Consultation on Registration Services Agreement 11.0 Now Open [Archived]

Posted: Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Based on feedback from the community and experience executing Registration Service Agreements (RSAs), ARIN has constructed a new RSA, version 11.0, and is seeking community input regarding this new version.

Following community consultation and finalization, entities requesting Internet number resources from ARIN will be using this new RSA version 11.0. Existing holders of Internet number resources will also have the opportunity to upgrade to this new version of the RSA.

There are notable and substantive changes with this new version. These changes are described in more detail below. The new RSA version 11.0 is available at the following URL:
https://www.arin.net/resources/agreements/rsa_draft_ver11.pdf .

The community’s constructive thoughts on RSA version 11.0 are welcome during this 30-day review period.

Please provide comments to arin-consult@arin.net. You can subscribe to this mailing list at: http://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-consult. Discussion on arin-consult @arin.net will close on 23 March 2012. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@arin.net.

Regards,

John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)

WHAT ARE THE CORE ISSUES THAT GOVERENED THE UPDATE TO RSA VERSION 11.0?

RSA version 11.0 is an update to the current RSA version 10.2; however with the nature of the changes, it is not useful to describe the changes line by line. This new version includes a number of revisions including the removal of the application process from the contract document. We believe this change, among others, will be very helpful in clarifying the terms and structure of the agreement.

No Revocation for Lack of Utilization

One of the substantive changes that can be seen in RSA version 11.0 is to clarify that ARIN will not revoke a holder’s resources for lack of utilization. A holder’s utilization of its resources however shall be a factor in evaluating a holder’s request for additional Internet number resources from ARIN or a holder’s request to receive a transfer of resources.

Venues for Dispute Resolution

Another substantive change in RSA version 11.0 is updating the dispute resolution mechanism, which has never been used to date. This section (See section 14(k)) now provides for venues in Canada as well as Miami as a potential venue for disputes involving Caribbean registrants.

Modifications to Allow Eventual Convergence of the RSA and LRSA

ARIN recently released a new LRSA Version 3.0. In the past there has been some concern that there are significant differences between the standard RSA and standard LRSA, by which the LRSA provided more “favorable” terms to Legacy holders. As ARIN moves toward the final issuance of new IPv4 resources, it is actively working towards narrowing the differences between the two agreements. For example, LRSA version 1 and version 2 holders were given very attractive financial terms that may not fully cover the fair share of costs in providing services to Legacy holders generally. In order to ultimately converge the two RSA forms in the future, more flexibility is needed in this area and therefore, the Fees section of the RSA version 11.0 and LRSA version 3.0 are more similar.

We invite the community to review RSA version 11.0 and compare it both to the previous RSA version 10.2 as well as to the recently released LRSA version 3.0. The community’s constructive feedback will assist ARIN in finalizing RSA version 11.0 for general availability. The community consultation period will end on 23 March 2012. Thank you in advance for your comments.