[Apologies for duplicate e-mails.] Dear Colleagues, The Number Resource Organization (NRO) has announced today that the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) have reached an agreement to voluntarily limit the size of IPv4 allocations they request from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). In future, requests submitted to the IANA under the current global policy for IPv4 allocations from IANA to RIRs will be voluntarily limited to a maximum of two /8 blocks per request. The current global policy can be found at: http://www.aso.icann.org/docs/aso-001-2.pdf This adjustment to the RIRs' standard practice will facilitate the tracking of the IANA's IPv4 consumption rate and allow more active management of the remaining IPv4 address pool. The change will not affect the overall rate of IPv4 consumption as measured by allocations from the RIRs to network infrastructure operators. It will also not affect any of the RIPE NCC's regional policies currently in place. About the NRO -------------------- Formed by the RIRs to formalise their co-operative efforts, the NRO exists to protect the unallocated number resource pool, to promote and protect the bottom-up policy development process, and to act as a focal point for Internet community input into the RIR system. More information about the NRO can be found at: www.nro.net Regards, Axel Pawlik Managing Director RIPE NCC