Returned Legacy Space

In preparation for the ratification of "Global Policy for Post Exhaustion IPv4 Allocation Mechanisms by the IANA" (GPP-IPv4-2011) by the ICANN Board of Directors, we will remove from the available pool of IPv4 address space the IPv4 legacy space that has been returned to the RIPE NCC by various members.

1,368,576 IPv4 addresses were removed from the available pool of IPv4 address space on 14 March, 2012. 

It is intended that any IPv4 legacy space returned to the RIPE NCC will be placed in IANA's Recovered IPv4 Pool.

Until now, legacy space returned to the RIPE NCC has been returned to the RIPE NCC's IPv4 available pool but is not re-distributed. By removing the legacy space from the RIPE NCC's IPv4 available pool, a more accurate overview of the actual space that can be distributed can be seen.

As legacy space was distributed before the RIR system was introduced, the RIPE NCC does not have any policy governing the re-distribution of returned legacy space. We believe that placing this legacy space in the IANA's Recovered IPv4 Pool for redistribution to the RIRs will contribute to the future well-being of the Internet.

Find out more about the policy and the ratification process.

The total amount of available IPv4 space that the RIPE NCC holds can be found here.