Has anyone here had their legal department balk at the legal agreement that ARIN wants you to sign when you get things like an AS number or an IP block? Any luck in negotiating with ARIN?
The agreement has language at the top saying that ARIN doesn't accept modifications, but our legal team is questioning whether that means it really is non-negotiable. They're not exactly fans of it as it is written.
(I probably can't share what my legal counsel is saying to me about the agreement, but it's probably not relevant to the question anyway...)
Don't know for sure but I doubt it. The whole point is that everyone plays
by the same set of rules and opening up the RSA for "negotiation" would
defeat that purpose.
Has anyone here had their legal department balk at the legal
agreement that ARIN wants you to sign when you get things
like an AS number or an IP block?
Yes.
Any luck in negotiating with ARIN?
No.
The agreement has language at the top saying that ARIN
doesn't accept modifications, but our legal team is
questioning whether that means it really is non-negotiable.
It does.
They're not exactly fans of it as it is written.
(I probably can't share what my legal counsel is
saying to me about the agreement, but it's
probably not relevant to the question anyway...)
I can't imagine why anyone would balk at a contract where the "seller"
more or less says, "You agree that all your base are belong to us."
Suck it up; for better or for worse, that's how the game is played.
The good news is that you can hop on ARIN PPML and have a respectably
strong say in what rules get written.
I am aware of a general case where the RSA has been modified. As presented, the RSA is
targeted toward US-based commercial & not-for-profit entities. If you are a soveriegn
in the ARIN region or are a state government in the US, I beleive there is some wiggle-room
for changing liability and venue clauses.
Your best bet is to inquire of the ARIN GC or legal team about your specfic concerns.
So let's see if I can clarify some of your questions:
- ARIN doesn't generally modify the terms of the RSA agreement
(this is a fairness issue so that all address holders are
under similar terms to the extent possible)
- We've actually revised the RSA on several occasions to make
the language more member-friendly. The most recent change
was the release in February 2009 of RSA 10.0, noted here:
<https://www.arin.net/announcements/2009/20090217_rsa.html>
I'd recommend referring your legal team to this announcement
and related FAQ documents, as we've tried to make as much of
background information and reasoning available as possible.
- If there are changes that your legal department would like
to suggest, I would like to hear about them, and they'll be
considered to see if they can be accommodated in a future
revision to be made available for all members. Email is
the best way to reach me, but I can also be tracked down
at my ARIN office number (+1 703 227 9850).
Thanks to those who replied to offer experience and input on working with ARIN. You've given me some helpful information to pass along to our legal team when considering the RSA.
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