RIPE NCC

The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. An RIR oversees the allocation and registration of Internet number resources (IPv4 addresses, IPv6 addresses and Autonomous System (AS) Numbers in a specific region.

It is a not-for-profit membership organisation with over 4,300 (as of May 2006) members located in 65 countries in its service region.

The RIPE NCC also supports the technical and administrative coordination of the infrastructure of the Internet.

It is an open and transparent, neutral and impartial, self-governing organisation based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It employs around ninety staff.

Any individual or organisation can become a member of the RIPE NCC. The membership consists mainly of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunication organisations and large corporations.

The RIPE NCC also provides technical and administrative support to Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE), a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet.

Activities of the RIPE NCC

The RIPE NCC supports the development of the Internet through technical coordination of the Internet infrastructure in its service region and beyond. It undertakes many activities in this area, including:

Allocation and registration of Internet number resources (IP Addresses and AS Numbers)
Development, operation and maintenance of the RIPE Whois Database
Development, operation and maintenance of the RIPE Routing Registry
Operation of K-root, one of the world’s root nameservers
Coordination support for ENUM delegations
Collection and publication of neutral statistics on Internet development and performance

RIPE NCC Legal Structure

The RIPE NCC is governed by Dutch law.

RIPE NCC Organisational Structure

The RIPE NCC is a ‘bottom-up’ organisation. The RIPE NCC consists of:

Members
- Members can directly influence the RIPE NCC’s activities, services and policies. Members are responsible for nominating and electing candidates to the RIPE NCC Executive Board and for approving the RIPE NCC Charging Scheme and the RIPE NCC Financial Report each year. Members also give input to, and feedback on, the activities carried out and the services provided by the RIPE NCC.

An Executive Board
- RIPE NCC members nominate and elect an Executive Board each year. The Board consists of between three and five members and is responsible for appointing the RIPE NCC Management Team, for the overall financial situation of the RIPE NCC and for keeping records that allow the financial situation of the organisation to be evaluated at any time.

RIPE NCC Staff
- Staff members perform the activities of the RIPE NCC, provide services to its members and provide administrative support to the RIPE Working Groups.

Fees

As Internet number resources do not have a value in themselves, the RIPE NCC charges members an annual membership fee based on the resources that the member receives from the RIPE NCC. The annual membership fee charged to each member is proportionally related to the workload involved in providing the resources requested by that member.

The RIPE NCC Service Region

The RIPE NCC service region consists of countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The RIPE Whois Database

The RIPE Whois Database contains registration details of IP addresses and AS Numbers originally allocated by the RIPE NCC. It shows which organisations or individuals hold which Internet number resources, when the allocations were made and contact details. The organisations or individuals that hold these resources are responsible for updating information in the database. The database can be searched by using the web interface, or by directing the whois client to whois.ripe.net.

RIPE Routing Registry

The RIPE Routing Registry is a sub-set of the RIPE Whois Database and holds routing information in RPSL. The RIPE Routing Registry is a part of the Internet Routing Registry, a collection of databases that mirror each other. Information about domain names in the RIPE Whois Database is for reference only: it is not the domain name registry that is run by the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) administrators of Europe and surrounding areas.

Other Organisations/Events

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

ICANN assigns blocks of Internet resources (IP Resources and AS Numbers) to the RIPE NCC and the other RIRs.

The Number Resource Organization (NRO)

The Number Resource Organization (NRO) is made up of the five existing RIRs: AfriNIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and the RIPE NCC. The NRO carries out the joint activities of the RIRs including joint technical projects, liaison activities and policy coordination.

Address Supporting Organization (ASO)

The NRO also performs the function of the ASO, one of the supporting organisations called for by the ICANN bylaws. The ASO reviews and develops recommendations on Internet Policy relating to the system of IP addressing and advises the ICANN Board on these matters.