Summary

The LACNIC policies in force only consider the distribution of resources to "Organizations."

This proposal seeks to modify the policy to allow, as in other regions, the distribution of resources to natural persons, businesses or individuals who wish to be directly connected to the Internet and pay for BGP services.

Rationale (Describe the problem you intend to solve)

Possibly due to the clear shortage of IPv4 addresses—and at the time even a shortage of AS numbers—the wording chosen for the policy explicitly allows resources to be distributed exclusively to "organizations."

However, as we increasingly rely on resilient Internet connectivity and IPv6-only, it is reasonable to expect that any individual (natural person)—whether acting in a personal capacity (household/family) or engaged in economic or business activities—may wish to avoid depending on third-party addresses and have the right to obtain their own Internet resources, thus allowing the use of IPv6 with multihoming.

Although an avalanche of resource requests is not expected (this has not happened in the other regions), this might change in the future, so we must be prepared. Excluding natural persons, whether for personal use or for conducting economic activities (which the law permits without requiring formal incorporation), while allowing only organizations to obtain essential resources for connecting directly to the Internet would undoubtedly be considered discriminatory under the laws of democratic countries.

It would be paradoxical if, for example, national legislation allows an individual to launch a data center, yet they cannot do so because LACNIC's policies, unlike those of other RIRs, do not allow them to receive resources as independent entrepreneurs. This situation not only generates discrimination against the region's citizens but also a loss of competitiveness compared to the rest of the world.

Current text

1.2. Principles for Proper Administration and Stewardship

The fundamental principle is to distribute unique Internet numbering resources according to the technical and operational needs of the networks currently using, or that will use, these numbering resources, allowing the sustainable growth of the Internet.

The numbering resources under the stewardship of LACNIC must be distributed among organizations legally constituted within its service region [SERVICE REGION] and mainly serving networks and services operating in this region. External clients connected directly to main infrastructure located in the region are allowed. Exceptions may be granted to DNS root server operators (RSOs) from outside the service region for the purpose of operating global anycast DNS root service.

* “Mainly” is understood to mean more than 50%.

Anycast services that use numbering resources outside said region are acceptable as long as they are provided by an organization legally established within the service region [SERVICE REGION] and at least one copy of the service is hosted on local infrastructure.

Upon obtaining any type of resources from LACNIC or from the corresponding NIR, any legacy resources held by the recipient will no longer be considered legacy resources.

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1.2. Principles for Proper Administration and Stewardship

The fundamental principle is to distribute unique Internet numbering resources according to the technical and operational needs of the networks currently using, or that will use, these numbering resources, allowing the sustainable growth of the Internet.

The numbering resources under the stewardship of LACNIC must be distributed among organizations legally constituted within its service region [COBERTURA] and mainly serving networks and services operating in this region. External clients connected directly to main infrastructure located in the region are allowed. Exceptions may be granted to DNS root server operators (RSOs) from outside the service region for the purpose of operating global anycast DNS root service.

* “Mainly” is understood to mean more than 50%.

Anycast services that use numbering resources outside said region are acceptable as long as they are provided by an organization legally established within the service region [SERVICE REGION] and at least one copy of the service is hosted on local infrastructure.

Distributions may be made to natural persons, provided they are legal residents of the LACNIC service region and that the resources will be used exclusively within the region.

Upon obtaining any type of resources from LACNIC or from the corresponding NIR, any legacy resources held by the recipient will no longer be considered legacy resources.

Additional information

To the best of our knowledge, this restriction does not exist in the other RIRs. On the contrary, there are documented cases of natural persons who, even with no economic activity, have obtained resources from their respective RIRs.

Timetable

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References

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Presented at:

LACNIC 43 (07/05/2025)