------------------------------------------------------------------- APNIC Document identity Title: Policies for Address Space Management in the Asia Pacific Region Short title: add-manage-policy Document ref: APNIC-076 Version: 001 Date of original publication: 1 January 2000 Date of this version: 1 January 2000 Review scheduled: n/a Obsoletes: n/a Status: Obsolete Comments: Obsoleted by APNIC-086 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Policies for Address Space Management in the Asia Pacific Region About this document This document Policies for Address Space Management in the Asia Pacific Region represents current APNIC practices and policies, which have not previously been codified in a single document. It is the result of several rounds of public comment and revision and has been approved by the Executive Council. Please note that this document does not seek to set out detailed policies in relation to membership of APNIC or issues specific to confederations. However, APNIC does intend that this document will provide a foundation upon which other, more specific, documents can be based. 1. Introduction 2. Scope 3. Hierarchy of address space distribution 4. Definitions 4.1. Internet Registry (IR) 4.1.1. Regional Internet Registry (RIR) 4.1.2. National Internet Registry (NIR) 4.1.3. Local Internet Registry (LIR) 4.2. APNIC members 4.3. Allocated and Assigned address space 4.3.1. Allocated 4.3.2. Assigned 5. Goals of address space management 5.1. Goals 5.1.1. Uniqueness 5.1.2. Registration 5.1.3. Aggregation 5.1.4. Conservation 5.1.5. Fairness 5.2. Conflict of goals 6. Policy environment 6.1. Routability not guaranteed 6.2. Unpredictable growth rates 6.3. Collective responsibility 6.3.1. Appropriate customer agreements 6.3.2. Good faith 6.4. Impartiality 6.5. Varying levels of expertise 6.6. IP addresses not to be considered property 6.7. Stockpiling discouraged 6.8. Evaluations to be based on efficient technologies 6.9. Minimum practical allocations 6.10. Documentation 6.11. Confidentiality 7. Policies for allocations and assignments 7.1. IRs to adopt consistent address space management policies 7.2. Address space lease 7.3. Processing of requests dependent on correct documentation 7.4. Security and confidentiality 7.4.1. Individual responsibility to apply security procedures 7.5. Equitable processing of requests 7.6. General requirements for allocations 7.7. Slow start mechanism for first allocations 7.7.1. Exceptions to slow start 7.8. Criteria for subsequent allocations 7.8.1. No guarantee of contiguous allocations 7.9. Assignment window for LIRs 7.10. Prior allocations to be used first 7.10.1. Special circumstances - large assignments 7.11. Reservations not supported 7.12. Address portability discouraged 7.12.1. Source of PI assignments 7.13. Renumbering to promote aggregation 7.14. Private address space 7.15. Assignment usage estimates 7.16. Organisations seeking address space from multiple IRs 7.17. Registration requirements 7.17.1. Updating registration details 7.17.2. Registering contact persons 7.18. Responsibility to maintain in-addr.arpa records 7.19. Validity of allocations and assignments 7.20. Transfer of address space 7.21. Mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers of LIRs 7.21.1. Updating registration details 7.21.2. Effect on membership agreement 7.21.3. Consequences for allocations 7.22. Closure of members 8. Specific cases 8.1. Static assignments 8.1.1. Static dialup connections 8.1.2. Cable networks 8.1.3. Virtual hosts 8.2. IP unnumbered 9. Autonomous System Numbers 1. Introduction The Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) is the non-profit Regional Internet Registry that operates in the Asia Pacific region under the authority of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). As such, it is the organisation responsible for distributing public Internet address space and related resources in the Asia Pacific region and for developing and implementing policies to manage that distribution. The policies described in this document have been developed by the Internet community of the Asia Pacific region through a consensus process facilitated by APNIC. They are to be implemented by APNIC and by the National Internet Registries and the Local Internet Registries throughout the region. Internet Registries operate in a self-regulating environment and the aim of these policies is to provide a clear framework for the continued existence of that environment. 2. Scope This document describes policies for the responsible management of global IPv4 public address space in the Asia Pacific region. Specifically, this document focuses on the goals, assumptions, and policies relating to the allocation and assignment of address space. Previously, address space was allocated by classes (such as 'class A', 'class B', 'class C'). However, since the introduction of Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) technologies, address space has been allocated by prefixes (such as '/19' and '/21'). This document deals only with issues of classless (CIDR) addressing. This document does not set out the full conditions of APNIC membership, nor does it examine address management policies of other Regional Registries. It does not describe specific addressing policies related to IPv6, Multicast, or Private Address Space. 3. Hierarchy of address space distribution IP addresses are distributed in accordance with the hierarchical structure described in RFC2050 (originally described in RFC 1466), represented simply in fig.1. [Figure 1: Diagram of distribution hierarchy] fig.1 +--------+ | IANA | +--------+ | +-----------+-----------+...........+.............+ | | | : : +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +..........+ +..........