Abstract

This document provides guidelines to Local Internet Registries (LIRs) on the steps to take when the organisation operating an LIR changes ownership (due to a merger, sale or takeover) or stops serving entirely as an LIR.

1.0 Introduction Link: #1.0
2.0 LIR Ownership Change Link: #2.0

3.0 Closing an LIR Link: #3.0

4.0 When an LIR is Closed by the RIPE NCC Link: #4.0

1.0 Introduction

When an organisation or company operating an LIR changes ownership status or stops serving as an LIR there are financial, IP address space and RIPE Database issues that need resolving. Therefore, the RIPE NCC must always be contacted when an LIR changes ownership or closes.

2.0 LIR Ownership Change

In the case of an LIR ownership change, the LIR should contact the RIPE NCC at [email protected] Link: mailto:[email protected] .

Only registered LIR contact person(s) can discuss the change of an LIR ownership with the RIPE NCC.

The following steps are required to change the organisation operating an LIR:

1. Clarify the type of change:

• A takeover of one LIR by another LIR, closing one of the LIRs.
• A takeover of one LIR by another LIR, both remain open.
• A takeover of an LIR by a non-LIR.

2. Outline the details of the change, stating:

• The reason for the change of organisation.
• The name of the company/companies involved.
• The number of LIRs affected by the change.
• The RegID(s) of the LIR(s) affected by the change.

3. Present the following documents to the RIPE NCC:

• Confirmation from all parties agreeing to the change (See section 2.3 Link: #2.3 ).
• Updated list of contact person(s) (See section 2.4 Link: #2.4 ).
• Updated billing e-mail contact details, including any changes to VAT number.
• A new service agreement, if applicable (See section 2.2 Link: #2.2 ).
• Legal documentation supporting the name change, if applicable (See section 2.2 Link: #2.2 ).
• Overview of utilisation in all allocations (See section 2.6 Link: #2.6 ).

2.1 IP Address Space

Following any type of change (such as mergers, acquisitions or takeovers) of an organisation operating an LIR, the RIPE NCC will review the status of any IP address allocations that are held by the new organisation.

2.2 Service Agreement

When an organisation operating an LIR changes ownership, a new service agreement may need to be signed. The RIPE NCC will need to request a new service agreement from the new owners if:

• The organisation operating the LIR changes name, or
• The LIR wishes to change their RegID.

The registration documentation from the relevant Chamber of Commerce, or its country equivalent, supporting the name change must be submitted to the RIPE NCC.

The Standard RIPE NCC Service Agreement is available from the RIPE Document Store at:

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/service-agreement.html Link: https://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/service-agreement.html

If the organisation operating the LIR does not change its name and keeps the original RegID, the LIR can continue operating under the same service agreement.

2.3 Change in Operating Organisation

In cases where an organisation operating an LIR takes over one or more LIRs, confirmation of the takeover from all parties involved or their legal successors must be included.

2.4 Contact Person(s)

It is very important to notify the RIPE NCC, if there is a change of contact person(s). This is essential, as only registered contact person(s) can submit Internet resource requests to the RIPE NCC and provide updates to our internal registry files.

If the contact person(s) of the affected LIR has changed, the RIPE NCC may adjust the Assignment Window of the LIR until the contact person(s) is up-to-date with RIPE NCC procedures and RIPE community policies.

If there are no current registered contacts remaining with the LIR, a fax signed by the Managing Director of the LIR on organisation letterhead is required to implement these changes. These changes should include the new registered contact person(s) for the LIR.

2.5 RegID

It is not necessary to obtain a new Registry Identifier (RegID) if the name of the organisation that operates the LIR changes. The RegID is merely an internal identifier used by the RIPE NCC to distinguish the various LIRs. It does not have to correspond to the legal name of the organisation operating the LIR.

If an LIR insists on changing their RegID, a fee corresponding to the sign-up fee for a new LIR will be charged to cover additional administrative work generated. Please see the current version of the RIPE NCC Charging Scheme available from the RIPE Document Store at:

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/charging.html Link: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/charging.html

2.6 Transfers of Address Allocations

All transfers of address allocations from one LIR to another LIR (or to a non-LIR) require approval by the RIPE NCC. It is expected that all database objects relating to this allocation be correct and up-to-date before the transfer occurs. Transferred allocations containing a large amount of unassigned address space may be set aside and kept by the RIPE NCC until the other allocations held by the LIR are considered fully used (about 80%). Once the LIR has reached full utilisation in its other allocations, the reserved allocations will be made available to the LIR. For further details on allocation policy, please refer to the document "IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment Policies in the RIPE NCC Service Region" available from the RIPE Document Store at:

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ipv4-policies.html Link: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ipv4-policies.html

2.7 Takeover Fee

In cases where an organisation operating an LIR takes over one or more LIRs, a takeover fee is due for every LIR taken over (e.g. if three LIRs are taken over, the fee is paid three times). All current outstanding invoices for the LIRs being taken over will also have to be paid in full.

