I* organizations

The I* (I-star) group of organizations is a loose term to describe organizations that share responsibilities for coordinating the Internet technical infrastructure. APNIC collaborates with these organizations as part of the global Internet ecosystem.

The I* (I-star) organizations include the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), ICANN, ISOC, IETF, IAB, W3C and the regional associations of country code domain name registries.

Within their respective regions, RIRs such as APNIC provide services for the administration, management, distribution and registration of Internet number resources, specifically IPv4 addresses, IPv6 addresses, and Autonomous System numbers.

There are five RIRs:

Services are based, in part, on policies the communities of each RIR develop in a multistakeholder, bottom up approach that is open to all interested parties. The Policy Development Process within each RIR region defines the way these policies are developed and adopted.

Read the latest news about RIRs from the APNIC Blog
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Improving Regional Internet Registry alignment in the RPKI space

Working toward a robust, coordinated, and secure RPKI service.

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Event Wrap: RIPE 86

Geoff Huston presented on DNSSEC and resolver use at RIPE 86, held from 22 to 26 May 2023 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

RIR community

The heart of the RIR system is the NRO, an umbrella organization to coordinate the activities of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). The CEOs of each registry make up the Executive Council (NRO EC).

Current NRO EC members.

Number Resource Organization (NRO)

The Number Resource Organization (NRO) is a coordinating body for the five RIRs. The NRO contributes to an open, stable and secure Internet, through:
  • Providing and promoting a coordinated Internet number registry system
  • Being an authoritative voice on the multistakeholder model and bottom-up policy process in Internet governance
  • Coordinating and supporting joint activities of the RIRs.

The CEOs of each registry make up the Executive Council (NRO EC).

NRO Number Council

Three individuals are appointed to the Number Council (NC) from each of the Regional Internet Registry regions.

The RIRs are free to select these members in any way they see fit. The members of the NRO NC perform the functions of the ICANN Address Supporting Organization Addressing Council (ASO AC).

Current NRO NC members.

Read more about the NRO NC election.

Read the latest news about NRO on the APNIC Blog
Banner image for Improving Regional Internet Registry alignment in the RPKI space article.
Improving Regional Internet Registry alignment in the RPKI space

Working toward a robust, coordinated, and secure RPKI service.

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NRO Statement on Appointment of an Official Receiver for AFRINIC

The NRO welcomes recent developments in the legal proceedings affecting AFRINIC.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the international organization responsible for the management and oversight of the coordination of the Internet’s domain name system and its unique identifiers such as IP addresses. ICANN oversees the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

Read the latest news about ICANN from the APNIC Blog
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GAC communiqués and community activity on DNS abuse

The DNS Abuse Institute launches a new level of reporting that reveals how malicious phishing and malware are distributed across the DNS registration ecosystem.

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[Podcast] The ICANN DNS stats collector system

How ICANN manages data capture from the IMRS (L Root) systems worldwide.

ASO

The Address Supporting Organization (ASO) is one of three ICANN Supporting Organizations. The purpose of the ASO is to review and develop recommendations on IP address global policies and to advise the ICANN Board on IP addressing related matters. Since 2004, the NRO Number Council performs the role of the ASO within ICANN.

Read the latest news about ASO from the APNIC Blog
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Event Wrap: ICANN 63

APNIC participated at ICANN 63 in Barcelona, Spain from 20 to 25 October 2018.

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ASO Review discussions gain momentum at APNIC 45

Discussion about a potential “two-house” model for the ASO - rearranging current NRO EC and ASO AC responsibilities - received support in Kathmandu.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is one of the Internet’s oldest institutions, with its activities dating back to the 1970s. Today the IANA functions are provided by ICANN affiliate Public Technical Identifiers (PTI). PTI’s various activities can be broadly grouped in to three categories:

  • Domain names – IANA manages the DNS root, the .int and .arpa domains, and an IDN practices resource
  • Number resources – IANA coordinates the global pool of IP and AS numbers, providing them to RIRs
  • Protocol Assignments – PTI manages the number systems of Internet protocols in conjunction with standards bodies

Find out more about the IANA oversight transition.

Read the latest news about IANA and PTI from the APNIC Blog
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New RDAP profile to improve cross-RIR consistency

The NRO recently registered an RDAP profile with IANA for the RIR community.

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RPKI and Trust Anchors

Why do RIRs use a trust anchor set of RIR-based 0/0 self-signed certificates?

The Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1992, dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. Its purpose is to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy.

Read the latest news about ISOC from the APNIC Blog
Banner image for [Podcast] Taking the pulse of the Internet article.
[Podcast] Taking the pulse of the Internet

Investigating the hard measurements and soft indicators of ISOC's Pulse platform.

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Apply now for the inaugural Pulse Research Fellowship

Guest Post: Are you interested in Internet measurements and research and have a project or tool in mind that contributes to upholding an open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet?

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a large, open, international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers who are interested in the evolution of Internet architecture and its smooth operation. The IETF is open to any interested individual. The technical work of the IETF is carried out in its working groups, which are organized by topic into several areas (for example, routing, transport, security, and more). The IETF holds meetings three times a year, however much of the work is handled via mailing lists.

Read the latest news about IETF from the APNIC Blog
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Opinion: Digital sovereignty and standards

Is digital sovereignty challenged by the Internet's standardization processes?

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Useful IP geo resources

Understanding geolocation's mechanics and sources is beneficial.

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is both an IETF committee and an ISOC advisory body.

It is responsible for architectural oversight of IETF activities, Internet Standards Process oversight and appeal, and the appointment of the RFC Editor.

The IAB is also responsible for the management of the IETF protocol parameter registries.

A Country Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) is a two-letter top-level domain specifically designated to a particular economy, sovereign state, or autonomous territory.

The implementation of ccTLDs was started by IANA, which maintains a database that contains authoritative information relating to ccTLDs. Creation and delegation of ccTLDs is described in RFC 1591, corresponding to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes. To determine whether new ccTLDs should be added or not, IANA follows the provisions of ISO 3166 – Maintenance Agency.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops standards and guidelines to help everyone build a web based on the principles of accessibility, internationalization, privacy and security.