What we do

Terms of Use - AFRINIC WHOIS Database

: Last Modified on - 20 March 2023

Preamble

AFRINIC Whois Database is a public database containing information regarding the entities that hold Internet number resources (IP addresses and AS Numbers) in the AFRINIC service region. Although the information is public, use is restricted as described below.

By accessing, querying and using AFRINIC Whois Database, you are deemed to have consented to the here-under Terms of Use, which will become a binding agreement between yourself and AFRINIC.

By using AFRINIC Whois Database, you unequivocally represent to AFRINIC that you are legally competent to enter into this Terms of Use and to be bound by therewith.

These Terms of Use apply to any use of the AFRINIC Whois Database, including compilation, repackaging, dissemination or any other use of the data contained therein.

A - USE OF THE AFRINIC WHOIS DATABASE

1. AFRINIC Whois Database is to be used for the following purposes, including:

Evaluating routing policies or ensuring compliance with routing policies.
Facilitating operational coordination between network operators (e.g., network problem resolution, etc.).
Providing reverse DNS (rDNS) delegations.
For use in conjunction with providing network and Internet services so long as such use does not include reselling, available data contained within the AFRINIC Whois Database.
Ensuring the uniqueness of Internet number resource usage.
Conducting scientific research into network operations.
Researching and tracking abuse issues in connection with the maintenance of AFRINIC Whois Data.
Identifying resources used or suspected of being used for unlawful or harassing purposes.
Coordination of globally unique general-purpose Internet number resources for the operation of the global Internet
Providing information, on request, to parties involved in disputes over Internet number resource registrations to parties authorized under the law to receive such information
Supporting legally appropriate requests for information regarding Internet number resources by authorities for law enforcement purposes

2. Notwithstanding the above, AFRINIC Whois Database is specifically prohibited for the following:

As part of a commercial service or product, including the solicitation and servicing of any customer, even if additional data not derived from the AFRINIC Whois Database is incorporated therein.
For advertising, direct marketing, marketing research or similar purposes.
For criminal and/or illicit purposes.

3. Where a legitimate need for high-volume queries or bulk access to the AFRINIC Whois Database exists, such need has to be requested from AFRINIC by emailing hostmaster@afrinic.net with a request for bulk whois data. Under specific circumstances and subject to the relevant laws of Mauritius, access to the AFRINIC Database Whois bulk data may be permitted which shall be subject to AFRINIC's Acceptable Use of the AFRINIC Bulk WHOIS Data as incorporated into the Bulk Whois Data Request Form.

4. Unless duly authorised in writing, no other use of the AFRINIC Whois Database other than those expressly described herein shall be implied or permitted. In the event that there is the need to discuss possible uses of the AFRINIC Whois database that are not described in the present Terms of Use, the AFRINIC Hostmaster may be contacted at hostmaster@afrinic.net.

B - PRIVACY

To all intents and purposes, the AFRINIC Privacy Statement forms an integral part of the present Terms of Use and applicable in all matters relating to privacy.

As such, AFRINIC will comply with all applicable data protection and privacy laws of the Republic of Mauritius in its handling of data and information submitted to it by the organisation/individual in furtherance of an application for services and use thereof.

C - CONTROL OF THE AFRINIC WHOIS DATABASE

1. Subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2017 of the Republic of Mauritius, AFRINIC may alter or delete AFRINIC Whois Database data:

According to criteria set out in AFRINIC policies.
To comply with AFRINIC Bylaws.
To comply with applicable laws.
To fulfil any legal obligation.
When a breach of the Terms of Use has occurred.
For operational purposes.
if any data is entered by someone who is not authorised to do so.
At the written request of data subjects whose personal data is stored in the AFRINIC Whois Database.

2. AFRINIC may withdraw the AFRINIC Whois Database service from a user at any time and is entitled, in its sole discretion, to terminate or limit a user's access to the AFRINIC Whois Database for a failure to adhere to the Terms of Use as set out in this document.

3. AFRINIC may suspend access to the AFRINIC Whois Database, or part thereof, for maintenance purposes, upgrades, security fixes and deployment of new services subject to notification of the AFRINIC members and community.

4. AFRINIC may remove the personal data of a registered contact upon request by this Person. AFRINIC will only take such action when satisfied that a valid request from the right person is received.

D - LIMITATIONS

1. AFRINIC does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or availability of the AFRINIC Whois Database or of the data contained therein.

2. AFRINIC may limit the rate of queries to the AFRINIC Whois Database for security or operational reasons.

3. The maintainer of any object created in the AFRINIC Whois Database is a person whose contact information has been provided by an organisation/individual and considered to be the representative of that organisation/individual in the AFRINIC Whois databases. As such he/she (The maintainer) is responsible for maintaining the accuracy of any personal data associated with their resources in the AFRINIC Whois Database. Contact details must be accurate enough to allow AFRINIC to contact the Maintainer within a reasonable time frame without having to get contact information from another source.

Obtaining the informed consent of individuals before using their relevant personal data in the AFRINIC Whois Database, and respect their rights as data subjects according to the Data Protection Act 2017 of the Republic of Mauritius.

