The RIR system
Goals of RIRs
RFC 2050, published in November 1996, represented a collaboration of the global Internet addressing community to describe a set of goals and guidelines for the RIRs. While IANA was to retain ultimate responsibility for the entire address pool, RFC 2050 recognizes that RIRs operate under the consensus of their respective regional Internet community. This document, along with a history of RIR coordination, has helped to form the basis for a set of consistent global policies.
The three primary goals of the RIR system are:
| Conservation |
To ensure efficient use of a finite resource and to avoid service instabilities due to market distortions (such as stockpiling or other forms of manipulation). |
|---|---|
| Aggregation (routability) |
To assist in maintenance of Internet routing tables at a manageable size, by supporting CIDR techniques to ensure continued operational stability of the Internet. |
| Registration |
to provide a public registry documenting address space allocations and assignments, necessary to ensure uniqueness and provide information for Internet trouble shooting at all levels. |
The open policy framework
It was always recognized that these goals would often be in conflict with each other and with the interests of individuals and organizations. It was also recognized that legitimate regional interests could justify varying approaches in balancing these conflicts. Therefore, within the global framework, each regional community has always developed its own specific policies and procedures.
However, while the specific approaches may differ across the RIRs, all operate on a basic principle of open, transparent, consensus-based decision-making, following self-regulatory practices that exist elsewhere in the Internet and other industries. Furthermore, the RIRs all maintain not-for-profit cost recovery systems and organizational structures that seek to be inclusive of all interested stakeholders.
The activities and services of each of the RIRs are defined, performed, discussed, and evaluated in open forums, whose participants are ultimately responsible for decision-making. To facilitate broad participation, open policy meetings are hosted by RIRs regularly in each of the regions. Ongoing discussions are carried out on the public mailing lists of each RIR, which are open to both the RIR constituents and the broader community. The RIRs also participate actively in other Internet conferences and organizations and, importantly, each RIR has a strong tradition of participating in the public activities of the others.
A current example of the coordinated efforts of the RIRs is the Provisional IPv6 Assignment and Allocation Policy Document, a joint effort of the RIRs (with the assistance of the IETF, IAB, and IESG) to describe the allocation and assignment policies for the first release of IPv6 address numbers.
Also, the RIRs recently published the RIR Comparative Policy Overview.
These documents help illustrate that the RIRs well-established combination of bottom-up decision making and global cooperation has created a stable, robust environment for Internet address management.
RIR functions
The primary function of each RIR is to ensure the fair distribution and responsible management of IP addresses and the related numeric resources that are required for the stable and reliable operation of the Internet. In particular, the resources allocated, assigned, and registered by RIRs are Internet address numbers (IPv4 and IPv6) and Autonomous System Numbers. RIRs are also responsible for maintaining the reverse delegation registrations of the parent blocks within their respective ranges.
Complementing their registry function, the RIRs have an important role in educating and informing their communities. The activities carried out by the individual RIRs vary, but include open policy meetings, training courses, seminars, outreach activities, statistical reporting, and research.
Additionally, a crucial role for the RIRs is to represent the interests of their communities, by participating in global forums and providing support to other organizations involved in Internet addressing issues.