Summary

  • ARIN requires approved transfer facilitators to meet a detailed screening standard, including US$1 million liability insurance naming ARIN, background checks, three references and annual compliance with a US$10,000 fee.
  • The program terms refuse to warrant a facilitator’s accuracy, reliability or effectiveness and place reliance on that facilitator with the customer. The registry’s “Qualified” label has a deliberately bounded promise.

ARIN has built a substantial gate before a transfer broker can appear under its name. The Qualified Facilitator Program is optional for organisations seeking help with IPv4 or ASN transfers, but admission is demanding. Applicants must be legally registered businesses in good standing in the ARIN region and hold an ARIN Registration Services Agreement. Two company representatives need verified corporate contact details and must complete ARIN’s transfer qualification, awarded after an interview and approval by both the Chief Legal Officer and the Chief Experience Officer.

That is only the front of the file. ARIN also requires general liability insurance with at least US$1 million in coverage naming the registry, evidence of third-party background checks for key staff, indemnification for ARIN and three written customer references. A facilitator must tell ARIN when it is assisting with a transfer ticket, confirm continued compliance and pay annually. The current fee schedule sets that annual facilitator charge at US$10,000. It is a program fee paid by the facilitator, separate from a transfer request fee or any private charge to a client.

ARIN then places approved firms on a public list with qualification dates. A buyer or seller looking for help can see an institutional selection rather than an anonymous advertisement. ARIN says vetting may improve the customer experience and streamline a transfer. The label has value because the registry itself has performed the admission work.

Now read the program Terms of Use. After describing the application process, the terms say ARIN gives no representation, guarantee or endorsement of a qualified facilitator’s accuracy, reliability or effectiveness. A participant who relies on a facilitator’s advice, statement or action does so at its own risk. ARIN also reserves the right to change, suspend or end the program. The same institution that erects the screening gate draws a sharp boundary around the result of passing through it.

These documents describe two different jobs. Admission checks whether a firm meets ARIN’s requirements at qualification and renewal. A successful IPv4 transfer depends on the particular resource, counterparties, documents, registry decisions and the facilitator’s conduct during the case. ARIN’s own terms allocate that second set of risks to the customer. The public pages provide no measured transfer success or complaint rate for listed facilitators; those figures would allow a performance judgment.

The written program already tells a customer what the qualification is: an ARIN-controlled entry credential, backed by a real screening process, with no promise that a broker will get the transaction right.