Colleagues I like the idea and think this will be a useful addition to the RIPE Database. But I don't think "reg-nr:" is a good choice for the attribute name. All resource holders already have a 'reg-id'. You are asking for confusion by choosing such a similar name. I would choose something more like "legal-reg:" for example. cheers denis On Sun, 14 Dec 2025 at 23:47, David Tatlisu via db-wg <db-wg@ripe.net> wrote:
Hi Everybody, Marco Schmidt started a thread discussing the addition of the "reg-nr:" attribute to organization objects. Summarizing it very briefly, it would make identifying legal entities easier, as their government-issued identification number would be available in the database. The Database team plans on including a URL to the responsible company register on the web frontend where available, while the WHOIS and RDAP will not include the URL.
Marco already went through the effort of writing both a Problem Definition and a Solution Definition, which "fast-tracked" a few steps of the NWI process :p From what I was able to determine, the discussion on the working group did not lead to any change of either the Problem or Solution Definition.
There were some concerns about potential privacy issues which, as far as I was able to tell, were able to be rectified to a sufficient degree as the new data is already public and potential edge-cases were brought to the attention of the RIPE-NCC.
With this, I now declare consensus on the Problem Definition and have determined that this can continue using the NWI process.
Please share any additional feedback for the Solution Definition until 22nd December. Considering the current state of the discussion, I think it's safe to say that the working group participants will have agreed on the Solution Definition after this date.
With this, I thank all participants for their contributions to this NWI.
Kind Regards David Tatlisu, On behalf of the Database WG Chairs.
### Copied from Marco's original e-Mail from 17th November
Problem Statement: The RIPE Database should allow users to uniquely identify Internet Number Resource holders. Today, organisation objects linked to RIPE NCC co-maintained inetnum, inet6num, and aut-num objects include the validated legal organisation name and country code where the resource holder is legally registered. However, these attributes alone are not always sufficient to uniquely identify a legal entity, for three main reasons: 1. Identical names: In some jurisdictions, different companies can legally register with the same or very similar names. 2. Transliteration issues: In countries using non-Latin scripts, converting names from and into Latin characters can produce inconsistent or inaccurate results. 3. Data discrepancies: Differences between the validated legal information (org-name and country) and the contact details maintained by the resource holder (for example, a postal address in another country) can create confusion and make identification more difficult.
Solution Definition: Introduce a new reg-nr: attribute for RIPE NCC co-maintained organisation objects, containing verified company registration numbers issued by national authorities. The RIPE NCC already holds this information for ~99% of resource holders that are legal entities. Publishing a unique and verifiable registration number will significantly improve the ability of RIPE Database users to accurately identify resource holders and cross-check them in national company registries. Only publicly available registration numbers of legal entities will be published. Natural persons remain explicitly out of scope.
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