The transfer of address allocations also incurs a takeover fee and does not vary according to the amount of address space being transferred (e.g. if three allocations are being transferred from LIR A to LIR B, the fee is only paid once).

3.0 Closing an LIR

In the case of a closure of an LIR, the RIPE NCC should be contacted at least three months prior to the required closure date at [email protected] Link: mailto:[email protected] .

Only registered LIR contact person(s) can discuss a closure of an LIR with the RIPE NCC. In case of bankruptcy, the court-appointed administrator may take over these responsibilities.

To cease operations, an LIR is required to take the following four steps:

1. Send the RIPE NCC a written request to officially close the LIR. State the reasons for closure of the LIR and state the intention to return the unassigned address space.

2. Provide the RIPE NCC with documentation of all IP assignments made from address space allocated by the RIPE NCC.

Introduction

This document describes the procedures for the delegation of authority of zones in the 193.in-addr.arpa domain. As of March 16th 1993 the RIPE NCC has been delegated the authority for the 193.in-addr.arpa domain from the root. Due to the fact that in the 193.x.y address space blocks of 256 class C network numbers are further delegated to local registries , the possibility exists to also delegate the zone for these blocks in the 193.in-addr.arpa domain. This document describes some guidelines and procedures for this type of delegation and the delegation of reverse zones for individual class C networks in 193.x.y.

A bit more explained

With the assignment of class C network numbers following the CIDR (RFC 1338) model, in which large chunks of the address space are delegated to one region, and within that region blocks of class C network numbers are delegated to service providers and non-provider registries, some hierarchy in the address space is created, similar to the hierarchy in the domain name space. Due to this hierarchy the reverse Domain Name System mapping can also be delegated in a similar model as used for the normal Domain Name System. For instance, the RIPE NCC has been assigned the complete class C address space starting with 193. It is therefore possible to delegate the 193.in-addr.arpa domain completely to the RIPE NCC, instead of each and every reverse mapping in the 193.in-addr.arpa domain to be registered with the INTERNIC. This implies that all 193.in-addr.arpa resistrations will be done by the RIPE NCC. Even better, since service providers receive complete class C network blocks from the RIPE NCC, the RIPE NCC can delegate the reverse registrations for such complete blocks to these local registries. This implies that customers of these service providers no longer have to register their reverse domain
mapping with the root, but the service provider have authority over that part of the reverse mapping. This decreases the workload on the INTERNIC and the RIPE NCC, and at the same time increase the service a provider can offer its customers by improve response times for reverse mapping changes . However there are some things that need to be examined a bit more closely to avoid confusion and inconsistencies. These issues are covered in the next section.

Procedures for the delegation of direct subdomains of 193.in-addr.arpa

1. A secondary nameserver at ns.ripe.net is mandatory for all blocks of class C network numbers delegated in the 193.in-addr.arpa domain.

2. Because of the increasing importance of correct reverse address mapping, for all delegated blocks a good set of secondaries must be defined. There should be at least 2 nameservers for all blocks delegated, excluding the RIPE NCC secondary.

3. The delegation of a class C block in the 193.in-addr.arpa domain can be requested by sending in a domain object for the RIPE database to <[email protected]> with all necessary contact and nameserver information. The RIPE NCC will then forward all
current reverse zones inside this block to the registry, and after addition of these by the registry, the NCC will check the working of the reverse server. Once everything is setup properly, the NCC will delegate the block, and submit the database object for inclusion in the database. An example domain object can be found at the end of this document.

4. All reverse servers for blocks must be reachable from the whole of the Internet. In short, all servers must meet similar connectivity requirements as top-level domain servers.

5. Running the reverse server for class C blocks does not imply that one controls that part of the reverse domain, it only implies that one administers that part of the reverse domain.

6. Before adding individual nets, the administrator of a reverse domain must check wether all servers to be added for these nets are indeed setup properly.

valid. Please send a confirmation to the RIPE NCC that all obsolete and invalid objects have been removed. (See section 3.8 Link: #3.8 )

3.1 Further Assignments

A closing LIR is not allowed to make any further assignments from its address space allocations.

3.2 Finance

An LIR will continue to be billed for services until a formal request to be closed is sent by a registered contact person(s) of the LIR.

In cases of mergers, the LIR whose allocation has been transferred to another LIR will continue to be billed until any inconsistencies are resolved.

3.3 Transfers of Address Allocations from a Closing LIR

If an LIR wishes to transfer its allocations to another existing LIR, it must provide the documentation about all assignments to the LIR receiving the transferred allocation. As outlined above, all transfers require approval by the RIPE NCC and all database objects must be valid and up-to-date.

