[rpd] [Last Call] Draft Policy Proposal - Hierarchical Names for New AS-SETs (AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02)

[Noah]

Jordi,

Also to add that the technical community's support for the proposal is
based on our recognition, that, hierarchical naming improves attribution of
the objects.

The issue of validating the members inside the as-set is a separate one and
I for one dont dispute that changamoto. Its also a fact that the specific,
documented problem of unattributable as-set names in multi-source irr
environments remains real. It needs a fix.

Technical communities across the five Registy's are chosing to close that
gap at creation time are doing so based on experienced operational
incidents, some through policy (apnic) and others through techops
implementation.

The policy route will suffice at afrinic...

Ahsante sana
Noah

On Tue, 21 Jul 2026, 12:17 am jordi.palet--- via RPD, <rpd at afrinic.net>
wrote:

> Hi Kone,
>
> And what is the relevance of that?
>
> If you have a good understanding about all the RIRs, you will know that
> each RIR has their own ways to do things. In many senses they act very
> similarly and in general we end up with very similarly policies, but not
> always. Some RIRs have decided that some aspects are operational and don’t
> need a policy proposal.
>
> However, despite that, the community is on top of the RIR, and the
> community sometimes, may decide that they prefer a policy if the RIR hasn’t
> been proactive in advance in any specific topic, or even if the RIR was
> proactive, the community may prefer to speed up things, or to show the way
> the community prefers.
>
> For example, if AFRINIC has any specific operational aspect already in
> place, and the community prefer to manage that in a different way, the
> community may opt either for suggesting the RIR to modify that operational
> aspect or to do actually enforce it by means of a policy proposal.
>
> I think is important to know, by personal experience, how the other 4 RIRs
> work before stating something that is not correct, because if you don’t
> work in all the RIRs for many years, it will be difficult for you to know
> the past and I’m sure IA will not be able to be precise as well.
>
> Regards,
> Jordi
>
> @jordipalet
>
> El 20 jul 2026, a las 22:34, Kone <bakenon.kone at sancfis.net> escribió:
>
> Hello Seun,
> You may have misread my earlier mail. I clearly stated that LACNIC, RIPE
> NCC, and ARIN do not require policy to enforce hierarchical AS‑SET naming.
>
> To help close the ongoing discussions, I believe addressing the questions
> I raised would bring clarity:
> * LACNIC enforces hierarchical AS‑SET naming operationally, as part of
> their IRR design from inception.
> * RIPE NCC handles IRR changes through their Numbered Work Items (NWI)
> process, not through policy.
> * ARIN uses the ACSP (Consultation and Suggestion Process) for IRR
> operational matters, again without policy.
>
>
> These examples show that other RIRs (except APNIC) treat AS‑SET naming as
> an operational IRR matter, not a policy obligation.
>
> This is why I asked whether AFRINIC could address this operationally
> rather than through policy, and why Last Call discussions would benefit
> from clear answers to these points.
>
> Thanks.
> ---
> Kone
>
>
>
> Le dim. 19 juil. 2026 à 00:21, Seun Ojedeji <seun.ojedeji at gmail.com> a
> écrit :
>
>> Hello Bakenon,
>>
>> Do refer to the proposal as it references URL to other RIR's policies for
>> thiis:
>>
>> https://www.afrinic.net/afpub-2026-asn-001-draft02.html
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> ----
>> Sent from my mobile
>> kindly excuse typos
>>
>> On Sat, 18 Jul 2026, 6:34 pm Bakenon KONE, <bakenon.kone at sancfis.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear PDWG,
>>>
>>> I have been following the discussions on the hierarchical AS‑SET naming
>>> scheme and would like clarification on a few points:
>>>
>>> 1. Could this matter be addressed operationally, as is done in ARIN,
>>> LACNIC, and RIPE NCC, without requiring policy changes?
>>>
>>> 2. If yes, why are we taking the policy route? Is it because AFRINIC
>>> currently lacks a defined process for handling operational issues that
>>> affect IRR services?
>>>
>>> 3. Given that the hierarchical naming scheme is already supported and
>>> currently exists within the IRR, this proposal represents an enforcement
>>> change rather than the introduction of a new technical standard. Why is a
>>> formal policy required to change an operational enforcement setting, rather
>>> than a community-vetted technical implementation plan?"
>>>
>>> Thank you.
>>> ---
>>> Kone
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Le jeu. 16 juil. 2026 à 22:10, Hytham El-Nakhal <hytham at tra.gov.eg> a
>>> écrit :
>>>
>>>> Dear PDWG,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Policy Development Working Group (PDWG) Chairs have initiated a
>>>> Last Call for this proposal, following rough consensus at the AFRINIC-37
>>>> Public Policy Meeting held in hybrid format in Nairobi, Kenya on 24 June
>>>> 2026.
>>>>
>>>>   *   Proposal Name: Hierarchical Names for New AS-SETs
>>>>
>>>>   *   Proposal ID: AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02
>>>>
>>>>   *   Proposal URL:
>>>> https://www.afrinic.net/afpub-2026-asn-001-draft02.html
>>>>
>>>> Last Call closes on: July 31, 2026, at 23:59 UTC.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Please note the staff observation regarding implementation constraints:
>>>> due to the current prioritization of the MyAFRINIC v2 deployment, physical
>>>> database implementation of this policy will be scheduled once the MyAFRINIC
>>>> v2 deployment is concluded.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> As always, we kindly request that all participants adhere to the
>>>> AFRINIC Code of Conduct<https://www.afrinic.net/code> to maintain a
>>>> respectful and professional environment on the mailing list.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Kind regards,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Haitham el Nakhal
>>>>
>>>> AFRINIC PDWG Co-Chair
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> RPD at afrinic.net
>>>> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd
>>>>
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