The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) will initiate operations December 22, 1997, to provide Internet Protocol (IP) number administration and registration services for North America, South America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. On this date, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) will transfer the authority for IP number administration from Network Solutions, Inc., administrator of the InterNIC, to ARIN. All IP requests received by the InterNIC, that are not processed prior to the close of business on Friday, December 19, will be forwarded from the InterNIC to ARIN. The InterNIC will make every attempt to complete all requests received by this date. As prepayment is a requirement for ARIN registration services, we encourage ISPs that have previously received address space directly from the InterNIC to pre-establish a customer account with ARIN. The account establishment process will open on December 10, 1997, and is limited to those ISPs that have previously received IP addresses directly from the InterNIC. This prerequisite is due to the fact that ARIN registration fees are based on the previous year's total allocation. All other organizations should establish customer accounts after they have been approved for address space from ARIN. To establish a customer account, use the Customer Account Procedures and Form or for more information about ARIN, please visit the ARIN website located at www.arin.net.