Looking Ahead at IPv4 Transfers in 2017 [Archived]

By John Curran

OUT OF DATE?

Here in the Vault, information is published in its final form and then not changed or updated. As a result, some content, specifically links to other pages and other references, may be out-of-date or no longer available.

Since the depletion of IPv4, transfer requests have been on the rise. While we have seen a 400% increase in completed transfers, that total doesn’t account for the complete number of requests received and processed by ARIN staff. Currently about 25% of ARIN transfer request processing results in an unsuccessful outcome, i.e., in one out of four requests, the transfer is either abandoned or not approved.

When transfer requests are unsuccessful, ARIN still incurs similar processing costs as it does for successful transfers. In September, we took this challenge to the community through our Suggestion and Consultation Process, where we proposed making a change to our Fee Schedule to change the Resource Transfer fee to a non-refundable processing fee.

In response to that Transfer Fee consultation, and based on the community feedback received and operational considerations of the ARIN organization, ARIN will be changing how fees are applied to transfers effective 1 January 2017. At that time, ARIN will collect a $300 USD, non-refundable processing fee for each transfer of Internet number resource request, including:

8.2 Merger, Acquisition, and Reorganization transfers; billed to the source (or legal successor) organization.
8.3 Transfers to Specified Recipients within the ARIN region, billed to the source-side organization. The Transfer processing fee is waived when the subject resources are under an existing Registration Services Plan (RSP), and no specific transfer processing fee will be charged to the recipient-side organization.
8.4 Inter-RIR Transfers to Specified Recipients, a fee is billed to the source-side organization if within the ARIN region. This transfer processing fee is waived when the subject resources are under an existing Registration Services Plan (RSP). No specific transfer processing fee will be charged to recipient-side organizations.

This processing fee will be invoiced to the source organization’s billing Point of Contact (POC) and are to be paid before request evaluation begins. It replaces the $500 resource transfer fee on the 2016 fee schedule. Note that this fee change will only affect transfer requests submitted on or after 1 January 2017. For each transfer request of Internet number resources submitted before that date, the recipient organization will pay the 2016 transfer fee of $500 and may need to execute the Registration Services Agreement if a current version is not on file.

Our intention and hope, as noted in the consultation, is that collecting the transfer processing fee in advance will encourage organizations to submit only bona fide requests. Additionally, based in part on community feedback, we have also reduced the processing fee for transfer requests. We hope that the overall of effect of these changes will be lower costs and faster processing for those engaging in legitimate number resource transfers.