[ncc-announce] Indemnification of the RIPE NCC by its Members

Dear colleagues,

At the General Meeting on 2 November 2011, a member expressed concerns 
regarding the former Article 7.6/current Article 8.6 of the Standard 
Service Agreement, which states:

"The Member shall indemnify the RIPE NCC against any and all third party 
claims filed against the RIPE NCC in relation to the Member's use of the 
RIPE NCC services."

It was suggested that this provision gives unlimited liability by the 
membership to the RIPE NCC and, consequently, unlimited financial 
backing of the RIPE NCC by the members. It was said that the RIPE NCC 
should not ask all members to guarantee its liability in an unlimited 
way and it was suggested that the provision be amended as soon as possible.

The RIPE NCC reviewed the provision and came to the following conclusion:

This provision requests that the member must indemnify the RIPE NCC if:
- A third party files claims against the RIPE NCC; and
- These claims refer to this member's use of the RIPE NCC's services

If the claim refers to a particular member's use of the RIPE NCC's 
services, then no other member has an obligation to indemnify the RIPE NCC.

The aim of the provision is that an individual member should indemnify 
the RIPE NCC against a third party claim against that individual member. 
The indemnification does not carry beyond these parties (the RIPE NCC 
and the specified member).

If a member infringes a third party's rights through the use of the RIPE 
NCC's services, then this member is liable for their own actions.
If the RIPE NCC could not require such indemnification, then the RIPE 
NCC itself (i.e., the whole membership) could be obliged to compensate 
any third party for illegal activities of a certain member.

Under legal advice, the RIPE NCC has decided to retain the clause in its 
current form. If a claim is filed against the RIPE NCC, the penalty or 
compensation can be passed on to the member specified in the claim, 
leaving other members unaffected.

Regards,

Axel Pawlik
Managing Director
RIPE NCC