Internet Registries

Three regional Internet registries are responsible for the assignment of IP addresses and autonomous system numbers globally (other organizations are responsible for the assignment of domain names):

• ARIN— American Registry for Internet Numbers
• APNIC— Asia Pacific Network Information Centre
• RIPE— Réseaux IP Européens

ARIN is a nonprofit organization established for the purpose of administration and registration of IP numbers for the following geographical areas: North America, South America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa.

APNIC represents the Asia Pacific region, comprising 62 economies. It is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization whose members include Internet service providers, national Internet registries, and similar organizations.

RIPE is an open collaborative community of organizations and individuals operating wide area IP networks in Europe and beyond. The objective of the RIPE community is to ensure the administrative and technical coordination necessary to enable operation of a pan-European IP network. RIPE has no formal membership, and its activities are performed on a voluntary basis.