# Letter to Hurricane Electric (HE.net)

**To:** Hurricane Electric LLC
**Attn:** Mike Leber, President
**Subject:** Partnership Opportunity: Infrastructure Support for Creative Licensing

---

## Dear Hurricane Electric Team,

Hurricane Electric has long been recognised as a leader in Internet infrastructure, operating the world's largest IPv6 backbone and providing essential connectivity to countless networks worldwide. Your commitment to open Internet standards and technical excellence aligns closely with the goals of the Palimpsest License project.

## Who We Are

The Palimpsest License is a future-proof, layered licensing framework designed to protect creative work in the age of AI. We address critical challenges facing creators today:

- **Non-interpretive AI consent:** Explicit permission required for AI training
- **Metadata preservation:** Attribution that survives content transformation
- **Emotional lineage protection:** Safeguarding cultural narratives and trauma stories
- **Quantum-proof traceability:** Future-resistant cryptographic attribution

## Why This Matters to Hurricane Electric

### 1. Legal Protection for Transit Providers

By implementing license-aware routing and propagation mechanisms, HE.net can demonstrate proactive compliance with:

- **EU Copyright Directive (Article 17):** Platform responsibility for licensed content
- **Digital Markets Act:** Infrastructure provider obligations
- **Upcoming AI regulations:** Consent requirements for training data
- **Safe harbour protections:** Reinforced by demonstrable technical measures

### 2. Competitive Differentiation

Be the **first major transit provider** to offer:

- License-aware BGP communities
- Creative rights-preserving routing policies
- Compliance-as-a-service for content platforms
- "Ethical backbone" branding for socially conscious customers

### 3. Technical Innovation

HE.net's technical leadership is an ideal match for:

- **BGP community extensions** for license propagation
- **Route object annotations** in IRR databases
- **Peering policy templates** for license preservation
- **Looking Glass integration** showing license-aware routes

## Technical Request

We propose Hurricane Electric implement:

### Phase 1: BGP Community Support (3-6 months)

- **Preserve license communities** through transit (ASN:1000-1010 range)
- **Update route filters** to maintain license metadata
- **Documentation** in HE.net BGP communities guide
- **Pilot programme** with 10-20 content provider customers

### Phase 2: Enhanced Services (6-12 months)

- **License-aware routing** as premium service offering
- **Compliance logging** for customers requiring audit trails
- **Looking Glass queries** displaying license information
- **Route Server support** for IXP peering

### Phase 3: Industry Leadership (12-24 months)

- **IETF standardisation** collaboration
- **Peering forum presentations** (NANOG, RIPE, etc.)
- **Best practices guide** for other transit providers
- **Open source tools** for license-aware routing

## Implementation Details

### Minimal Configuration Changes

```cisco
! Example IOS configuration
ip community-list 100 permit 64512:1000-64512:1010
!
route-map PRESERVE_LICENSE permit 10
 match community 100
 set community additive
 continue 20
```

**Impact:** Negligible performance overhead, existing BGP infrastructure

### Customer Benefits

- "Palimpsest-Protected Transit" service tier
- SLA guarantees for metadata preservation
- Compliance reporting for content platforms
- Enhanced legal protections

### HE.net Benefits

- First-mover advantage in ethical infrastructure
- New revenue stream from premium services
- Positive press and community goodwill
- Technical innovation leadership

## Business Case

### Market Opportunity

- **300+ million** websites globally
- **Growing creator economy** ($104B in 2022)
- **AI regulation** creating compliance demand
- **Content platforms** seeking infrastructure partners

### Revenue Potential

- Premium transit pricing: +10-20%
- Compliance-as-a-service: £500-5000/month per customer
- Consulting services: Implementation assistance
- Enterprise contracts: Custom license propagation solutions

### Risk Mitigation

- Minimal technical investment required
- Backward compatible with existing infrastructure
- No disruption to current customers
- Opt-in service model

