Dear colleagues,
I would like to follow up on my email below regarding a possible review
of the IPv6 Address Allocation and Assignment Policy.
The main points I raised were the lack of a general reference to the
audit procedure in the IPv6 policy, and the wording of the section
dealing with policy compliance and non-compliance, which has remained
unchanged since 2002 and might be difficult to understand without the
historical context.
My intention would be to clarify and improve the existing framework,
rather than to introduce substantive policy changes.
So far, I have not received any feedback. Before considering a policy
proposal, I would very much appreciate hearing the your views. Do you
think these areas would benefit from clarification or review, or are
there maybe other aspects of the policy that also should be considered?
Even brief feedback would be very helpful.
Kind regards,
Marco Schmidt
Manager Registration Services
RIPE NCC
On 02/07/2026 14:31, Marco Schmidt wrote:
Dear colleagues,
I would like to follow up on a topic I raised during RIPE 92 regarding
the IPv6 Address Allocation and Assignment Policy [1].
Over the years, this working group discussed a number of policy
proposals to update the IPv6 policy framework. However, during recent
reviews and audit activities, Registration Services found that some
parts of the policy relating to the post-provisioning lifecycle could
be clarified and made more consistent through a policy discussion.
For example, while the term "audit" appears in some sections of the
policy text, there is no general reference to the audit procedure
itself (unlike in the IPv4 policy). While such reference is not a
requirement to perform an audit on IPv6 resources, it would make the
RIPE NCC mandate clearer to everyone.
In addition, the section dealing with policy compliance and
non-compliance has remained unchanged since 2002 and uses relatively
complex wording:
"[...] The policies in this document are based upon the understanding
that globally unique IPv6 unicast address space is licensed for use
rather than owned. Specifically, IP addresses will be allocated and
assigned on a license basis, with licenses subject to renewal on a
periodic basis. The granting of a license is subject to specific
conditions applied at the start or renewal of the license.
RIRs will generally renew licenses automatically, provided requesting
organisations are making a “good faith” effort at meeting the criteria
under which they qualified for or were granted an allocation or
assignment. However, in those cases where a requesting organisation is
not using the address space as intended, or is showing bad faith in
following through on the associated obligation, RIRs reserve the right
to not renew the license. Note that when a license is renewed, the new
license will be evaluated under and governed by the applicable IPv6
address policies in place at the time of renewal, which may differ
from the policy in place at the time of the original allocation or
assignment." [2]
While the intent of this text remains valid, some parts may be
difficult to grasp, particularly for those less familiar with RIPE
policies and their historical context.
As these sections primarily affect the RIPE NCC's role in assessing
and maintaining policy compliance after resources have been issued, I
am considering creating a policy proposal aimed at improving clarity
and consistency. The intention would be to clearly define the existing
framework rather than make substantive changes to the policy’s intent.
Before creating this proposal, I welcome feedback from the working group.
Do you think these parts of the IPv6 policy could benefit from review?
Are there other areas that you believe should be clarified, updated,
or taken into account if a proposal were developed?
Kind regards,
Marco Schmidt
Manager Registration Services
RIPE NCC
[1]
https://pretalx.ripe.net/media/ripe-92/submissions/JZ3KEL/resources/RIPE_92_Update_from__23Km8Xv.pdf
[2]
https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-738/#41-address-space-not-to-be-considered-property
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