ARIN Bits: September 2026

By Christina Paladeau – Social Media and Content Specialist

The days may be shortening as we enter fall at ARIN HQ in Virginia, but we’re not slowing down the steady pace of changes, upgrades, and outreach that cropped up throughout July, August, and September. We’ve gathered the season’s key developments and upcoming opportunities in this edition of ARIN Bits, including: how to get involved in our Public Policy and Members Meeting and ARIN Elections; updates to Point of Contact management, API key handling, and the Fee Schedule; this year’s grant recipients; industry events on our calendar; and more. So, get cozy and let’s dig into what’s been happening at ARIN and in our community this quarter.

Missed any previous editions? Find all past ARIN Bits posted on the blog.

In This Edition

• Join Us at ARIN 58 in Miami or From Home
• Meet the ARIN 58 Fellows
• Get to Know the Candidates for the 2026 ARIN Elections
• Adopt More Secure API Key Handling for Reg-RWS
• Prepare for Expiration of the IPv6 Fee Waiver
• Catch ARIN on the Road in Toronto
• Learn About the 2026 Community Grant Program Recipients
• Stay Up to Date on ICP-2 Review Progress
• Find ARIN at Upcoming Industry Meetings and Community Events
• A Tip from Our Registration Services Department
• Current Draft and Recommended Draft Policies
• Recent Posts on the ARIN Blog

Join Us at ARIN 58 in Miami or From Home

Have you registered for ARIN 58 yet? Our fall Public Policy and Members Meeting is just around the corner! Join us 22-23 October at the InterContinental Miami Hotel — directly following NANOG 98 in the same location — or online from wherever is convenient for you.

We’re excited to provide opportunities for both virtual and in-person participation and hope you can join us for this free event. ARIN 58 will be an excellent opportunity to discuss Internet number resource policies, take part in technical discussions, learn more about ARIN services and operations, and network with colleagues.

Ready to start planning for ARIN 58? Head to these links:

• View the agenda for ARIN 58.
• Register for ARIN 58 as an in-person or virtual participant.
• Register for and learn more about NANOG 98.

For hotel details, travel information, and more, visit the ARIN 58 website.

Know Before You Go

Save the date for the ARIN 58 Meeting Orientation and Policy Open House on Tuesday, 13 October. In the orientation, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM ET, we’ll cover key draft policies on the agenda and share tips to help you make the most of your participation. After the orientation, at 3:00 PM ET, connect directly with members of ARIN’s Advisory Council at the Policy Open House to see how ideas become policy, learn tips on submitting a policy proposal, or simply drop in to listen.

You’ll have the option to sign up for these virtual sessions during your registration for ARIN 58. We welcome all first-time ARIN meeting attendees and anyone who wants some extra preparation!

Meet the ARIN 58 Fellows

Speaking of ARIN 58, it’s time to introduce our next cohort of ARIN Fellows! We’re excited to welcome a new group of community members into our Fellowship Program.

Read the blog post about this fall’s Fellowship Program to get to know the selected Fellows, see which community members are acting as their Mentors, and find out where they are in their journey to active participation at a Public Policy and Members Meeting. 

Get to Know the Candidates for the 2026 ARIN Elections

The 2026 ARIN Elections will fill three seats on the Board of Trustees and five seats on the Advisory Council (AC). This year, following the process schedule, the ARIN Board of Trustees will appoint a nominee to the open seat on the Number Resource Organization Number Council (NRO NC). All terms begin 1 January 2027.

Elections for these seats will be held online from 3:00 PM ET on Thursday, 22 October, to 7:00 PM ET on Friday, 30 October.

The 2026 slate of candidates put forward by the Nomination Committee was announced on 8 September and amended on 14 September.

Participate in the Process

At this time, you can view a compilation of candidate biographies and questionnaire responses and submit Statements of Support for the candidates. In mid-October, stay tuned to arin-elections.net and ARIN’s YouTube channel for the publication of pre-recorded speeches from the candidates. A brief video introduction of the candidates will also be featured during ARIN 58.

If your organization holds General Member status and intends to cast a ballot this year, we encourage you to subscribe to the General Members Mailing List to ensure you receive critical election updates.

Watch the Candidate Forum

To learn more about the candidates running for the Board of Trustees and where they stand on the issues important to you and your organization, mark your calendars and tune in for the virtual Candidate Forum on Thursday, 8 October, at 2:00 PM ET. General Members are encouraged to register to attend the event via Zoom webinar at arin.net/candidateforum, and the whole community is invited to view the livestream on our YouTube channel during the event.

Ensure Voting Eligibility

To vote in the 2026 ARIN Elections, organizations must have been a General Member in Good Standing and had a designated Voting Contact with a valid ARIN Online account as of 7 September 2026. Voting Contacts can be updated until seven days before the elections; this year that deadline is 3:00 PM ET on Thursday, 15 October.

Adopt More Secure API Key Handling for Reg-RWS

As part of our 28 July 2026 release, ARIN’s Registration RESTful Service, or Reg-RWS, now allows RESTful calls using the more secure method of sending the API key in a header. While it remains acceptable to send an API key as a query parameter in the URL, support for this method will eventually be retired, and we strongly recommend switching to the new method now as you interact with ARIN’s database via Reg-RWS.

