About the NRO

NRO FAQ

What is the NRO?

The Number Resource Organization (NRO), was created in October 2003 by the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) with the purpose of undertaking joint activities of the five RIRs, including joint technical projects, liaison activities, and policy coordination.

What are the goals of the NRO?

The goals of the NRO are:

  • to protect the unallocated number resource pool (IPv4, IPv6, and ASN)
  • to promote and protect the bottom-up policy development process
  • to act as a focal point for Internet community input into the RIR system

How is the NRO integrated?

The NRO consists of the five RIRs: AfriNIC, serving Africa; ARIN, serving North America; LACNIC, serving South America and the Caribbean; APNIC, serving the Asia Pacific region; and the RIPE NCC, serving Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The NRO’s Executive Council consists of the Chief Executive Officer of each Regional Internet Registry. Officer positions rotate annually.

How transparent are the activities of the NRO Executive Council?

Every meeting of the NRO Executive Council is transparent as the agenda and minutes of each meeting are published in the NRO website.

Does the NRO develop policies?

No. The NRO does not develop, approve, or implement regional or global number resource policies. RIRs administer regional policies and facilitate their creation using established, open policy development processes. With input from the RIRs via the NRO, ICANN’s Address Supporting Organization reviews and develops recommendations on global Internet Protocol (IP) address policy for ratification by ICANN’s Board of Directors.

How can I be involved in the global policy development process?

Any individual may submit a global proposal. Each RIR community must ratify an identical version of the proposed policy. The NRO Executive Council then refers the coordinated proposal to the ASO Address Council (ASO AC), which reviews the process by which the proposal was developed and, passes it to the ICANN Board of Directors for ratification as a global policy.

Does the NRO have any influence in the regional policy development process?

No. RIRs operate in an open, self-regulatory manner, facilitating direct participation by any interested party to ensure that the policies for number resource management are defined by all who need and use them. Each RIR holds independent, open public policy meetings to discuss and develop policy proposals. Public mailing lists allow the entire Internet community to participate in the process. While official, up-to-date RIR policy is maintained on individual RIR websites, the NRO publishes a document that provides a comparative overview of policies across the RIR system.

What is the relationship between the NRO and other organizations related to Internet number resources?

The NRO is an interface for organizations to deal directly with the RIRs at a single point instead of separately. For example, this allows ICANN to comment directly on non-policy items such as the ICANN budget and service contracts. The NRO provides a similar single interface to the RIRs for other organizations, such as the IETF, on Internet number resource administration issues.

The NRO also provides a visible framework for existing joint RIR activities. Such activities include the administration of upper level reverse DNS domains. Future activities of this nature will also be undertaken within the framework of the NRO, such as a common whois interface to RIR data.

Does the NRO replace ICANN?

No. One of the intended functions of the NRO is to undertake, if necessary, the IANA number resource management. In the event that ICANN should fail, it was considered probable that those with a direct interest and expertise in each particular functional area would undertake the various IANA functions.

Does the NRO replace the ASO?

No. The NRO is a stand-alone body. The NRO Numbers Council performs the role of the ASO Address Council. Other aspects, such as the Executive Council are not part of the ASO but represent the RIRs acting together.

Is the NRO another layer of bureaucracy?

No. The NRO is not another layer of bureaucracy. The essential elements of interaction between the RIRs and ICANN remain unaltered since the creation of the NRO. ICANN continues to operate the unallocated Internet number resource pool. The Board of ICANN has the continued ability to ratify proposed global number resource policies. An Address Council continues to undertake a role as a source of advice to the Board of ICANN on number resource matters, as well as directing proposed global address policies through ICANN for ratification.

What is the NRO position in relation to Internet Governance?

The NRO believes that Internet technical coordination activities must be independent of government and that the activities use participation models that incorporate the diversity of all interested parties. The current Internet address management system has brought stability, equity of access, openness, and transparency to one of the Internet’s most vital functions. The system enjoys significant community, industry and government support.

Is the NRO against participation of governments in the Internet administration?

No. The creation of governmental oversight structures may have negative impacts such as slowing Internet innovation, subordinating technical decisions to political criteria and increasing bureaucracy. Such structures will surely reduce the highly valued security and stability of Internet and may threaten the freedom of information exchange. The preservation of the operational stability must be the key principle on which the transition to any new framework is based.

What would be the best model for Internet Governance?

The NRO believes that the full participation of parties interested in Internet Governance, together with the multistakeholder forum proposal presented in the WGIG report, ensures efficient control of the system. This control exercised by all stakeholders, including governments, is much more beneficial than oversight exercised exclusively by governments.

How can I be updated about the NRO activities?

NRO activities and events are announced via the nro-announce@nro.net mailing list. Subscription information and other NRO mailing lists are available at the NRO website (www.nro.net).