Address Supporting Organization

Type:	Supporting Organization
Industry:	IP Addresses
Founded:	1999
Website:	ASO.ICANN.org

The Address Supporting Organization (ASO) is mandated with reviewing and developing recommendations for policies on Internet Protocol addresses and advising the ICANN Board on issues related to their operation, assignment, and management.

Overview

Established in 1999, the Address Supporting Organization is composed of an Address Council (AC), with representatives from each of the five autonomous RIRs:

• AFRINIC
• APNIC
• ARIN
• LACNIC
• RIPE NCC

Three representatives are appointed from each RIR, which have their own independent election processes. The Council then elects a chair who appoints the vice-chairs.

Policymaking in ICANN

ASO Policy Progress (Image from ICANN.org)

Global policies govern how Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) issue Internet number resources to the RIRs, which then distribute them among their members based on regional policies.

Global Policies

The ASO does not directly develop policy on Internet number resources but instead ensures that each RIR follows its Policy Development Processes. Global policies are made when there is agreement among all of the RIRs according to their policy development processes and ICANN and require specific actions on the part of PTI to be implemented.

GPDP

The global numbers community uses the Global Policy Development Process (GPDP) to guide the PTI on what actions to take. The steps of the GPDP are as follows:

1. A proposed global policy can be submitted either to one of the RIR policy fora (via mail lists or public policy meeting) or to the ASO Address Council directly.
2. The members of the Address Council will request that the global policy proposal be placed on the agenda for next open policy meeting in each region, in accordance with the applicable policy process.
3. After consideration of the proposal at each of the RIR meetings, the staff of the RIRs will work with each other, and with the policy proposer to document the common elements of such outcomes.
4. This common text will be ratified by each RIR, by methods of its own choosing.
5. This ratified common text is the proposed global policy proposal that is forwarded to the ASO Address Council, which will either

   a. pass it to ICANN for ratification as a global policy, or

   b. advise the NRO Executive Council that the Address Council has concerns as an outcome of its review and that the proposal requires further review within the public policy development process, or

   c. request the NRO Executive Council for an extension of time to complete the review of the proposal.

6. If the AC has passed the proposal onto ICANN Board, the directors will review it and consult with the AC or RIR through the NRO as well as other ICANN bodies, if necessary.
7. After 60 days, the ICANN Board will then

   a. accept the proposal by a simple majority vote; or

   b. reject the proposed policy by a supermajority (2/3) vote; or

   c. by a simple majority vote request changes to the proposed policy; or

   d. take no action, in which case the proposal becomes global policy.

8. If the ICANN Board rejects the proposal, it must provide the ASO a document of its reasoning and concerns within 60 days.
9. After deliberation among the RIRs, the NRO Executive Council can indicate to the ASO that it may submit a modified or the same exact proposal to the ICANN Board.
10. The resubmitted proposal becomes global policy unless the ICANN Board rejects it by a supermajority (2/3) vote; if it is rejected, the RIRs and ICANN enter into mediation.

Regional Policies

Each RIR distributes Internet number resources to its members according to policies that have been defined by its regional community. Each RIR community proposes, discusses, accepts, or rejects policies using a consensus-based policy development process. Anyone can submit a policy proposal for consideration as RIR membership is not required.

ASO History

In July 1999, when the three Regional Internet Registries which existed then, APNIC, ARIN, and RIPE NCC submitted their proposal for the creation of the ASO on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding; which allows for the creation of a body such as the ASO as an extension of the NRO.

ICANN approved the proposal at its meeting in Chile, and the ASO was subsequently created in October 1999, when the representatives of APNIC, ARIN, RIPE NCC, and ICANN signed the MoU. LACNIC was later recognized as the 4th RIR and it signed the agreement on October 30th, 2002. The Memorandum of Understanding was modified in October 2004, and signed by ICANN and the NRO, which signed on behalf of all the RIRs. When ICANN decided to recognize AfriNIC as the fifth global RIR the representatives of AfriNIC signed the MoU, and it was incorporated as the 5th NRO member.

ASO Address Council

The main responsibilities of the ASO Address Council are:

1. Fulfilling its role in the global policy development process based on the requirements included in this process;
2. Maintaining communication with ICANN and providing recommendations related to various policies and RIR recognition;
3. Ensuring full support, guidance, and advice for ICANN's Board related to the allocation policy for number resource;
4. The development of procedures for business management and support their responsibilities especially in the case of Address Council Chair.

Address Council Members

The council consists of 15 members, with three members from each of the five RIRs, with two being selected by each RIR's regional policy forum and one selected by each RIR Executive Board.

Council Member	Region	Term
Wafa Dahmani Zaafouri*	AFRINIC	Jan 2020 - 31 Dec 2020
Mike Silber	AFRINIC	Jan 2020 - 31 Dec 2022
Mukhangu Noah Maina	AFRINIC	Jan 2018 - 31 Dec 2020
Brajesh Jain	APNIC	Jan 2019 - 31 Dec 2020
Simon Sohel Baroi*	APNIC	Jan 2020 - 31 Dec 2020
Aftab Siddiqui* Chair	APNIC	Jan 2020 - 31 Dec 2020
Louis Lee	ARIN	Jan 2019 - 31 Dec 2021
Kevin Blumberg* Vice-Chair	ARIN	Jan 2018 - 31 Dec 2020
Martin Hannigan	ARIN	Jan 2020 -31 Dec 2022
Ricardo Patara	LACNIC	Jan 2019 - 31 Dec 2021
Jorge Villa Vice-Chair	LACNIC	Jan 2018 - 31 Dec 2020
Esteban Lescano*	LACNIC	April 2020 - 31 March 2021
Filiz Yilmaz	RIPE NCC	Jan 2020 - 31 Dec 2022
Nurani Nimpuno	RIPE NCC	Jan 2019 - Dec 2021
Herve Clement*	RIPE NCC	Jan 2018 - 31 Dec 2020

*Board-appointed member to the ASO AC

ICANN Board members

Consistent with the ASO Memorandum of Understanding and ICANN Bylaws, the Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC) is responsible for appointing Seats, nine and ten to the ICANN Board of Directors. For more information about the selection processes for current and previous appointments please follow the link.

Related Pages

• NRO
• GNSO
• ccNSO

Address Supporting Organization. Advises the Board with respect to policy issues relating to the operation, assignment, and management of Internet addresses (ICANN Bylaws).

Number Resource Organization