[arin-announce] Unauthorized Changes to ARIN Database

[Member Services]

There have been many cases of unauthorized changes to the 
ARIN database over the past year.  ARIN takes each case of 
an unauthorized database change very seriously.  During the 
course of this year we have amended many of our procedures 
and developed new ones in an effort to prevent the occurrence 
of unauthorized changes. We will continue to do so as long as 
is necessary. 

Because ARIN's main area of involvement in these cases revolves 
around inaccurate information being populated to the database, 
we must concentrate on researching and correcting these 
inaccuracies.  We have a very clear set of internal business 
practices and rules that dictate what actions we can take, and 
there are a certain set of protocols that we must follow.  
Unfortunately, the time involved in following these procedures 
does not always allow for an immediate remedy to inaccuracies, 
but they must be followed.  In following these procedures, we 
must also adhere to our common practices of non-disclosure to 
the general public.

ARIN is currently cooperating with all law enforcement agencies 
that use their powers to obtain subpoenas or other tools available 
to them to obtain information from ARIN. These agencies include 
the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and 
state attorneys general and local district attorneys.  Often they 
seek to obtain information related to cases where individuals have 
falsified their identity to make unauthorized changes to records 
in the ARIN database.  In addition to this ongoing cooperation, 
which is mandated by law, ARIN will proactively report newly 
documented cases that come to its attention to law enforcement 
authorities without notice to those engaged in such activity.

Richard Jimmerson
Director of Operations
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)