[ncc-services-wg] Change to NIC handle usage in the RIPE Database

Dear Colleagues,

On Thursday, 10 September the RIPE NCC implemented a change to NIC
handle usage. It is no longer possible to re-use an old NIC handle.
Additional checks are made when an update is sent to the RIPE Database
to create a ROLE or PERSON object. If the NIC handle is in use, or has
previously been used and deleted, the update will fail and a new error
message will be returned in the acknowledgement:

***Error: The nic-hdl 'name' is not available.

This change was requested by the Data Protection Task Force and
discussed by the Database Working Group at RIPE 58:
http://www.ripe.net/ripe/wg/db/minutes/ripe-58.html

In the new implementation, users can select any NIC handle they wish in
the same formats as before. The choice of characters and numbers is at
the discretion of the user, within the same limits as before. The only
difference is that when a NIC handle is chosen that has already been
used, the update will fail.

The main consequence of this is that if you delete a PERSON or ROLE
object you cannot re-create it with the same NIC handle you had
previously. Under the old system there was always a chance someone else
could have taken your old NIC handle by the time you wanted to re-create
it; this was the main reason for the change. The new system ensures that
NIC handles map to people or roles uniquely over time.

This change does not affect automatically generated organisation names.
But we would like to hear feedback on whether it makes sense to also
have these map to organisations uniquely over time.

Regards,
Denis Walker

Business Analyst
RIPE NCC