APNICs

APNICs refers to the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre and the resources it administers for the Asia-Pacific region. APNIC is one of the world’s five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) responsible for the allocation and management of Internet number resources in its region. APNIC allocates IPv4 addresses (within policy-driven conservation frameworks), allocates and assigns IPv6 addresses, and allocates Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) to organizations that need to operate routing on the Internet.

APNIC maintains publicly accessible databases, including the APNIC Whois database, which records resource holder information and resource delegations. It also handles reverse DNS delegation for allocated IP address blocks. In addition to resource management, APNIC provides training, capacity-building programs, and various technical services to Internet infrastructure operators, researchers, and educators.

Policy development is a central function. The APNIC community participates in a transparent policy development process to propose, discuss, and adopt resource-management policies. These policies guide allocation criteria, conservation measures, and related eligibility rules. APNIC coordinates with the broader Internet governance framework through collaboration with other RIRs via the Number Resource Organization (NRO) and with ICANN/IANA for global resource distribution.

APNIC also conducts research and publishes statistics on address utilization, IPv6 deployment, and Internet infrastructure in the region. The term APNICs can refer to the resources managed by APNIC (IP addresses and ASNs), or informally to the APNIC organization and its community of member organizations.