec 2002 21:49 PST
Question ID: 115255
Hi All

We own a registered Class C IP Subnet.  

Can I sell it? 
What would it be worth?
How or who would I sell it to?

Thanks in advance
Answer  
Subject: Re: Worth of an IP subnet
Answered By: gan-ga on 26 Nov 2002 23:26 PST
 
Hello Sean,

Classful addressing (class A, class B, class C, etc) is now considered
redundant. The original model for distributing IP addresses, based on
classful addressing strategies, did not take into account the massive
expansion of Internet use and was unable to scale to meet this
expansion. Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) is now one of the
fundamental requirements for eligibility to receive IP address ranges.

It is also the case that IP addresses are considered a shared public
resource;
they are allocated, rather than sold, ultimately by the top level
global authority, down through regional authorities, through larger
ISP's, smaller ISP's and finally to individual organisations &
individuals. An individual may pay a service charge, or make some
equivalent arrangement, with an ISP for exclusive use of a range of so
allocated IP addresses, but ultimately full ownership and control does
not rest with the individual.

Where money *could* possibly change hands, would be in the area of
relinquishing your current claim to the use of your IP range, similar
to the situation of 'selling' a domain name. This would be a matter
for pure negotiation between the seller and the prospective
'purchaser' - however, should the providing upstream ISP encounter
difficulties, the effects would remain outside of either parties'
control.

The allocation of the Internet address space is primarily carried out
globally by the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers).

Specifically, ICANN coordinates the assignment of the following
identifiers that must be globally unique for the Internet to function:

Internet domain names 
IP address numbers 
protocol parameter and port numbers

Control is further delegated by ICANN to regional registry
organisations, operating on behalf of the Internet community:

ripe.net - European, Russian, African region
http://www.ripe.net/index.html

arin.net - North American region
http://www.arin.net/

lacnic.net - Latin American and Caribbean region
http://lacnic.net/en/index.html

apnic.net - Asia & Pacific region
http://www.apnic.net/

AfriNIC - an African Regional Internet Registry proposal
http://www.afrinic.org/

To quote RIPE :

http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/faq/general/qa1.html#10

Can I buy IP addresses from the RIPE NCC?
*No.* IP addresses are a shared public resource and are not for sale.

http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/faq/general/qa1.html#11

How much do IP addresses cost?
The RIPE NCC does *not sell IP addresses*

Can I obtain a class C address block?
Classful addressing (class A, class B, class C, etc) is now
redundant...

For in-depth technical detail concerning CIDR
and IP Addressing, see the following:

IP Address Subnetting Tutorial
http://www.ralphb.net/IPSubnet/index.html


Search strategy:
Searchterms used in Google:
purchase ip address
african ip registry
russian network registry
ip subnetting


I hope this has answered your question. If you require more
information, please do not hesitate to request answer clarification
before rating my research; I will be pleased to assist further.


Best regards,

gan.

Request for Answer Clarification by seanhowell-ga on 27 Nov 2002 00:56 PST
Thanks Gan, 

I don't feel you have answered my question. Whether classful
addressing is redundant and how they are assigned is not what I am
asking.  If I may re-phrase;

We have approximately 254 IP addresses assigned directly to us by
APNIC (there is no-one else upstream), are they worth anything to
sell, rent or, as you have added, relinquish claim to?

You came close to answering the question in your statement; "Where
money *could* possibly change hands, would be in the area of
relinquishing your current claim to the use of your IP range, similar
to the situation of 'selling' a domain name."

But is relinquishing the current claim the only option?  Perhaps this
is the key point, domain names are 'sold' even though one could argue
they are as much a public public resource as IP addresses.  So the
question again is;

Would I find anyone interested in exchanging money for title to my IP
addresses?
What would they be worth / is there a history of such exchanges?
Who / How do I approach?

Hope you can help.

Sean

Clarification of Answer by gan-ga on 27 Nov 2002 02:18 PST
Hi Sean,

Thanks for requesting clarification.

Certainly, I shall look further into my third
paragraph for you. I shall keep you informed
as to progress.

Assuring you of my attention,

gan.

Clarification of Answer by gan-ga on 27 Nov 2002 03:09 PST
Hello again Sean,

I now have several emails out and am following up
more leads - please bear with me whilst I gather
more information for you.

Thanks,

gan.

Request for Answer Clarification by seanhowell-ga on 27 Nov 2002 04:05 PST
Thanks for the extra effort Gan, look foward to see what turns up.

Cheers

Sean

Clarification of Answer by gan-ga on 27 Nov 2002 16:16 PST
Hi again Sean.

