Hi Laurent,

That is correct.

As a LIR you are allowed to provide your customers IP addresses.

Direct Assignment Users are not allowed to give IP addresses to other companies.

The IP addresses provided via a Direct Assignment Users agreement should be seen as Provider Independent IP space (Similar as if an end-customer would request that via a LIR).

The big difference is that RIPE is acting as the ‘LIR’ and deals with the end-customer directly.

To make things even more interesting … there are some specific rules that don’t apply to LIR’s that you would encounter as a Direct End-User.

Such as having a requirement for IPv6 multi-homing in order to be eligible for an IPv6 – prefix. As a LIR, you don’t have any multi-homing requirement and you can request a IPv6 prefix without questions asked.

Also as a LIR, you get a /21 to start with, and you can work with the hostmasters on how to use them yourself or assign them to your end-customers.

As a Direct End-customer, you only deal with the hostmasters once. And you get assigned what you require at this moment (up to 3 months.)

In case you don’t require to provide IP addresses to other companies and all required IP addresses are for your infrastructure only, you could go to either a LIR or RIPE and ask them for PI space.

If you intent to hand out IP addresses to other companies / end-users.. You should become a LIR.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Erik Bais

Erik Bais | A2B Internet BV | +31 299 707 115 ( Office ) | ebais@a2b-internet.com |