Policy Manual / v1.11 - 25/03/2013

1. Definitions

The following terms and their definitions are of great importance for the correct comprehension of the objectives, context and policies described herein.

IP address allocation follows the hierarchical scheme described in RFC 2050. Responsibility for the administration of IP address space is distributed globally in accordance with the hierarchical structure shown bellow.

1.1 IANA (Internet Assigned Number Authority)

IANA is responsible for allocating part of the global IP address space and autonomous system numbers to Regional Registries according to established needs.

1.2 Internet Registry (IR)

An Internet Registry (IR) is an organization responsible for allocating IP address space to its members or customers and for registering those allocations. IRs are classified according to their main function and geographic area of coverage as indicated in the hierarchical structure defined in the figure above.

1.3 Regional Internet Registry (RIR)

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are established and authorized by their respective regional communities, and recognized by the IANA to serve and represent large geographical regions. The primary role of RIRs is to manage and allocate Internet resources within their own respective regions.

1.4 National Internet Registry (NIR)

A National Internet Registry (NIR) primarily allocates Internet resources to its members or constituents, which are generally LIRs.

1.5 Local Internet Registry (LIR)

A Local Internet Registry (LIR) is an IR that primarily assigns Internet resources to the users of the network services it provides. LIRs are generally ISPs, whose customers are primarily end users and possibly other ISPs.

1.6 Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Internet Service Providers mainly assign IP address space to end users of the network services they provide. Their clients may be other ISPs. ISPs do not have geographical restrictions as do NIRs.

1.7 End Site or End User (EU)

An end site is defined as an end user (subscriber) that has a legal or commercial relationship (the same or associated entities) with an Internet service provider which involves:

• the service provider assigning address space to the end user
• the service provider offering transit services for the end user towards other sites
• the service provider transporting the end user's traffic
• the service provider announcing an aggregated route prefix which contains the address space assigned by LACNIC to the end user

1.8 Allocate

To allocate means to distribute address space to IRs for the purpose of subsequent distribution by them.

1.9 Assign

To assign means to delegate address space to an end user, for specific use within the Internet infrastructure they operate. Assignments must only be made for specific purposes documented by specific organizations and are not to be sub-assigned to other parties.

1.10 Multihomed

A site is considered to be multihomed if it receives full-time connectivity from more than one Internet service provider and has one or more routing prefixes announced by at least two of its upstream providers. Independent providers refers to the fact that one does not reach the Internet through the other.