+ | ARIN | |RIPE NCC| | APNIC | : Potential future RIRs : +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +..........+ +..........+ | +--------------+-------------+ | | +------+ | | NIR | | National Internet Registries +------+ | | | +------+--+------+ | | | | | Local Internet Registries +------+ | | +------+ | LIR | | | | LIR | +------+ | | +------+ | | | | +-----+ | | +-----+-----+ | | | | | | +------+ | +------+ | +------+ | Internet Service | ISP | | | ISP | | | ISP | | Providers +------+ | +------+ | +------+ | | | | | | | +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ End-users | EU | | EU | | EU | | EU | | EU | | EU | +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ In this hierarchy, IANA allocates address space to APNIC, to be redistributed throughout the Asia Pacific region. APNIC allocates address space to Internet Registries (IRs) and also delegates to them the authority to make assignments and allocations. IRs allocate and assign address space to their members and customers under the guidance of APNIC and in accordance with the policies and procedures described in this document. 4. Definitions The following terms and their definitions are of particular importance to the understanding of the goals, environment, and policies described in this document. 4.1. Internet Registry (IR) An Internet Registry (IR) is an organisation that is responsible for distributing IP address space to its members or customers and for registering those distributions. IRs are classified according to their primary function and territorial scope within the hierarchical structure depicted in fig.1 above. In this document, references to IRs shall be taken to include APNIC and other Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), National Internet Registries (NIRs), and Local Internet Registries (LIRs), unless the specific context of the reference requires otherwise. 4.1.1. Regional Internet Registry (RIR) Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) were established under the authority of IANA to serve and represent large geographical regions. The primary role of RIRs is to manage and distribute public Internet address space within their respective regions. Currently, there are three RIRs: APNIC, RIPE NCC, and ARIN. Additional RIRs may be established in the future, but it is expected that the total number of RIRs will remain relatively small. 4.1.2. National Internet Registry (NIR) A National Internet Registry (NIR) is an IR that primarily allocates address space to its members or constituents, which are generally Internet Service Providers (ISPs) organised at a national level. In performing their registry function, NIRs are expected to apply their policies and procedures fairly and equitably to all members of their constituency. The policies in this document should be taken as applying to NIRs; however, this document does not describe the entire roles and responsibilities of NIRs with respect to their formal relationship with APNIC. Such roles and responsibilities will be fully described in a National Internet Registry and Confederation Policy document and reflected in relevant membership agreements. 4.1.3. Local Internet Registry (LIR) A Local Internet Registry (LIR) is an IR that primarily assigns address space to the users of the network services that it provides. LIRs are generally ISPs; their customers are other ISPs and possibly end-users. LIRs may be members of APNIC or members of NIRs. 4.2. APNIC members For the purposes of this document, the term APNIC members shall refer to those holding current membership agreements with APNIC and also to financial customers of APNIC who may, under certain circumstances, receive services from APNIC without being formal members of APNIC. 4.3. Allocated and Assigned address space For the purposes of understanding APNIC address space policies, it is important to make a clear distinction between the terms allocated and assigned. 4.3.1. Allocated Allocated address space is address space that is distributed to IRs for the purpose of subsequent distribution by them. 4.3.2. Assigned Assigned address space is address space that is distributed to a single end-user for the purpose of actual deployment in that end-user's own network. Address space is also designated as assigned if the IR uses it for the purposes of addressing their own network or applies it to a pool from which assignments are made dynamically as connections are established. Assignments are made for specific, documented purposes and should not be sub-allocated or sub-assigned. 5. Goals of address space management 5.1. Goals The goals described here have been formulated by the Internet community and reflect the mutual interest of all members of that community in ensuring that the Internet is able to function and grow to the maximum extent possible. It is APNIC's primary duty, as a custodian of a public resource, to ensure that these goals are met within the Asia Pacific region. APNIC should do this by providing guidance and leadership in developing and implementing responsible policies and practices. It is the responsibility of every NIR and LIR to also ensure that these goals are met within their respective regions and communities. 5.1.1. Uniqueness Every assignment and/or allocation of address space must guarantee uniqueness worldwide. This is an absolute requirement for ensuring that every public host on the Internet can be uniquely identified. 5.1.2. Registration Every assignment and allocation of public Internet address space must be registered in a publicly accessible registry. This is necessary to ensure uniqueness and to provide information for Internet trouble shooting at all levels. It also reflects the expectation of the Internet community that all custodians of public resources, such as public address space, should be identifiable. 