Re: the race to the bottom problem

[Philip Homburg <[e-mail]>]

> By observation,
> folks are giving out /64s, when we would prefer they gave out /56
> or even shorter.  

I'd say that a /56 is a clear example of the race to the bottom.

ISPs have been trying to give just a /128 to customers, just like IPv4.
There is a common complaint that a 64-bit IID just wastes bits without 
stating how those bits are more useful as part of the prefix.

And somehow the original 'give everybody a /48' got changed into '/56 is
also fine' without clear operational reason. The only one I can think of
is 6RD, but /56 shows up everywhere outside 6RD.

Why /56? because /48 has way too many subnets for a consumer. Again
preserving bits that don't need to be preserved.

This tendency to use the longest possible prefix for a network or subnet
is very strong.