Handling any request from individuals who request correction or deletion of their personal data within their number of resource entries.

Accepting liability for any damage resulting from associated personal data being inaccurate, not relevant or out-of-date, and any damage resulting from not informing the individuals, not obtaining their consent, or not handling their correction or deletion requests

4. AFRINIC is not responsible in any manner whatsoever for the use of or any issues arising from the use of any registered internet number resources and will bear no liability whatsoever for any matter resulting from such use.

E - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

1. The user acknowledges that any and all copyright, trademarks, database rights and other intellectual property rights subsisting in or used in connection with the AFRINIC Whois Database, the data contained therein, the underlying software and any accompanying documents and agreements are and shall remain the property of AFRINIC.

2. Except as provided herein, the AFRINIC Whois Database, the data contained therein and any accompanying documents and agreements may not be used, reproduced or made available to third parties without the prior written authorisation from AFRINIC.

F - MISCELLANEOUS

This document shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of Mauritius and the competent court in Mauritius shall have exclusive jurisdiction with regard to disputes arising from these Terms of Use.

If any provision in these Terms of Use is held to be invalid in a court of law, this shall not in any way affect the validity of the remaining provisions.

The user acknowledges and accepts that the Terms of Use may be amended by AFRINIC from time to time.

IP Resources Management

: Last Modified on - 18 October 2020

Introduction

AFRINIC is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa and the Indian Ocean and ensures fair management and distribution of Internet number resources in the African region.

IPv4	IPv6	ASN
41/8, 102/8, 105/8, 196/8, 197/8, other fragments.	2001:4200::/23 2c0e::/12	AS33762 - AS33791 AS36864 - AS37887 AS327680 - AS328703 AS328704 - AS329727 Various ASNs

WHOIS

AFRINIC maintains a WHOIS database which holds information about the resources issued to its resource members as well as organisations in its service region which received resources before the RIR system was established (Commonly known as Legacy Resource Holders).

The database can be queried using a command-line client (e.g. under Unix/Linux), as well as a web-based whois client.

How does AFRINIC handle resource requests?

AFRINIC evaluates resource requests against the guidelines provided by the ratified policies in the Consolidated Policy Manual.

Once the resources are approved, IPv4 resources are temporarily marked as reserved (IPv6 prefixes & ASNs are not reserved in this way), and the member has invoiced the corresponding fees(allocation/assignment fee) based on the fees table available here.

In the case of new members, they are also billed a pro-rated annual membership fee in addition to any allocation/assignment fees. The invoice validity is 45 days for both existing resource members requesting for additional resources and prospective members.

After the fees are settled, the resources are issued to the resource member and registered as such in the AFRINIC WHOIS database. In the event that the fees are not settled, any temporary reservation is released and the affected resources return to the available pool.

What is the AFRINIC inventory?

The AFRINIC inventory consists of all the above resources. The resources in the inventory have various states:

Available - These resources are available and shall be issued to resource members who can satisfy the applicable resource policies as allocations or assignments.
Allocated/Assigned - They are registered on the AFRINIC WHOIS database to an organisation. The latter can be either an AFRINIC Resource Member or an organisation that received IP resources before the RIR system was established.
Reserved - Not available for allocations and assignments.

There are three types of reservations that we currently do at AFRINIC.

Click to enlarge

Policy reservations - Some policies that have been ratified mandate AFRINIC to reserve an IP prefix. The size is stipulated in the policy documentation. Some reference sections of the CPM are 11.4 and 5.4.7.1.
Temporary reservations - Prefixes limited to the size of the approved allocation/assignment is reserved for 45 days for both existing member or a new member, while the resource member/applicant makes arrangements to settle the allocation/assignment fees they were billed. If the invoices expire and no payment is received, these reservations go back to the available pool.
The resource member is not given any details about the reserved prefix.
This is done to ensure uniformity between the operational level view and the community level view of the resource availability at any instance during the soft landing period; this is necessitated by the adoption of the first in first out approach for resource evaluation in the soft landing period. To ensure that AFRINIC fulfils its role of issuing resources once payment is received within the validity period of the invoice, the temporary reservation had to be introduced for the specific period an invoice is valid. This enables AFRINIC to mitigate the risk of approving more than it can issue, assuming that all issued invoices are settled in time.
Quarantine - When resource members default on the payment of their annual membership fees, they breach the Registration Service Agreement (RSA). AFRINIC, therefore, enforces its Member Closure Process entailing reclamation of the resources1 held by the resource member and nullifying the RSA. The resources are kept in quarantine for a period of time. 2At the moment, these closed organisations can come back to AFRINIC within 90 days, correct the RSA breach and get the resources that were reclaimed.
This also applies to resources that have been voluntarily returned to AFRINIC free IP pool by a member. This quarantine is done to ensure that AFRINIC issues clean IP ranges to its member while taking all necessary actions to ensure that the quarantined resources are removed from the routing table and routing registries. At the moment, AFRINIC takes extra caution with these resources which could still be blacklisted by reputation blocklists, hence the preference for issuance still goes to the clean pools while it lasts.
Reservations as per business rules (IPv6 reservations) - The current business rule at AFRINIC allows for a /29 or a /44 to be reserved for each member requesting the minimum IPv6 allocation (/32) or assignment (/48). At the time of resource issuance, AFRINIC shall make the appropriate reservations and issue the minimum prefix.

