[ARIN-consult] Consultation on Registration Services Agreement

[John Curran]

On Aug 24, 2015, at 9:57 PM, Brian Jones <bjones at vt.edu<mailto:bjones at vt.edu>> wrote:

My organization last signed RSA agreement was version 10.0 in 2009. I am curious to know what happens as versions of the RSA changes over time while organizations signed agreements become out of date. Are we held responsible for the latest RSA version that is approved or the latest version the organization has signed?

Brian -

The organization is bound by latest version that the organization has signed.  In the general
provisions of the RSAs (usually section 14), you’ll find language similar to the following -

"(l) Subsequent Version(s). If any subsequent version(s) of the Registration Services Agreement is authorized by ARIN, the parties may choose to substitute a signed copy of the then- existing subsequent version, with all its terms, instead of this Agreement, and the Included Number Resources and other Services will then be governed by the subsequent version. The consideration for such change is the original agreement and the agreement to abide by the revised terms. There is no requirement for a Holder who has signed this Agreement to engage in any subsequent version.”

i.e. parties that wish to move to the latest version may do so (but are not required to do so)

Section d.) of the introduction makes it sound as though everyone who has signed an agreement with ARIN at any point in time will be subject to any policy changes or obsoletes. I do not recall our organization receiving notice of changes to our RSA (version 10) to get to version 11 or I would have more involved in this discussion then. Assuming an organization complies with changes in policy that they may not even be aware of seems to create a backdoor for policy changes made in a vacuum. It also could apply undue liability to the unknowing party.

That is correct.  I would recommend that your organization pay attention to policy changes that
are proposed by the community, as they can affect your existing Internet number resources.
The ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (http://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml) is where
such changes are discussed.

In my initial review of our version 10, and the provided links to version 11 an 12, I find much of the version 12 wording more appealing than some of our version 10 agreement. I will have more comments after I have time for a more thorough review. There are several changes from version 10 to version 11 and I want to understand the removal of some of the "may's" leaving only the implicit "must" in their place.

Understood - we’ve tried to accommodate suggestions received to date from the community,
but are open to any additional suggestions for changes on this proposed new version.

Thanks!
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
ARIN


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