Adding nic handles to contact objects without one

Dear all,
during the last RIPE meeting, in Amsterdam, the database working group 
discussed a proposal to automatically add NIC Handles to all person and role 
objects in the RIPE Database that don't yet have one (new objects can't be 
created without nic handles anymore). This proposal was supported by the 
working group and it was agreed that it should be circulated to the mailing 
lists to give people not attending a chance to provide input.

This does not affect how other objects reference these person or role objects.
This is only intended to bring old objects into conformance with the current 
object definitions and does not mean that data provided by the user will be 
modified.
Only the nic handle attribute will be given a value when the object lacks one.
No other attributes will be touched. Objects which already have nic handles 
will not be touched.
The nic handle is a tag conveying no information about the user or role 
described in the object. It is an identifier for the object.

This addition would make data more uniform and could be a benefit for everyone.

For more information on nic handles, please read RIPE 157 and RIPE 189 
available at http://www.ripe.net/docs

Best regards,
Joao Damas
Database Group
RIPE NCC