What is an Orphaned POC or Org ID and How Do I Know If I Have One?
We recently received a question about whether it’s possible to check to see if your Point of Contact (POC) or Organization Identification (Org ID) has been orphaned, and we thought it might be helpful to share some additional information on this topic with the community.
What is an Orphaned POC or Org ID, and how does it all work?
In general, a POC and Org ID are considered “orphaned” if they have not been associated with an Autonomous System Number or IP address (collectively referred to as Internet number resources) for a consecutive two-year period. The procedure will involve deleting identified orphaned, unvalidated POCs and Orgs after a two-year period of inactivity from the public Whois. A notification will be sent to the POC 60 days in advance of the actual deletion. Because it may not be a straight forward process to determine orphaned status, we would like to provide some information that may assist you.
Your POC is not Orphaned if…
- … your POC is associated with an Org ID that has Internet number resources, either directly registered or reassigned from an upstream provider, then neither the POC nor the Org ID would be considered “orphaned”.
- … your POC is not associated with any Internet number resources, but has been validated in accordance with section 3.6. Annual Validation of ARIN’s Public Whois Point of Contact Data of the “Number Resource Policy Manual”, then the POC would not be considered “orphaned” either.
How can I check my status?
If you would like to use ARIN’s Whois to determine whether your POC or Org ID is orphaned (has no associated number resources), go to whois.arin.net and enter either your POC handle or your Org ID in the search button at the top right. Located within the Whois results are links that will take you to any related organizations, POCs, networks or autonomous system numbers. Keep in mind that while Whois will tell you whether a POC or Org has any related number resources, it will not reveal how long a POC or Org has been orphaned. More detailed instructions for using Whois can be found on our website.
Alternatively, if you would like to use ARIN Online to determine whether your POC or Org ID is orphaned, you can log in to your ARIN Online account to view your POCs and Org IDs right on your dashboard. For more help getting started using ARIN Online, you can visit our Account Management page on our website.
We’ve got your back
Please keep in mind, if a POC or an Org ID you were using happens to be considered “orphaned” and is removed from ARIN’s Whois you may simply request a new POC and/or Org ID. We will gladly create new POCs and Org IDs at your request when they are needed for conducting transactions with ARIN.
As always, we’re here to help. If you have any questions or need further assistance, you can reach the Registration Services team by calling 703.227.0660 or submitting an Ask ARIN ticket from within your ARIN Online account.
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