Resource status on the AFRINIC WHOIS database

IPv4

Resources can have different Status in the AFRINIC WHOIS database including a reserved status as per certain policies.

The different values the status attribute for an IPv4 resource on the AFRINIC WHOIS database are summarised below:

ALLOCATED PA - This status is given to resources issued by AFRINIC to its LIR Resource members. Such prefixes are to be used on the LIR's infrastructure and their customers (End-Users).
ALLOCATED UNSPECIFIED - This status is used by AFRINIC in placeholder records on certain records, for example, 41.0.0.0/8.
SUB-ALLOCATED PA - This status is given to IP address prefixes that have been sub-allocated by an LIR to its customer, also an ISP and will be further distributed to the ISP's customers.
ASSIGNED PA - This status is given to IP addresses registered as being assigned by an LIR to its infrastructure and customers.
ASSIGNED PI - This status is given to resources issued by AFRINIC to its Resource members (also called End Sites) to be used on their own infrastructure.
ASSIGNED ANYCAST - This status is given to resources that get issued under the Assigned Anycast policy.
POLICY-RESERVED - This status is given to resources that AFRINIC has to reserve to comply with policies that have been ratified, for example, 196.60.0.0/16.

IPv6

IPv6 Resources can have different Status on the AFRINIC WHOIS database. They are as follows:

ALLOCATED-BY-RIR - This status is given to IPv6 resources issued by AFRINIC to Resource members - LIRs and are to be used on the LIR's infrastructure and their customers (End-Users).
ASSIGNED PI - This status is given to IPv6 resources issued by AFRINIC to its Resource members - End-Users to be used on their own infrastructure.
ASSIGNED ANYCAST - This status is given to IPv6 resources that get issued under the Assigned Anycast policy.

ASN

ASSIGNED -This status is given to AS numbers issued to both LIR and End-User category.
ASSIGNED-ANYCAST - This status is given to ASN's that get issued under the Assigned Anycast policy.
POLICY-RESERVED - This status is given to ASN's that get issued under the Resource Reservation for Internet Exchange Points.

How do I determine the different cases of reserved?

From the extended statistics file, the reserved resources cannot be differentiated.

Policy reserved resources - These are registered on the AFRINIC WHOIS database, for example, 196.49.0.0/16, 196.60.0.0/16.

Quarantine resources - These are currently kept as internal records.

Temporary Reservations - These are currently kept as internal records.

What does resource reclamation mean?

De-registration from the AFRINIC WHOIS database which includes both resource and any related child object like reverse DNS delegation, Routing-related objects in AFRINIC IRR, assignments and sub-allocations, RPKI & DS records.

What does AFRINIC do with the reclaimed resources?

The reclaimed resources are first quarantined for a time period and sanitised before they are placed in the available pool for re-issuance to AFRINIC Resource Members.

The sanitisation process involves checking for the existence of any routing objects from various IRR repositories and their mirrors. Engaging with the IRR's in deleting the existing but invalid objects.

This is a manual and tedious process and hostmasters will proceed with sanitising in batches.

This exercise is only limited to routing information but not reputation (blacklisted) issues.

Does AFRINIC re-issue the reclaimed resources?

We may have done so in the past after they were cleaned up and quarantine period was over. We have not done so in the past three years as we have been giving our members clean space from the inventory because some reclaimed resources were still being blacklisted. As we near the Phase 2 of the soft landing policy, we will be giving our members the option to either accept the cleaned up (routing) quarantined space but being whitelisted is not guaranteed or to be on the waiting list for clean space in Phase 2 of the soft landing policy.

How do I know what space is quarantined?

Quarantined is maintained in our inventory visible to AFRINIC hostmasters only. We plan on publishing these resources on the AFRINIC website in due course.

Delegated and extended stats

The Number Resource Organization (NRO) has developed a standardized format for each Regional Internet Registry to report the status of Internet number resources within their regions. AFRINIC generates and publishes the extended statistics file on a daily basis and found at https://ftp.afrinic.net/stats/afrinic/.

The extended statistics file will give a complete overview of the status of the resources managed by AFRINIC (available, reserved and allocated/assigned) as well as the legacy resources in the AFRINIC service region.

The delegated statistics file only shows allocated/assigned resources.

Where can I get a complete overview of what AFRINIC holds in its inventory?

A complete overview of AFRINIC's inventory of resources can be obtained from the extended statistics file.

https://ftp.afrinic.net/pub/stats/afrinic/delegated-afrinic-extended-latest

Resources reclaimed are the ones that AFRINIC issued to the resource member. It excludes any resources the member could have obtained before the RIR system was set up.
The Quarantine period QP is determined by AFRINIC (in the absence of a policy). As AFRINIC approaches Phase 2 of the soft landing policy, this QP will be reviewed in accordance with AFRINIC business rules