ARIN / RIR Pragmatism (WAS: Re: RADB)

[Danny McPherson <danny () tcb net>]

<soapbox>

I think the routing system would be in a much happier [less bad] place 
if only had a minor amount of the energy and resources that USG (and 
RIRs) have been put towards RPKI and BGPSEC (i.e., IETF SIDR work) would 
have been redirected to lower hanging fruit and better recognizing / 
leveraging existent systems and operational practices (e.g., more IRR 
usage, training, tools, and better hygiene, perhaps expressly validated 
from resource certification from either RPKI or in-addr.arpa, etc).  
Given that many of the same derived "policies" there could also be 
employed for inter-domain datapath anti-spoofing (BCP38-ish 
inter-domain) and that all the existing machinery and practices already 
deployed could more easily accommodate this in the near term, it seems 
only natural to me.

As for the visionaries playing the long game, they've made progress, 
but surely the only way to get there is with more incremental "putty" 
and small practical steps to fill the gaps at this point.

</soapbox>

I for one would like to see ARIN (as well as other RIRs and the 
adjacent community) invest more pragmatically in this area, particularly 
given the governance climate and other externalities at play these days.

Alas,

-danny