ACSP Suggestion 2018.5: Unified RIR Policy Proposal Submission System

Suggestion

Author: Jordi Palet Martinez   
Submitted On: 29 March 2018

Description:

After my experience for the round I’d this month submitting my own record of policy proposals (I didn’t count them, but I think it is about 15 in total …), I have a suggestion for all you, if you allow me …

I don’t pretend with this to change each PDP, but because in many occasions policies are submitted in different regions (and sometimes the same authors …) and because the fact that we have also global policies, I believe it will be useful to unify the submission system, which will also facilitate comparative work among you, such as the comparison among policies done by the NRO.

I’m not sure if also it will be possible to have the “same” fields in all the RIRs, sometimes you have different views, or it may depend on each specific PDP, but in general I think you’re looking for the same info, just with different “field names”.

Copied also German, not sure if NRO can help on this, if there is interest in coordinating a “unified” submission system …

I also understand that you may need to escalate this, or if I need to send this suggestion to someone else, at each RIR, just let me know!

  1. I like the LACNIC form: https://politicas.lacnic.net/politicas/new?language=en. It has a couple of minor mistakes. One is asking for a phone number (mandatory), I think it must not be mandatory, no sense today (I never like to provide my phone number, just email). The other one is that the number of characters it has been too short for one of my actual proposals, but that’s easy to sort out.

  2. However, I will  strongly  suggest that it allows also using Word, so we can use track of changes and better “visual” tools (numbering, bullets, etc., which are allowed in both doc and html). What I do for LACNIC right now is preparing my own doc, then copy and paste each “field”, which is a non-sense extra work … I think it will be easy if the form allows you to fill in the text, or upload a file in Word or txt (for those that don’t like using Microsoft …). Towards that, the form should provide and empty Word or txt template. For example, AfriNIC uses internally a two columns template, but they don’t publish it, however you get it if you ask to review the policy proposal once submitted … I’ve made myself a “version” of that one.

  3. One possible improvement to the LACNIC form is to have TWO fields for “actual policy text” (which can be left empty for new text that doesn’t exist in actual policies) and “proposed policy text”. It can be “further” automated, if the “actual policy text” allows you to “pick” from the actual policy manual what section/sections you are trying to amend.

  4. I love the way AfriNIC presents it (example https://www.afrinic.net/en/community/policy-development/policy-proposals/2331-ipv6-pi-update)::) two columns and two colors. It is close to what RIPE NCC do after the 1st phase (draft document, example https://www.ripe.net/participate/policies/proposals/2018-01/draft), I think, but it is nice to have that since the beginning. The ideal will be to add a button that you can click and presents a “diff”. Right now, in complex proposals I prepared my own “online” diff and sent to the list. For example: https://www.diffchecker.com/ly1DaDcb

  5. Add to the form a waiver, which only RIPE NCC is asking right now with a mandatory check-box, and you’re done! I’ve copied the actual waiver text from RIPE NCC under my signature, as may be some of you didn’t realized the importance of that.

  6. LACNIC also send you a “link” (or you can recover it online) once a policy proposal has been submitted, so you can edit new versions, and so on. Again, the only needed change, in my opinion, is to allow uploading a txt or doc file.

Do I need to send a global policy proposal for that ? … I hope not !

Value to Community: Improving the system to submit policy proposals, and making it more “coordinated” across the different RIRs, improving facility to compare them, etc.

Timeframe: Not specified

Status: Closed   Updated: 11 April 2018

Tracking Information

ARIN Comment

11 April 2018

Thank you for your suggestion, numbered 2018.5 upon confirmed receipt, requesting ARIN consider a unified RIR policy proposal submission system.

The suggestion proposes changes to the tools that support the ARIN Policy Development Process (PDP). Since the primary facilitator of ARIN’s PDP is the ARIN Advisory Council (AC), the suggestion will be referred to the ARIN AC for their review. Thereafter, and with due regard to the ARIN AC’s review, the President will initiate a community consultation on any changes recommended for the tools that support ARIN’s Policy Development Process.

Thank you for participating in the ARIN Consultation and Suggestion Process. The suggestion is closed.

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