5.1.3. Aggregation Wherever possible, address space should be distributed in a hierarchical manner, according to the topology of network infrastructure. This is necessary to permit the aggregation of routing information and limit the expansion of Internet routing tables. 5.1.4. Conservation To maximize the lifetime of the public Internet address space resource, addresses must be distributed according to actual need and on the basis of immediate use. Therefore, stockpiling of address space and maintaining reservations must, in general, be avoided. Conservation also implies efficiency. Therefore, all users of address space should adopt techniques such as Variable Length Subnet Masking (VLSM) and appropriate technologies that ensure the address space is not used wastefully. 5.1.5. Fairness All policies and practices relating to the use of public address space should apply fairly and equitably to all existing and potential members of the Internet community, regardless of their location, nationality, size, or any other factor. 5.2. Conflict of goals The goals of conservation and aggregation often conflict with each other. Moreover, some or all of the goals may occasionally be in conflict with the interests of individual IRs or end-users. Therefore, IRs evaluating requests for allocations and assignments must carefully analyse all relevant considerations and must seek to balance the needs of the applicant with the needs of the Internet community as a whole. The policies described in this document are intended to help IRs balance these needs in consistent and equitable ways. Full documentation of and transparency within the decision making process must also be maintained in order to achieve this result. 6. Policy environment Apart from the goals described in Section 5, other factors such as the expectations of the Internet community, the current administrative structures, and technological constraints all form an operating environment that shapes APNIC policies. Changes in the environment may occur quickly or in unpredictable ways. An important role for APNIC, on behalf of its members, is to monitor any changes to this environment and communicate any implications those changes may have on APNIC policy. This Section describes the factors in the current operating environment that have been most important in determining current APNIC policies. 6.1. Routability not guaranteed APNIC recognises that the routability of address space can never be guaranteed. Specifically, in order to reduce the number of globally advertised routes, transit providers worldwide implement route filtering policies based on prefix length, with the result that non-provider-based assignments are least likely to be routable across the Internet. Therefore, APNIC policy should encourage those seeking address space to request it from upstream providers rather than from APNIC directly. 6.2. Unpredictable growth rates Early strategies for distributing address space did not anticipate the explosive growth of the Internet and the consequent problems of scale that arose both in the amount of address space available and the routing of that address space. APNIC recognises that policies and procedures for the management of address space should take account of past experience and seek to maximise scalability of the Internet in the future. 6.3. Collective responsibility APNIC recognises that it shares with its members and their customers a collective responsibility to ensure a manageable and scalable growth of the Internet. APNIC recognises that it must, through a process of consultation with its members and the broader Internet community develop policies and practices for address space management and make decisions consistent with the goals described in Section 5. 6.3.1. Appropriate customer agreements APNIC recognises that in order to ensure that the policies described in this document are applied consistently throughout the region by both members and non-members, IRs may need to implement appropriate agreements with their members and customers. 6.3.2. Good faith APNIC recognises that its relationships with its members should be based on an implicit trust that the information, network plans, and other documentation provided by IRs and their customers are genuine and accurate. 6.4. Impartiality APNIC represents the interests of the Internet community in general and the Internet community of the Asia Pacific region in particular. As such it will apply its policies fairly and equitably with respect to all APNIC members, without regard to the size or geographic location of the organisation, or any other factor. 6.5. Varying levels of expertise APNIC recognises that staff of IRs and end users will have varying levels of experience and expertise. APNIC will implement policies which, although applied equally to all its members, will allow for levels of assistance and monitoring appropriate to each member. This assistance and monitoring is intended to ensure a consistent approach to address space management throughout the AP Internet community. 6.6. IP addresses not to be considered property APNIC recognises that it is contrary to the stated goals and is not in the interests of the Internet community as a whole for address space to be considered freehold property. APNIC policies will reflect this recognition and encourage all members of the Internet community to regard address space as a scarce, public resource that should only be distributed responsibly and according to demonstrated need. More specifically, as portability of address space is detrimental to the goals of aggregation and efficiency, APNIC policies should require IRs to provide services to members and customers based on the understanding that address space is leased rather than owned. 