I'm pretty sure that NSI started doing the NIC stuff in 1991, it
certainly wasn't 1992, but it might have been as early as 1990.
It was definitely before I left SURAnet.
It would be trivial to go back and see which IETF plenaries were
devoted to the initial CERFnet/AT&T/NSI presentations and then the
later thrashings of Scott Williams (who was the mgr at NSI in the
beginning of the project).
dave