## Competitive Context

### What Others Are Doing

- **Cloudflare:** Exploring content licensing at edge
- **Akamai:** Investigating CDN-level license enforcement
- **Cloud providers:** Adding license-aware APIs

**Hurricane Electric can lead the transit provider space.**

### What Makes HE.net Ideal

- **Technical expertise:** Deep BGP knowledge and innovation culture
- **Scale:** Global backbone reaching 250+ exchange points
- **Reputation:** Trusted by network operators worldwide
- **Agility:** Ability to implement new features quickly
- **Community:** Active participation in Internet governance

## Requested Actions

### Immediate (30 days)

1. **Technical review** of BGP license propagation spec
2. **Preliminary feasibility** assessment
3. **Pilot customer identification** (content platforms using HE.net)
4. **Meeting** with Palimpsest technical working group

### Short-term (3-6 months)

1. **Implement** BGP community preservation
2. **Document** in HE.net network policies
3. **Launch** pilot programme with 10-20 customers
4. **Announce** at NANOG or similar venue

### Long-term (6-24 months)

1. **Commercialise** license-aware transit services
2. **Collaborate** on IETF standardisation
3. **Develop** open-source routing tools
4. **Lead** industry adoption efforts

## Support We Provide

### Technical Documentation

- Detailed BGP specifications (attached)
- Route object templates
- Configuration examples for IOS, IOS-XR, JunOS
- Testing and validation tools

### Marketing and Communications

- Joint press releases
- Case studies with pilot customers
- Conference presentations
- "Powered by HE.net" badges for licensed content

### Standards Collaboration

- IETF Internet-Draft co-authorship
- NANOG presentation slots
- RIPE working group participation
- Academic research partnerships

### Business Development

- Customer referrals (content platforms needing ethical transit)
- Partnership opportunities with Creative Commons, EFF, etc.
- Government and institutional contracts

## Testimonials and Support

*(To be added: Letters of support from creative organisations, content platforms, legal experts)*

> "Infrastructure providers like Hurricane Electric are essential partners in protecting creative rights at scale. We commend any efforts to build license awareness into the Internet's core routing infrastructure."
> — [Creative Organisation Name]

## Next Steps

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this proposal with your engineering and business development teams. Specifically, we would like to:

1. **Present technical specifications** (30-45 minute call)
2. **Identify pilot customers** from HE.net's existing base
3. **Develop implementation timeline** and milestones
4. **Explore commercial partnership** terms

### Contact Information

**Palimpsest License Project**
Technical Working Group

- **Email:** infrastructure@palimpsest.example
- **Website:** https://palimpsest.example
- **GitHub:** github.com/palimpsest-license
- **Phone:** [To be provided]

**Best times for calls:**
We accommodate all time zones (US West Coast, Europe, Asia-Pacific)

## Closing Remarks

Hurricane Electric has built its reputation on technical excellence, operational reliability, and commitment to Internet standards. The Palimpsest License project offers an opportunity to extend that leadership into the emerging domain of infrastructure-level creative rights protection.

In an era where AI companies scrape content without consent and creators struggle to maintain attribution, **the Internet's infrastructure layer can be part of the solution**. Hurricane Electric has the technical capability, global reach, and industry respect to pioneer this approach.

We believe this partnership can:

- **Protect creators** who depend on proper attribution
- **Differentiate HE.net** in a competitive transit market
- **Advance Internet standards** for ethical content handling
- **Establish precedent** for infrastructure provider responsibility

We look forward to exploring this opportunity together.

**Yours sincerely,**

The Palimpsest License Stewardship Council
Infrastructure Outreach Working Group

---

## Attachments

1. Technical Specification: BGP License Propagation (see `../technical/bgp-license-propagation.md`)
2. Implementation Guide: Route Object Annotations (see `../guides/route-object-integration.md`)
3. Business Case: License-Aware Transit Services
4. Pilot Programme Proposal

---

*This letter is licensed under the Palimpsest License v0.4. You may share, quote, and reference this document with attribution.*