6.7. Stockpiling discouraged APNIC recognises that stockpiling of addresses is detrimental to the goals of conservation and fairness. APNIC policies should discourage stockpiling and encourage efficient deployment of address space on the basis of immediate demonstrated need. 6.8. Evaluations to be based on efficient technologies APNIC asserts that if appropriate technologies exist to allow the efficient, hierarchical distribution of address space in particular situations, then users of that space should adopt those technologies in accordance with current best practice. Organisations that are not planning to use the most efficient technologies must provide justification based on genuine infrastructure considerations. APNIC policies reflect that issues of administrative convenience are not sufficient to justify the use of inefficient technologies. However, APNIC policies also acknowledge that factors such as the scale and complexity of networks and the need for operational stability can justifiably delay the deployment of such technologies. APNIC will cooperate with its members and the broader Internet community to define and develop current best practice recommendations relating to Internet addressing technologies and techniques. 6.9. Minimum practical allocations APNIC recognises that the goals of aggregation and conservation will often conflict and, as a consequence, it will be necessary to set a minimum practical size for address space allocations. Evolving technological and administrative conditions mean that this minimum practical size may be altered from time to time. The current minimum practical allocation is a /20 (4,096 addresses). 6.10. Documentation APNIC recognises that in order to properly evaluate requests, an IR must carefully examine all relevant documentation relating to the networks in question. Such documentation may include network engineering plans, subnetting plans, descriptions of network topology, and descriptions of network routing plans. All documentation should conform to a consistent standard and any estimates and predictions that are documented must be realistic and justifiable. 6.11. Confidentiality APNIC recognises that IRs must receive and analyse information about the activities of organisations and individuals seeking address space and that such information may be highly confidential in nature. Therefore, APNIC will operate in ways that reflect the trust implicit in its position by applying and enforcing procedures that protect the commercially sensitive information of its members and their customers. 7. Policies for allocations and assignments As was emphasised in Section 1, APNIC policies emerge from the consensus of the Internet community of the entire Asia Pacific region. APNIC's role is to identify and disseminate these policies. APNIC does not seek to dictate policy decisions to its members, but rather to provide a model for consistent and responsible practice throughout the region. 7.1. IRs to adopt consistent address space management policies All NIRs and LIRs that receive address space either directly or indirectly from APNIC shall adopt allocation and assignment policies which are consistent with the policies formulated by the Internet community of the Asia Pacific region, as described in this document. In particular, NIRs shall, wherever possible, apply slow start, assignment window, and second opinion policies to their own members in a manner consistent with APNIC's application of such policies to its members. Furthermore, all NIRs and LIRs shall ensure that address space for which they are responsible shall only be allocated or assigned subject to agreements consistent with the lease provisions of section 7.2. 7.2. Address space lease APNIC will allocate Internet resources on a 'lease' basis, with such leases to be of specific limited duration (normally one year). The conditions of all leases will be set out in the APNIC membership agreements and other relevant APNIC documentation and will be consistent with the applicable APNIC policies relating to resource allocations and assignments at the time of entering or renewing the lease. Leases to organisations shall be renewable on the conditions that (a) the original basis of the allocation remains valid and (b) that registration requirements relating to that allocation have been fulfilled at the time of renewal. When a lease is renewed, the new lease will be governed by the applicable resource allocation policies and lease renewal policies at the time of renewal, provided that a minimum notice period of one year is given of any substantial changes to the conditions of the current lease. All substantial changes to lease conditions shall be subject to the consensus of APNIC members. Furthermore, such changes to the conditions of current leases shall be subject to a defined minimum period of notice (normally one year), except in exceptional circumstances recognised by a consensus of APNIC members. Individual leases shall only be subject to review if the relevant IR has reason to believe that the existing lease terms are no longer being complied with. IRs may implement their own procedures for the review of existing leases as they see fit. 7.3. Processing of requests dependent on correct documentation APNIC will only process requests that have been completely and properly documented. If the documentation contains errors or omissions, APNIC will advise the applicant as soon as possible. APNIC may also request further information or clarification of relevant issues that are not made clear in the initial documentation. APNIC will then proceed to process the request as soon as the errors and omissions have been rectified or APNIC's questions have been answered. APNIC will make all reasonable efforts to maintain a consistent and reliable level of service with respect to processing of requests. 