Obsolete Policy Proposal 2003-1: Human Point of Contact [Archived]

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This policy proposal was amended by the policy author on 3/10/2003 and 3/25/2003. Click here to view the amended proposal.

Proposal:

Statement of proposed Policy:

ARIN shall require each ORG or other body receiving resources from ARIN to register at least one POC which is a human being. ARIN shall amend the registration services agreement to include this requirement and shall further require that each ORG or other body agree to keep such contact up to date within 10 days of any change. Further, at least one human contact shall be viewable, at least as a reference, on each resource record visible in the public WHOIS information.

Argument for the proposal and general discussion of the issue.

Issue:

Automated systems do fail. In a case where the only contact information available to resolve such a failure is the system which has failed, the problem becomes one which cannot be resolved.

The ISPs which are most likely to take advantage of the ability to hide behind role accounts are the ones most likely to have issues which require human intervention.

Argument in favor:

When an automated system fails, it becomes important to be able to reach a human being capable of intervening or contacting an intervenor. It is OK if the POC information (address, phone number, etc.) is a work number, or NOC, or even a switchboard, as long as it is a point of contact which leads to a real person with some ability to close the loop.

Problems:

I understand the issue of hate mail, threats, and the general difficulty of dealing with irate complainers. However, in any business, there are risks. Being the human lightning rod for these complaints at a large provider is not a lot of fun, but it is a job which must be done. Nobody likes to clean the restroom.

Proposed timetable for implementation:

Once this proposal is ratified, ARIN should update it’s registration services agreement to reflect the new policy within 30 days. Existing ORG and other bodies should receive notification of the change and the requirement to comply during that same period. They should be required to comply within 90 days of the date the notification is sent to the existing ADMIN-C.

After that time has elapsed, ARIN staff should be expected to investigate and take further appropriate action on any complaint received about lack of human contact in any resource record.

Appropriate action is left to the discretion of the ARIN AC, but should include ARIN staff contacting the hidden human contacts to try and find resolution.