3.4 Open Address Space Requests

As soon as the LIR decides to close, it should halt any open requests for IP address space and refer the End Users to the list of LIRs. This will prevent the customer from having to renumber at a later date. This list is available at:

http://www.ripe.net/lir/registries/indices/index.html Link: /membership/member-support/list-of-members/

3.5 End Users Keeping Address Assignments

A closing LIR should always encourage its End Users to renumber into an address allocation held by another LIR. This way, customer assignments can then be routed as part of the other LIR's allocation. Organisations in receipt of a Provider Aggregatable (PA) assignment should note that a new provider will not be able to announce an aggregate block. They may, therefore, have problems getting their addresses routed.

For more information, please see the RIPE documents "Smallest RIPE NCC Allocation / Assignment Sizes" and "Provider Independent versus Provider Aggregatable Address Space" available from the RIPE Document Store at:

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/smallest-alloc-sizes.html

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/pi-pa.html

The LIR should also supply the RIPE NCC with a list of Assignments kept by End Users in the following format:

Inetnum Range            Size  Date      Netname
 
 193.0.0.0 - 193.0.1.255  512   19950101  RIPE-NCC

3.6 Continued Internet Connectivity to End Users

The End Users can continue to use the address space already assigned to them by the closing LIR. The LIR will continue to provide Internet connectivity to its End Users as an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Assignments made by an LIR that has closed are valid for as long as the original criteria under which they were assigned remain valid. (See section 3.8 Link: #3.8 )

3.7 Discontinued Internet Connectivity to End Users

If the LIR will no longer provide Internet connectivity to End Users with assigned address space, this address space should be retrieved from the End Users by the LIR as they renumber. It is the LIR's responsibility to help its End Users with renumbering.

3.8 Database Responsibilities

In cases where End Users of an LIR keep the address space assigned to them after the LIR closes, the LIR maintainer in the database objects representing these assignments needs to be removed and replaced by the RIPE NCC maintainer. The LIR should provide the RIPE NCC with a list of relevant database objects agreeing to the RIPE NCC overwriting the current LIR maintainer.

3.9 Unassigned Address Space

Unassigned address space will be returned to the RIPE NCC and will revert back to the public pool of IP address space. It can be assigned by the RIPE NCC as necessary. Should an LIR decide to close and reopen at a later date, it must repeat all formal steps required to establish a new LIR.

4.0 When an LIR is Closed by the RIPE NCC

The RIPE NCC may decide to close an LIR that stops paying its bills to the RIPE NCC and/or cannot be contacted by the RIPE NCC for a significant period of time. Moreover, if an LIR consistently violates the policies established by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) or the RIPE community, in spite of multiple warnings, it may be closed.

The RIPE NCC will send the LIR a message to notify it of its closure. The LIR must then provide documentation to the RIPE NCC regarding its allocated address space and follow the other procedures for closing an LIR as stated in section 3.0 Link: #3.0 .

If the LIR does not provide the RIPE NCC with the proper Documentation, the RIPE NCC will determine which address space should be returned to the public pool of IP address space.

9. The NCC advises the following timers and counters for direct subdomains of 193.in-addr.arpa: 8 hours refresh (28800 seconds), 2 hours retry (7200 seconds), 7 days expire (604800 seconds) and 1 day Time To Live (86400 seconds). The retry counter should be
lowered where connectivity is unstable.

Above procedures are defined to ensure the necessary high availability for the 193 reverse domains, and to minimize confusion. The NCC will ensure fast repsonse times for addition requests, and will in principle update the 193.in-addr.arpa domain at least once per working day.

Example domain object to request a block delegation

domain: 202.193.in-addr.arpa
descr: Pan European Organisations class C block
admin-c: Daniel Karrenberg
tech-c: Marten Terpstra
zone-c: Marten Terpstra
nserver: ns.eu.net
nserver: sunic.sunet.se
nserver: ns.ripe.net
changed: [email protected] 930319
source: RIPE

Procedures for the delegation of individual network zones by the RIPE NCC.

The registration of the reverse zones for individual class C networks will usually be done by the registry administering the class C block this network has been assigned from. In case the zone corresponding to the class C block has not been delegated, the RIPE NCC will automatically add the reverse nameserver as specified in the "rev-srv" attribute of the RIPE database object for this network, using the following procedures:

1. Because of the increasing importance of correct reverse address mapping, for all delegated networks a good set of secondaries must be defined. There should be at least two nameservers for all networks delegated.

2. The "rev-srv" field should ONLY contain one fully qualified domain name of a nameserver which is authoritative for the reverse zone for this network.

3. If a network has or is going to have any external connectivity, it is strongly recommended that it has at least one reverse nameserver that can be reached from all of the Internet.

4. The checking and addition of the reverse zones for single networks is completely automated at the RIPE NCC. Although we do our best to check the setup of the nameservers, these does not receive the same level of scrutiny as nameservers for blocks of class C network numbers. It is the responsibility of the network contacts to ensure proper operation.

5. Any problems regarding the reverse zones in 193.in-addr.arpa should be directed to <[email protected]>.

The NCC also suggests that similar procedures are set up for the delegation of reverse zones for individual class C networks from the registries to individual organisations.