Learn more about the new API key handling method and how to use Reg-RWS in this blog post: Make the Switch to More Secure API Key Handling for Reg-RWS.

Prepare for Expiration of the IPv6 Fee Waiver

If your organization has taken advantage of the five-year IPv6 Fee Waiver established as part of the 2022 Fee Schedule, it’s time to plan for its expiration on 31 December 2026. Beginning 1 January 2027, organizations will be billed according to the applicable Registration Services Plan service category based on their aggregate Internet number resource holdings. For organizations currently benefiting from the IPv6 Fee Waiver, this may result in a move from the 3X-Small billing category to the 2X-Small billing category.

Customers who are currently billed under this fee waiver have been contacted by ARIN to ensure they are aware of the upcoming change and understand the potential impact to their fees beginning in 2027.

If you have questions, please contact fee-inquiries@arin.net or submit via Ask ARIN while logged in to your ARIN Online account.

Catch ARIN on the Road in Toronto

We’re heading north for ARIN on the Road’s final stop of 2026! If you’ll be in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada, area on 30 October and want to experience our amazing community in person, learn more about ARIN, and explore what we can offer your organization, then don’t miss your chance when this special event comes to town. ARIN staff will be on site to answer questions about IPv6 deployment and IPv4 status, discuss RPKI and routing security, provide an intro to the Policy Development Process, and more. Need more reasons to attend? We shared five on the blog.

Registration is free and lunch is on us! Learn more and save your seat today at arin.net/toronto.

Learn About the 2026 Community Grant Program Recipients

Now in its eighth year, the ARIN Community Grant Program provides funding for projects that improve the Internet and make positive contributions to the Internet community in the ARIN region. We recently announced the two projects that have been selected to receive a grant this year. You can learn more about the work they plan to do in this post on the blog.

If you’re interested in applying for a grant next year, we will issue a call for applications in the spring of 2027. Information on how to apply will be shared on our ARIN Community Grant Program page and via the ARIN Announce mailing list once the application period opens.

Stay Up to Date on ICP-2 Review Progress

On 28 July, the Number Resource Organization Executive Council (NRO EC) announced that the Number Council (NC) concluded its work to review and update Internet Coordination Policy-2 (ICP-2): Criteria for Establishment of New Regional Internet Registries following its delivery of the “ASO AC Recommended Draft RIR Governance Document.”

The NRO NC subsequently shared that document. To help readers understand the major considerations weighed in developing version three and how the draft seeks to address the main community concerns during the feedback process, it published a redline version for comparison to the second draft, and a rationale document that details the changes between version two and version three of the document.

Any further opportunities for community input will be announced by the NRO EC, and all additional updates to the Recommended Draft will be coordinated by the NRO EC.

Find ARIN at Upcoming Industry Meetings and Community Events

In addition to the ARIN events we host — like our Public Policy and Members Meetings and ARIN on the Road workshops — we attend many community events where you can join us to hear updates and presentations, ask us questions, get help with your ARIN account and resources, and more. Here’s where you can find us in the next few months:

• CaribNOG 32 | 7-9 October | Willemstad, Curaçao
• CaribNOG Cybersecurity Workshop | 15 October | St. Kitts
• NANOG 98 | 19-21 October | Miami, Florida
• Internet2 Technology Exchange | 26-30 October | Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Wispapalooza | 2-5 November | Las Vegas, Nevada
• DNS OARC 47 | 8-11 November | Vancouver, British Columbia

For a full list of the events ARIN will be participating in, visit our Community Event Calendar online.

A Tip from Our Registration Services Department

Q: Should I create a person-type Point of Contact (POC) handle for another individual?

A: The short answer is no. Read on to learn why.

The reason has to do with ARIN’s new, more secure way of linking user accounts to Points of Contact (POCs). ARIN now uses customer-to-customer tickets to validate and link users via a process that takes place entirely within ARIN online. Since a person-type POC handle can have only one ARIN Online account linked to it at a time, it’s not possible for another individual within the organization to approve or deny the link.

Additionally, ARIN Online automatically links the account of the user creating a new POC handle to that POC. So, if you create a person-type POC handle for another individual, your ARIN Online account will automatically be linked to that POC handle, and the other individual will have no way to link their account to that POC handle intended for them.

When using person-type POC handles, the best approach is for each individual to create their own. Then an individual may provide their POC handle to an authoritative (Admin or Tech) POC for their Org ID for management purposes.

ARIN’s best practice is still to use a role-type POC handle where appropriate. A role-type POC handle may have several different ARIN Online accounts linked to it at the same time, making it a more practical option when multiple individuals need to manage the same records.

For more information, read the blog post: Introducing a More Secure, Streamlined Workflow for Point of Contact Linking.

Current Draft and Recommended Draft Policies

Find the status of current policy discussions on our website and subscribe to the ARIN-PPML (Public Policy Mailing List) to voice your opinions. Remember, membership is not required to participate!

Recent Posts on the ARIN Blog

• Meet the 2026 ARIN Community Grant Recipients
• Introducing the ARIN 58 Fellows
• Make the Switch to More Secure API Key Handling for Reg-RWS
• The State of IPv6 in the Caribbean
• Your Number Resource Record Is a Part of the Internet’s Infrastructure — Respect It Like One
• Don’t Get Your Wires Crossed: Appropriate Use Cases for IPv6-Only vs. IPv6-Mostly

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