From: barmar@alum.mit.edu   
      
   In article ,   
    bit-naughty@hotmail.com wrote:   
      
   > Hi,   
   > If a new ISP starts up,it has to be allocated IP addresses, right? What does   
   > this mean? What exactly is this step of "allocating", and who does it?   
      
   They contact a Regional Internet Registry and purchase an IP block. For   
   instance, in North America they get it from ARIN, American Registry for   
   Internet Numbers.   
      
   > How and when does that address become routable to? I'm no expert on internet   
   > routing, but it's based on graph theory, right?   
      
   They establish connections to other ISPs, and advertise their address   
   blocks using BGP, the Border Gateway Protocol.   
      
   --   
   Barry Margolin   
   Arlington, MA   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)