What changed
No policy change can be established from the supplied verified facts because the policy chronology is empty and no proposal, amendment, version comparison, or implementation record is provided.
AFRINIC · RIR Watchdog
Start here for the proposal-by-proposal record: what changed, why it mattered, who argued for what, how positions evolved, what was decided, and where the evidence still has gaps.
Source facts
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BTW Analysis
No policy change can be established from the supplied verified facts because the policy chronology is empty and no proposal, amendment, version comparison, or implementation record is provided.
The substance and framing of the debate cannot be determined. The supplied record contains no messages, attributed arguments, participant stance timelines, issue framing, or rationale.
Neither a formal decision nor an observed discussion is documented. Zero messages, participants, formal actors, active days, stance-bearing participants, and stance transitions cannot be interpreted as approval, rejection, consensus, abandonment, or implementation.
The top-message shares, HHI, effective participant count, and core-participant counts are all zero because the observed dataset contains zero messages and zero participants. These values describe an empty observed dataset and do not show broad, evenly distributed, concentrated, representative, or captured participation.
No procedural, institutional, or participant chokepoint can be identified from the supplied facts. There is no evidence showing who controlled agenda setting, deliberation, consensus assessment, ratification, rejection, or implementation.
Recipient qualification standard · Draft 2 replaces the broadly worded recipient membership/other-requirements clause with an explicit requirement to qualify for the transferred amount under the same standards as a direct AFRINIC allocation or assignment at the time of request. Membership remains required by the separate source-and-recipient clause.
3.2.2 The recipient must be a member of AFRINIC and must meet any other requirements defined by AFRINIC.Source facts ↗
3.4.2 The recipient must qualify for the amount of resources to be transferred by the same standards as would be applied to a request for an allocation or assignment directly from AFRINIC under current policies at the time of the request.Source facts ↗
Staff assessment of the activation trigger · The draft-2 snapshot adds staff concerns that tying activation to phase 2 of the soft-landing policy could become inapplicable if that policy changed or ceased to have a phase 2. These are assessment comments; draft 2 itself retains the phase-2 trigger.
3.1) This policy takes effect as from phase 2 of the IPv4 soft landing policy (AFPUB-2010-v4-005) or its successor.Source facts ↗
In 3.1 "This policy takes effect as from phase 2 of the IPv4 soft landing policy”. This proposal ties itself to the current soft landing policy - what if the soft-landing policy changes, is overhauled - or doesn’t have a phase 2 anymore?Source facts ↗
Staff assessment of prior transfers · New staff commentary identifies a possible distinction in the 12-month source restriction: its wording could permit a recent inbound inter-RIR recipient to transfer within AFRINIC while preventing a recent intra-AFRINIC recipient from doing so. The proposed restriction itself is retained; the commentary is not a newly enacted exception.
3.3.3 Source entities must not have received a transfer, allocation, or assignment of IPv4 number resources from AFRINIC for the 12 months prior to the approval of transfer request. This restriction excludes Mergers and Acquisitions transfers.Source facts ↗
In 3.3.3 - The current wording implies that the recipient of an inbound inter-RIR transfer in the past 12 months WOULD be allowed to make an outbound AFRINIC-to-AFRINIC transfer, while the recipient of an inbound AFRINIC-to-AFRINIC transfer in the past 12 months WOULD NOT be allowed to make an outbound AFRINIC-to-AFRINIC transfer.Source facts ↗
Staff request for a dispute definition · The draft-2 snapshot adds a request to define disputes and clarify how disputes involving the receiving organisation would affect a transfer. The underlying requirement that the source hold undisputed resources is retained. A staff request for clarification is not treated as a completed policy definition.
3.3.1 The source must be the current rightful holder of the IPv4 address resources recognised by AFRINIC, and not be involved in any dispute as to the status of those resources.Source facts ↗
On “Disputes” - define what shall be considered to be adispute. AFRINIC does not have a process/guideline at the moment about disputes. It is also not clearly mentioned if AFRINIC shall consider a transfer request if there are any disputes around the receiving organisation.Source facts ↗
Staff assessment of the need horizon · Added staff comments identify a mismatch between the draft's 12-month recipient need horizon and the cited soft-landing allocation period of eight months, suggesting alignment or deletion because current-policy qualification already applies. Draft 2 still contains the 12-month clause; the comments alone do not amend it.
3.2.4 Recipients must demonstrate the need for up to a 12-month supply of IPv4 address space.Source facts ↗
On “3.4.4“Recipients must demonstrate the need for up to a 12-month supply of IPv4 address space.”CPM - 5.4.5 states that the current allocation and assignment period of 12 months shall be changed to 8 months. Proposal 3.4.4 should be realigned with the allocation period that is in force at the time, or simply deleted because it's implied by the requirement for the recipient to qualify under current policies.Source facts ↗
Recorded page status · The retained draft-1 page is labelled Under Discussion and the draft-2 page Implemented. This is a difference between page metadata captured in the archive; it does not establish when implementation occurred or prove that draft 2 was implemented on its submission date.
Trigger and CPM integration · Draft 3 frames the proposal as new CPM article 5.7 and applies it to justified IPv4 needs AFRINIC cannot satisfy. It removes the dependency on reaching phase 2 of the soft-landing policy, expressly confirmed in its revision history.
3.1 This policy takes effect as from phase 2 of the IPv4 soft landing policy (AFPUB-2010-v4-005) or its successor.Source facts ↗
5.7.1 Summary of the policy This policy applies to an organization with justified need for IPv4 resources that cannot be satisfied by AFRINIC.Source facts ↗
Transfer-source eligibility · Draft 3 allows resources to come from either an existing AFRINIC member's account or a legacy holder in AFRINIC's service region. This expands the prior rule that both parties must be AFRINIC members. The recipient remains subject to a separate AFRINIC membership and RSA requirement.
5.7.2 IPv4 resources to be transferred must be from an existing AFRINIC member’s account or from a Legacy Resource Holder in the AFRINIC service region.Source facts ↗
Legacy status after transfer · Draft 3 explicitly states that transferred IPv4 legacy resources lose legacy status. The previous recipient conditions required current-policy compliance and an RSA but contained no corresponding legacy-status provision.
3.4.3 The recipient will be subject to current AFRINIC policies and sign the RSA for the resources being received.Source facts ↗
5.7.4.2 The recipient must be an AFRINIC member, subject to current AFRINIC policies and must sign the Registration Services Agreement for resources being received. 5.7.4.3 Transferred IPv4 legacy resources will no longer be regarded as legacy resources.Source facts ↗
Recipient need horizon · Draft 3 removes the standalone requirement to demonstrate up to a 12-month supply and explains that justification follows policies in force. It also removes the separate direct-allocation-equivalence sentence as already covered by the retained need-justification clause. These edits do not eliminate AFRINIC's approval of recipient need.
3.4.4 Recipients must demonstrate the need for up to a 12-month supply of IPv4 address space.Source facts ↗
* Removal of old 3.4.4; No need for the requirement on recipients of the transfer to demonstrate a need up to 12-month supply of IPv4 address space. Justification based on policies in force.Source facts ↗
Recorded page status · The draft-2 snapshot is labelled Implemented, while the draft-3 snapshot is labelled Last Call. These captured labels are retained as a metadata discrepancy; the comparison does not infer a reversal of implementation or overwrite the proposal's authoritative current status.
Partial
Earliest captured: Aug 4, 2004
Latest captured: Oct 11, 2026