ICP-2 Review

The Internet Coordination Policy 2 (ICP-2): Criteria for Establishment of New Regional Internet Registries was accepted on 4 June 2001 by the ICANN Board of Directors as a statement of the essential fundamental principles required for recognizing and evaluating new Regional Internet Registries (RIRs).

Request to update ICP-2

On 25 October 2023, the NRO EC formally requested the ASO AC’s assistance in preparing ICP-2 implementation procedures and in updating ICP-2 to provide a stronger RIR framework and to meet current needs. This update will be conducted in consultation with each of the RIR and ICANN communities to enhance the RIR system’s accountability to the broader Internet community.

The goal of this process is to ensure that ICP-2 continues to reflect the fundamental principles required for recognizing and evaluating new Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), in keeping with the Internet of today. The NRO NC is not looking to fundamentally change or redesign the existing RIR system. The focus is on identifying existing gaps and areas of improvement.

Note, the ASO AC also functions as the Number Resource Organization Number Council (NRO NC).

The Proposed Principles document outlined the core principles the ASO AC believes should be reflected in the next version of ICP-2. In addition to principles on governance, ecosystem, lifecycle, recognition and operation of RIRs, it also outlines principles for the potential ‘derecognition’ of an RIR if it fails to adhere to the criteria established in ICP-2.

View the Proposed Principles document.

Questionnaire

The NRO NC invited the global RIR communities to provide feedback on each principle via a questionnaire, open from 8 October until 6 December 2024.

On 24 February 2025, the NRO NC published a qualitative analysis and summary of the community responses received to the questionnaire on the proposed principles to update ICP-2. The summary and the raw data questionnaire are available here.

View the summary and raw data questionnaire.

Community engagement

The ASO AC welcomed the tasks, and their first decision was that all teleconferences and face-to-face meetings related to ICP-2 would be open to RIRs and other observers. When necessary the ASO AC may hold closed working sessions to advance the review process. The outcome of any closed meetings will be shared in subsequent community updates.

The ASO AC will continue to hold monthly teleconferences, and work will continue on the ASO AC mailing list.

The first face-to-face meeting organized for the specific purpose of working on these tasks was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 29-30 January 2024. During this meeting, the ASO AC reviewed the ICP-2 Implementation Procedures draft received from the NRO EC on 23 January 2024, and submitted their feedback.

The second face-to-face meeting was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 4-5 March 2024. These sessions took place at ICANN 79 and the Zoom recordings and transcripts of these sessions are available.

On 27 March 2024, the ASO AC conducted a public working session via teleconference to work on updating ICP-2. The ASO AC focused on the proposed principles document.

Following this meeting, the ASO AC agreed to establish an additional call dedicated to ICP-2 work.

From 24 February to 1 March 2025, the ASO AC held working sessions in conjunction with the APNIC 59 conference in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Work products included finalization of the ICP-2 Review Process, discussion on the outcomes of the Principles questionnaire, and progress on the initial policy draft.

Timeline

In parallel, in coordination with ICANN, the ASO AC has finalized the timeline for 2024-2025.

This timeline includes the development of an initial draft of the updated ICP-2 proposal, and a consultative process by which the update can be reviewed in each of the RIR communities.

The ASO AC will use the feedback from these consultations to confirm that the updated draft policy has community support, produce a cohesive update to the policy which will then be recommended to the NRO EC for their finalization and adoption, in consultation with ICANN (and possibly the wider ICANN community).

This section of the ASO AC website is intended to consolidate all relevant information and updates on this process.

RIR/ICANN Sessions on ICP-2

Relevant links:

• NRO request to ASO AC for help with ICP-2:
• ASO AC’s response to the NRO’s request for help with ICP-2: Response is right below NRO EC request in the previous link.
• Reviewed ICP-2 work timeline (September 2024 version)
• Proposed ICP-2 Version 2 Principles
• Global Questionnaire on proposed ICP-2 version 2 Principles
• NRO Announces that the Deadline for the ICP-2 Questionnaire Has Been Extended to 6 December 2024
• ICP-2 Principles Questionnaire Report and Data Published
• Process for the review of ICP-2 and Timeline
• FAQ

Reference Documents

• Current version of ICP-2: https://aso.icann.org/policy/internet-coordination-policy/
• ASO MoU 1999: https://aso.icann.org/documents/historical-documents/memorandum-of-understanding-1999/
• ASO MoU 2004: https://aso.icann.org/documents/historical-documents/memorandum-of-understanding/
• ASO MoU 2019: https://aso.icann.org/documents/memorandums-of-understanding/icann-address-supporting-organization-mou-november-2019/

Last modified on March 1st, 2025 at 08:38