[arin-ppml] Deceased Companies?

[Ronald F. Guilmette]

In message <D3EDBB67-B9C3-486E-8CCF-A4586A2D78D3 at semihuman.com>, 
Chris Woodfield <chris at semihuman.com> wrote:

>I'd expect that in the case of an assignee subject to the
>RSA/LRSA, this would be a self-correcting issue - if the assignee or its
>successor does not pay their registration fee...

I'm sorry, but you have misunderstood the thrust of my question, most
probably because I have failed to make it clear.  Please allow me to
try again by way of a hypothetical.  (DISCLAIMER:  Any resemblance to any
person or legal entity, living or dead, within the following text is purely
coincidental.)

Imagine the following scenaro:

George Smiley is an avid fisherman residing in Lakeport, California.  In
2001 George decides to turn his avocation into a professional endeavor.
So George incorprates his new business, obtains a business bank account,
and opens his new fishing supplies shop in Lakeport under the rubric of
"The Master Baiter Bait & Tackle Shop, LLC".  He is told by a friend
shortly thereafter that the best way to get his shop noticed by a lot of
fishermen is to set up his own web site, and that he could even make some
additional money on the side by setting aside one corner of his volumous
store and converting it into an Internet cafe for the locals of Lakeport.
So of course, George goes to ARIN and gets a membership for his business
(hereinafter "TMBBATS, LLC") and he also obtains from ARIN a /24 block.

Hypothetically, let's just say that this all happens around, say, 2003,
give or take.

In late 2008 the Great Recession hits and George's business drops off
dramatically.  He is forced to close the Bait & Tackle shop and its
associated Internet Cafe.  He does so, and also closes the company's
bank account.  (Because why wouldn't he?)  He is a lazy bugger however,
so rather than doing the correct, proper, and decent thing and sending
a notice to the State of California that he is closing his business, he
simply stops filing the annual reports that all active California
corporations are obliged, under law, to file every year.

After a year or two, the State of California notices this and thus strikes
George's business from the rolls of active California corporations.

But there is still that matter of TMBBATS, LLC's ARIN membership and its
associated ARIN-issued /24.

Because George had put his home address in as the "official" mailing address
of TMBBATS, LLC, even after George has effectively dissolved his company
he continues to receive (by snail mail or email) annual invoices from ARIN,
Inc.  He and a few of his his friends are still using the /24 to host a
handful of their personal web sites, so George responds to these annual
ARIN invoices by sending ARIN an appropriately sized check *from his own
personal bank account* every year, like clockwork.

My question was/is:  Is there anything within either the RSAs or within the
NRPM which either (a) obliges or alternatively (b) prohibits ARIN from
accepting an annual fee payment from a legal entity that is *different
from* the legal entity which was the original recipient of the relvant
ARIN membership (i.e. the one that entered into the RSA contract with ARIN)?

I am looking at the first sentence in Section 4 of the current edition of
the ARIN RSA and I see that it contains the following language, which is
arguably definitive:

    "... Holder shall pay..."

Perhaps I am just missing it, but I am not seeing where, within the current
edition of the RSA, there is any obligation created on the part of ARIN to
accept payment for annual fees due from any party other than "Holder".
I supposed that ARIN _could_ do so, if it desired to do so.  And based on
facts know to me I gather that ARIN _does_ in fact accept payments from
parties other than the "holder" (of a membership and/or resources).  I am
just not seeing where, within the RSA, ARIN is contractually obligated to
do so.

But as I say, perhaps I am just missing it.


Regards,
rfg