Not posting with any new information at this time, however
I appreciate the frustration of checking for progress and
finding no change - Just wanted to let you know that I am
still pursuing this matter for you.

I have had some response, and will post again presently once
I feel I have collated and explored the position to the best
of my ability.

I will keep you informed.

Once again assuring you of my exclusive attention,

gan.

Clarification of Answer by gan-ga on 29 Nov 2002 04:33 PST
Hi again Sean. 

Once again, just posting to keep you informed.
I have further researched some leads but still
have a few more to chase up; I'm expecting to
be in a position to comment further soon.

Best regards,

gan.

Request for Answer Clarification by seanhowell-ga on 29 Nov 2002 18:10 PST
Thanks Gan, looking forward to it.

Cheers
Sean

Clarification of Answer by gan-ga on 03 Dec 2002 03:55 PST
Hello Sean.

My apologies for a certain amount of delay in responding,
due to the nature of the methods I have employed in
searching for further information for you.

Here are the results of further research I have
carried out into your question so far. It seems 
that this issue is a centre of some controversy.
Very little further information seems to be available
by performing web searches on the various search
and meta search engines including Google, Profusion,
Ask and Dogpile, however, searching Usenet has revealed
several threads relevant to the subject, from which
you might gain some insight. You may wish to read or
even participate in these discussions.
I list these below.

Please note that the URL's for the Usenet posts are quite long - 
sometimes these do not post well. If you have difficulty
using any links, please visit the following page:

http://www.beginnerprogrammer.com/googleanswers/classc.html

I have also requested general information directly
from Apnic, however I have yet to receive a reponse.
As soon as I do hear from them, I shall relay such
information as they provide to yourself, together
with any further information I am able to locate.


Usenet threads:


Subject: /24 (Class-C) portable IP blocks for sale:

comp.protocols.tcp-ip - (24 articles):

Summary:

Poster is advertising a number of Class C blocks,
suggesting a market price of > $10000 per block,
but asking $5000, considering this asking price
'very reasonable'.
His beleif is that there are no problems regarding
routeability after transfer, basing this statement
on reported past experience of success in this vein.
Subsequent posters raise a number of relevant issues,
also, information is raised pointing to the type of
organisations who may have a need for such a
commodity, and thus may be worth approaching.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&threadm=acoerp%24kbi%40pell.pell.portland.or.us&rnum=21&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dclass%2Bc%2Bfor%2Bsale%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3Dacoerp%2524kbi%2540pell.pell.portland.or.us%26rnum%3D21


Subject: Selling a Class C address:

aus.net.access - (5 articles):

Summary:

Poster had been approached by an agency who were interested
in purchasing his Class C, and requests opinion as to a value.
Participants point him to Apnic's documentation, illustrating
the lease-only nature of the assignment; no possible value is
postulated.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&threadm=3A4ABEA0.4644%40terrigal.net.au&rnum=60&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dclass%2Bc%2Bfor%2Bsale%26start%3D50%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D3A4ABEA0.4644%2540terrigal.net.au%26rnum%3D60


Subject: Selling / renting / transferring Class C IP Subnet;
thread recently initiated:

comp.protocols.tcp-ip - (15 articles):

Summary:

'...APNIC charges quite a bit of money for address space; US$2500 for
an
application fee plus US$1250/year for anything up to a /22.  So,
yes, they are worth something...'

'...Even if you can't sell, you can usually get around it.
Split the company, with the addresses going to one part,
then that part is bought by the other company...'

http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&threadm=23GF9.27033%24hg1.74940%40news-server.bigpond.net.au&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fdq%3D%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D23GF9.27033%2524hg1.74940%2540news-server.bigpond.net.au


From the above, it seems to be the case that you would need
to either act as an ISP in order to provide announcement &
routing for the entity you sell or lease the IP's to, or else
organise such via a willing third-party ISP. At this point, it
would seem to me that possibly the way forward would be to offer
the block as part of a 'going concern' package, with the purchaser
organising routing & announcement, if you would rather 'sell'
outright, rather than set up as an ISP for this block & go via
the 'lease' route.



If you feel that your question has not been
answered adequately, before rating my research may I 
draw your attention to the following options which are
open to you:

1.
You are welcome to ask me to perform further research
on your behalf, which I will be happy to carry out.
You might like to again identify parts of my research
to date, which you feel would profit from further
examination.

2.
You may request that your question be re-posted, for
further attention by another researcher. Please see
the following for further details:

https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=refundrequest

3.
You may request that your bid for the question be
refunded. Please see the following for further
details:

https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=refundrequest


Hoping the above information is helpful to you,

Best regards,

gan.
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