7.4. Security and confidentiality APNIC will maintain systems and practices that protect the confidentiality of all information relating to the commercial and infrastructure operations of all members and their customers. APNIC will ensure that the employment of all of its staff or agents is based upon an explicit condition of confidentiality regarding such information. 7.4.1. Individual responsibility to apply security procedures APNIC provides for authorisation and verification mechanisms within the whois database; however, it is the responsibility of each IR or end-user to ensure that they take advantage of such mechanisms. 7.5. Equitable processing of requests APNIC will deal with all requests strictly in the order in which it receives the proper documentation. Because all members are to be treated equitably, regardless of geography, size, or any other consideration, APNIC will not in any circumstance provide for special treatment or make exceptions to the standard order of request processing. APNIC will seek to process all requests within a consistent time and will maintain a request ticketing system to assist with the efficient management of requests. 7.6. General requirements for allocations Notwithstanding the more specific provisions of Sections 7.7 and 7.8, all requests to APNIC for allocations of address space must be supported by documentation that describes the network infrastructure of the IR making the request, any address space currently held by that IR, previous assignments made by that IR, and the intended usage of the address space requested. 7.7. Slow start mechanism for first allocations Subject to Section 7.7.1, APNIC and NIRs shall apply a slow start mechanism to all new LIRs. With respect to allocations made by APNIC, the first allocation an LIR receives will be the size of the minimum practical allocation described in Section 6.9. With respect to allocations made by NIRs the size of the first allocation an LIR receives shall be at the discretion of the NIR, provided it is no greater than APNIC's minimum practical allocation. The slow start policy is used by all regional registries to prevent allocations of large blocks of address space that may then remain substantially unassigned. APNIC and NIRs shall implement the slow start mechanism in a consistent and fair manner for every LIR, and will apply the same principles and standards to every applicant for address space. 7.7.1. Exceptions to slow start In exceptional circumstances, an LIR may receive a greater initial allocation if it can provide sufficiently detailed substantiating documentation showing that its immediate need for network addresses exceeds the standard slow start allocation. Such documentation may include (but is not limited to) receipts for purchase of equipment, purchase orders, or signed project contracts indicating the immediate network requirements to be met by the LIR. 7.8. Criteria for subsequent allocations After the first allocation to an LIR, all subsequent allocations will depend on evaluation of the LIR's verified usage rate, their documented plans for address space, and their degree of compliance with APNIC policies with respect to relevant past allocations. (The LIR's 'verified usage rate' is the rate at which the LIR made assignments from relevant past allocations). Having evaluated these criteria, APNIC and NIRs shall seek to allocate enough address space to enable the LIR to meet all of its assignment needs for up to one year before needing to make further requests. 7.8.1. No guarantee of contiguous allocations APNIC will attempt to make subsequent allocations contiguous with previous allocations; however, because it cannot reserve address space, APNIC cannot guarantee that contiguous allocations will be possible in any case. 7.9. Assignment window for LIRs In order to assist LIRs to become familiar and comply with APNIC policies and the goals stated in Section 5, APNIC and NIRs shall apply a mechanism called the assignment window. The assignment window refers to the maximum number of addresses that an LIR may assign to an end-user without first seeking a 'second opinion'. If an LIR wishes to make an assignment that exceeds its assignment window, the LIR must first submit to APNIC or the relevant NIR a second opinion request before proceeding with the assignment. All LIRs that are new members of APNIC or an NIR shall start with an assignment window of zero, meaning all proposed assignments must first be approved. APNIC or the relevant NIR will regularly assess the proficiency of LIR staff in making assignments and seeking second opinions and will review the size of the assignment window accordingly. As the proficiency of the LIR staff increases, the size of their assignment window may be raised. The maximum assignment window given to any LIR will be a /19 (8,192 addresses). If, due to the training of new staff or other relevant circumstances, the proficiency of LIR staff should not meet the standards required by APNIC policies, then APNIC or the relevant NIR may temporarily reduce the assignment window of the LIR. 7.10. Prior allocations to be used first An LIR shall not be eligible to receive a further allocation unless at least eighty percent of the total address space from all allocations held by that LIR is currently assigned. 7.10.1. Special circumstances - large assignments If less than eighty percent of the total address space from all allocations held by an LIR is currently assigned, but the LIR needs to make a single assignment that is larger than the amount of space remaining, then it may request a further allocation from the relevant NIR or APNIC. 