IPv4 Transfer Due Diligence

by Leo Vegoda

We regularly meet with people at conferences, Network Operator Group events, and Regional Internet Registry (RIR) meetings around the world. This is one of the ways we learn what our clients need.

At a recent event, one of our team members met an IPv4 address owner who had tried and failed to sell his unused addresses with another facilitator. (This broker is a competitor of IPv4.Global.) He told us the transaction was stopped at the final step. His business had agreed to a sale with a buyer, but their broker hadn’t noticed a policy restricting transfer of those addresses. The transaction was rejected by the RIR. The seller was understandably upset to learn their transaction had been rejected at the last moment.

Our processes are built to avoid this problem.

Everyone wants to convert a successful negotiation into a transaction. No one wants a third party, like a bank or an RIR, to derail the transaction.

Sellers want to know they can sell what they own. Usually, the addresses are properly registered to them and there is no policy reason they cannot be transferred. Buyers want to know that they can buy. Most buyers qualify for the addresses and can become the registrant. Clearly, both need certainty regarding the transaction when they enter into it. Everyone wants a guarantee they will get what has been agreed upon.

Due Diligence

In the world of IPv4 address transfers, “due diligence” is a process where steps are taken to ensure all regulatory and legal requirements are fulfilled in buying, selling, and transferring IPv4 addresses. A crucial element of this process is qualifying buyers and sellers in advance. Our process includes making sure:

• The seller is the registrant of the addresses.
• The seller is an active entity.
• There is no policy restricting the transfer such as a hold period. Neither the sellers or buyers are sanctioned entities by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.
• The buyer qualifies for the addresses under applicable policies.
• The buyer is ready to pay the agreed price.

We can also help you check and repair the reputation of IPv4 addresses and update their listing in geolocation services. That ensures the addresses have maximum utility and value.

When the above hurdles to a transfer are cleared, an escrow process is required in completing that process. Escrow, performed by escrow.com or from our own service, ensures buyers get their addresses and sellers get paid. Our clients get a discount on standard escrow fees.

We know our process works because we’ve brokered over 4,300 transactions. These successful transfers involved than 66 million IPv4 addresses worth over $1.4 billion.