IPV4 Resource Sponsoring
If your organisation either already holds or plans to request PI (Provider Independent) or LEGACY IP resources, you need an LIR (Local Internet Registry) sponsor.
Resources without a valid sponsoring agreement need to be returned to RIPE.
FAQ: Legacy Internet Resources
Legacy space is the IPv4 address space that was distributed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority's (IANA) central registry prior to the formation of the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) system.
After the RIPE NCC was established as an RIR, IANA authorised it to take over administrative responsibility of the address space that it had distributed in what is now defined as the RIPE NCC service region (Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia).