ACSP Suggestion 2012.3: Add language to STLS TOS/AUP
Suggestion
Author: Owen DeLong
Submitted On: 11 April 2012
Description:
Add (and begin enforcing) the following language to the STLS TOS/AUP:
Any STLS participant (requestor, provider, or facilitator) found to be advertising their need/services/availability via unsolicited email validated by at least three complaints including copies of the email with full headers from three independent organizations shall have their use of STLS suspended and/or permanently revoked at the discretion of the ARIN CEO (suspension) or simple majority vote of the ARIN BoT (suspension or revocation).
For a period of at least 6 months after this is added to the TOS/AUP, a first offense shall result in a warning referencing this update to the TOS/AUP.
Timeframe: Immediate
Status: Closed Updated: 07 May 2012
Tracking Information
ARIN Comment
19 April 2012
ARIN is seeking a legal view on this suggestion and may, as a result, possibly raise it for ARIN Board consideration. As you are probably are aware, ARIN places reasonable terms and conditions on those that participate in the Specified Transfer Listing Service. The question is whether those terms can be extended to govern participant contact in non-ARIN forums such as NANOG, IETF, etc. Additionally, spam violations are often difficult to determine due to the abundance of social media and corresponding contact information on the Internet.
ARIN will continue to work through this suggestion and keep you apprised as progress is made.
Suggestion remains open.
ARIN Comment
07 May 2012
We have carefully reviewed your suggestion internally, and with ARIN Counsel, and have concluded the proposal, if adopted, would improperly overstep ARIN’s authority to regulate content and communications. Specifically, the proposal seeks to place limits on STLS facilitators contacting community members based on complaints that could be subjective and not objective and readily provable. ARIN has no ability to readily determine or confirm whether an email message reported to it is unsolicited or not, or how the address was obtained, and would therefore have to take action based on the subjective judgment of the reporting party.
Any ARIN attempt to improperly limit these types of commercial communications is unlikely to be upheld based on the proposal you provided, and could even result in claims of ARIN legal liability for interfering with commercial speech. The subjective complaint criteria may also permit abuse: e.g. one facilitator complaining about another simply to limit their communications efforts. It might also convince brokers not to become STLS facilitators.
As you know, ARIN has prohibited the use of Whois for marketing purposes and will investigate violations thereof regardless of the forum. If you believe that Whois contact information is being used for marketing purposes, please contact us immediately. We will continue to review such matters aggressively, consistent with that policy.
As we gain more experience with such communications we will continue to consider whether existing practices to curb abuse need to be tweaked.
Suggestion 2012.3 is now closed.