7.11. Reservations not supported When an LIR wants to assign address space for customers, it must make the assignments from any address space it currently holds. For the purposes evaluating allocation requests, space reserved by an LIR for other customers shall be regarded as unassigned address space. 7.12. Address portability discouraged APNIC makes all allocations as Provider Aggregatable (PA), on the understanding that assignments should be made on a lease basis. In the interests of the goal of aggregation, APNIC policy requires LIRs to enter into agreements with their customers specifying that the end-user will hold those assignments only for so long as the end-user remains a customer of that LIR. PA assignments require that if the end-user changes service providers they should return the space assigned to them by the first LIR, obtain an assignment from the new LIR and renumber into that LIR's address block. APNIC policy recognises that there will be cases where Provider Independent (PI), or portable, address space may be appropriate, however all requests for PI address space should be justifiable on strong technological rather than administrative grounds. 7.12.1. Source of PI assignments Only APNIC is authorised to make PI assignments. Organisations with a justified need for PI assignments may either request their relevant NIR or LIR to obtain address space from APNIC on their behalf or seek the address space directly from APNIC themselves. 7.13. Renumbering to promote aggregation IRs should take all reasonable steps to encourage end-users who hold multiple non-aggregated prefixes to return those addresses so that they may be replaced with addresses from a single, aggregatable prefix of PA address space. In circumstances where end-users are reluctant to make these arrangements, APNIC recognises that gains in aggregation justify additional incentives. Therefore, APNIC may reduce the requirement to document the efficiency of existing assignments and the usage rates for replacement of addresses on a one-to-one basis. This is referred to as the 'No questions asked policy' and should be used as a last resort only. Nothing in this section reduces the requirement to ensure that all allocation and asignments are to be made on the lease basis described in section 7.2. 7.14. Private address space APNIC encourages the use of private address space for addressing networks that will either be operated behind a firewall or not be connected to the Internet. 7.15. Assignment usage estimates Requests for assignments must be supported by usage estimates based on immediate and projected future need. These requests must be documented to a standard that provides a high degree of confidence in the estimates. The estimates should made for the following periods: immediately, within one year, within two years. APNIC recommends that, as a general guideline, organisations should base their assignment requests on the assumption that 25 percent of the address space will be used immediately and 50 percent used within one year. The end-user must exhibit a high level of confidence in its one year usage estimate and must supply documentation to justify that level of confidence. If it is not possible for the end-user to estimate confidently what the two year usage rate will be, then APNIC or the NIR may make an allocation that will be sufficient for the one year needs only. 7.16. Organisations seeking address space from multiple IRs APNIC requires that organisations obtain their address space from only one IR at a time. In the event that an organisation is requesting address space from multiple IRs, then the organisation making the request must declare all the address space it currently holds, regardless of the source of the assignment. Furthermore, organisations making concurrent requests to more than one IR must declare the details of all of those requests. APNIC recognises, however, that in certain circumstances (for example, where an organisation is multi-homed) strong technical reasons will make it appropriate for an organisation to receive address space from more than one provider. For the purposes of this section, a parent organisation and its subsidiaries will generally be considered to be a single organisation. Exceptions may arise in cases where the parts of the organisation are separate legal entities, maintain fully independent network infrastructures and are routed under different autonomous system numbers, or can otherwise demonstrate a justified need to obtain address space from more than one IR. 7.17. Registration requirements At the time of making allocations or assignments, IRs must properly register in the APNIC whois database every allocation and assignment of address space they make. The information in the database is necessary for Internet trouble shooting and provides for a level of accountability and transparency that is of benefit to the entire Internet community. 7.17.1. Updating registration details IRs must update the whois database when any of the registration information changes. This is the responsibility of the IR concerned, but may be formally delegated to the end-user as a condition of the original assignment. 7.17.2. Registering contact persons Registration of contact persons is a vital part of responsible address space management. Unless exceptional circumstances require otherwise, the administrative contact ('admin-c') must be someone who is physically located at the site of the network. The technical contact ('tech-c') need not be physically located at the site of the network, but must be the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the network. 