Regional Policy

The policies that govern how Internet number resources are distributed by the RIRs are developed by the RIR communities. The RIRs facilitate the policy development process. They do not propose, develop, reject or accept policy proposals.

RIR Policy Development Processes (PDP) are designed so anyone who is interested in Internet number resource policy can participate. Anyone can propose a policy or an amendment to a current policy and they do not have to be a member of any RIR. Once a policy proposal is submitted, anyone can submit comments, or provide support or objection to the proposal.

Each RIR community develops its own policy development process according to its regional needs but each PDP is open, inclusive, transparent and bottom-up.

Discussion

Discussions on public mailings lists are an important part of the policy-making process. Each RIR maintains policy discussion mailing lists, which are open to all and are publicly archived. Policy discussions also take place during RIR meetings, which are open for everyone to participate in, both on-site or via remote participation online. Each RIR holds around two meetings a year.

Consensus

Community consensus is required for a policy proposal to become an RIR policy or to amend an existing policy. Any arguments or objections raised in the discussion phase of the policy process must have been carefully considered or addressed before the proposal is adopted.

It is the task of the community-elected leadership (working group chairs, advisory council members) to determine if all arguments have been considered and if there is enough community support to declare consensus and accept or reject a policy proposal. In some RIR communities, the RIR governance board plays a role in validating that the community policy development process has been adhered to and consensus reached.

Accepted Policies

When a policy proposal has been accepted and, in some regions, ratified by the RIR Board, the RIR is bound to execute the policies that have been developed by its communities. This obligation is detailed in each RIRs’ governance documents.

Regional Overview

To provide a comprehensive overview of the policies, proposals and discussions in each of the five RIR communities, a Comparative RIR Policy Overview is published by the RIRs each quarter.

More details about each RIR’s PDP and the proposals currently under discussion can be found below:

RIR	PDP	Current Policies	Proposals	Mailing List	RIR Meetings
AFRINIC Policy Development Working Group (PDWG)	AFRINIC PDP	Current Policies	Policy Proposals	AFRINIC Resource Policy Discussion Mailing List	Upcoming AFRINIC Meetings
APNIC Policy Special Interest Group (SIG)	APNIC PDP	Current Policies	Policy Proposals	APNIC SIG Policy Mailing List	Upcoming APNIC Meetings
ARIN	ARIN PDP	Current Policies	Draft Policy Proposals	ARIN Public Policy Mailing List	Upcoming ARIN Meetings
LACNIC	LACNIC PDP	Current Policies	Policy Proposals	LACNIC Politicas Mailing List	Upcoming LACNIC Meetings
RIPE Address Policy Working Group (AP WG)	RIPE PDP	Current Policies	Policy Proposals	Address Policy Working Group Mailing List	Upcoming RIPE Meetings

More Information