closed Second Draft of the RIR Governance Document

Outcome

The Second Draft of the Regional Internet Registry Governance Document was posted for Public Comment from 28 August 2025 to 7 November 2025 and received 17 submissions. The Public Comment proceeding allowed respondents to submit their comments either as an attachment or via a web-based form.

The Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC) appreciates the time, dedication, and participation in this proceeding and is grateful to those who provided their timely feedback.

What We Received Input On

The proposed “Governance Document for the Recognition, Operation, and Derecognition of Regional Internet Registries (RIRs)” (“the RIR Governance Document”) sets forth a proposal on the: 

• Rules and criteria for recognizing new RIRs
• Operating obligations and requirements of RIRs
• Rules and criteria for derecognizing RIRs

If adopted by ICANN and the RIRs, the RIR Governance Document would supersede and replace the Internet Coordination Policy 2 (ICP-2).

Background

The Number Resource Organization (NRO) is the coordinating mechanism of the RIRs. The NRO Executive Council (NRO EC) is the representative body of the NRO and comprises a representative from each of the five RIRs. In October 2023, the NRO EC asked the Address Supporting Organization to establish and manage a process to propose updates to ICP-2 with the goal of providing the RIR system with greater accountability to the Internet community. This process is in consultation with the RIRs and their communities.

What is the ASO’s role in updating ICP-2?

The Address Supporting Organization (ASO) is one of the three Supporting Organizations in the ICANN community. The ASO: 

• Reviews and develops recommendations on Internet Protocol (IP) address policy
• Advises the ICANN Board on policy issues relating to the operation, assignment, and management of IP addresses 

Within the ASO, the ASO Address Council is an elected body of up to 15 members, comprising three representatives from each of the five RIR communities. The ASO AC oversees the global policy development process, makes appointments, and provides recommendations to the ICANN Board concerning the recognition of new RIRs. 

In late 2024, the ASO AC conducted a Public Comment proceeding on the ICP-2 Version 2 Principles. The ASO AC incorporated the input from the Public Comment proceeding and input from consultations the RIRs organized into the first draft of the RIR Governance Document. 

In April 2025, the ASO AC conducted a Public Comment proceeding on the first draft of the RIR Governance Document. Based on the feedback received during the Public Comment proceeding and input from the consultations the RIRs organized, the ASO AC developed a second draft of the RIR Governance Document.

What is the ICANN community’s role in updating ICP-2?

The ICANN community provides feedback to the ASO as it continues to develop a successor document to ICP-2.

What is the ICANN Board's role in updating ICP-2?

The ICANN Board is closely tracking the process of updating ICP-2. The ICANN Board will consider any successor document to ICP-2 approved by the ASO AC.

What is the ICANN organization’s role in updating ICP-2?

The ICANN organization has two roles in updating ICP-2. 

First, the ICANN organization supports the ASO AC in its work to develop a proposal for replacing ICP-2, including conducting Public Comment to support the ICANN community in providing input. 

Second, as ICANN has a significant role in the recognition and maintenance of RIRs, the ICANN organization will be responsible for implementation of any approved updates. Therefore, the ICANN organization has a role in assessing the feasibility of any proposal received from the ASO AC and supporting the ICANN Board’s consideration of that document. ICANN has not provided inputs on or performed any feasibility assessment of the proposals laid out in this updated version. 

Supporting Information