7.18. Responsibility to maintain in-addr.arpa records LIRs should maintain in-addr.arpa resource records for their customers' networks. If a network is not specifically associated with an LIR then the in-addra.arpa records should be maintained by the appropriate NIR or by APNIC as the case may be. 7.19. Validity of allocations and assignments An allocation or assignment of address space is valid only while the original criteria on which the allocation or assignment was based continue to be valid. If an allocation or assignment is made for a specific purpose and the purpose no longer exists, then the allocation or assignment is no longer valid. If it is based on information that is found to be false or incomplete, then the allocation or assignment shall become invalid and the addresses should be returned to the appropriate IR. 7.20. Transfer of address space Subject to the more specific provisions of Section 7.21, APNIC policy does not recognise the sale or unauthorised transfer of address space and will consider all such transfers to be invalid. APNIC will require organisations holding such transfers to return them to the appropriate IR. 7.21. Mergers, acquisitions and takeovers of LIRs 7.21.1. Updating registration details If an LIR changes ownership (due to a merger, sale, or takeover), then the new entity must register any changes to its network usage and contact personnel. If the effect of a takeover, sale, or merger is that the LIR changes name, then the LIR must provide to APNIC relevant legal documentation supporting the name change. 7.21.2. Effect on membership agreement If an LIR changes ownership then the new entity should advise APNIC of the change. APNIC membership is not transferable from one entity to another; however, if following a change in ownership, the LIR becomes a subsidiary of another entity and the infrastructures of the respective entities remain fully independent, then the membership agreement may continue. 7.21.3. Consequences for allocations Following a merger, sale, or takeover of an LIR, APNIC will review the status of any allocations that are held by the new entity or entities. In doing this, APNIC will also have regard to the practical effect on the infrastructures of the entities involved. If the practical effect of the merger, sale, or takeover is that the infrastructures of the two LIRs are merged, then APNIC will not continue to make separate allocations to both. This situation will invalidate the membership agreement of the LIR that is effectively subsumed. In all such cases, when assessing the status of allocations, APNIC will require full disclosure of all address space held by all of the LIRs in question. If such disclosure is not made, then those allocations will be considered invalid and APNIC will require that they be returned. 7.22. Closure of members If a member of APNIC ceases to function as an IR, all of its unassigned address space should be returned to APNIC. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the member (or any liquidator or administrator appointed to wind up the member's business) to advise all of its customers of the closure and encourage them to make arrangements to renumber into address space from a new LIR. The new LIR should then notify the IR of the new arrangements so that the previous assignment can be returned to the pool of unassigned address space. 8. Specific cases The policies described in this section relate to specific types of allocations and assignments and are based on current best practice relating to the deployment of modern technologies. 8.1. Static assignments APNIC policy strongly discourages the static assignment of one IP address per service. All plans for future static assignments should be justified on specific, detailed technological grounds. Issues of administrative convenience will not be sufficient to justify such assignments; however, in evaluating such requests, APNIC will have regard to the applicability of current best practices to the network in question. 8.1.1. Static dialup connections APNIC policy strongly discourages assignments based on the use of static dialup methods. End-users planning such assignments must first investigate whether it is technically feasible to use dynamic assignment technologies, which make most such assignments unnecessary. 8.1.2. Cable networks An exception to this policy may apply to cable-based infrastructures. APNIC policy recognises that although dynamic technologies such as DHCP can be employed, the high availability demanded by consumers means that often no significant saving of IP addresses will result. 8.1.3. Virtual hosts Recent developments in some protocols (for example HTTP 1.1) have eliminated the need for one-to-one mapping of virtual hosts. APNIC policy strongly encourages any organisation considering the use of virtual hosts to implement systems that are compatible with current versions of these protocols. 8.2. IP unnumbered APNIC policy encourages the use of IP unnumbered for customers who are singly-homed, statically-routed, and have compatible routers and software. This configuration allows IP processing on a serial interface without the need to assign an explicit IP address for point-to-point links. Not only does this meet the conservation goal, but on an operational level it helps to minimise size of the interior routing table and, therefore, assists in scaleable network growth. 9. Autonomous System Numbers Autonomous System (AS) numbers are assigned to organisations that are multi-homed and have a single, clearly defined routing policy that is different from their providers' routing policies. AS numbers should be requested in accordance with the guidelines expressed in RFC 1930 Guidelines for the creation, selection and registration of an Autonomous System. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END OF DOCUMENT �1999, APNIC Pty. Ltd. All Rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------