Court Blocks ISP From Reclaiming IP Addresses

Computerworld - An initial ruling by a New Jersey state court judge in a lawsuit filed by a Web hosting firm is causing alarm among some Internet service providers, who fear that the ruling will set a dangerous precedent for letting companies retain their IP addresses even if they switch ISPs.

But the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), a Chantilly, Va.-based organization that manages the distribution of IP addresses in North America, said those fears are misplaced. The ruling "is not a problem when read in context," ARIN said in a statement signed by Ray Plzak, its president and CEO.

Plzak added that he thinks the concerns raised about last week's ruling resulted from the manner in which the litigation was described by one of the parties—an apparent reference to Net Access Corp., the Parsippany, N.J.-based ISP that is the defendant in the case.

University Communications Inc. (UCI), a Web hosting firm in Parsippany, received a temporary restraining order from a New Jersey Superior Court judge that allows the company to continue using its current IP addresses even though it has terminated its Internet access contract with Net Access.

Although some large companies own their IP addresses outright, ARIN typically assigns the numerical addresses to large ISPs, which in turn allocate them to their customers. The ISPs get the address space back when customers end their contracts. But for now, the court ruling prevents Net Access from reassigning or interfering in any way with UCI's use of the IP addresses it was assigned.

"If this ruling is upheld, it has the potential to disrupt routing throughout the Internet and change practices of business for any Internet service provider," claimed Net Access President Alex Rubenstein in a letter that was posted on the mailing list of the North American Network Operators' Group.

Allowing UCI to continue using the IP addresses compromises the "right of the provider to maintain control and use of the address space assigned to his network," Rubenstein said in his note.

Neither Rubenstein nor UCI officials responded to requests for comment following his posting.

In its court filing, UCI said it was seeking the restraining order because it wanted to prevent Net Access from disrupting its business while it switches ISPs. UCI added that the effort needed to assign fresh IP addresses to each of its 3,000 customers will take longer than the period specified in its contract with Net Access.

IP Address Legal Dispute Who's involved: Web hosting firm University Communications Inc. and ISP Net Access Corp. What's at stake: UCI wants to continue using IP addresses that were assigned to it by Net Access while client systems are reconfigured with new numbers. Current status: UCI's request for a temporary restraining order against Net Access was approved by a New Jersey judge.