[address-policy-wg] Re: [ncc-services-wg] New RIPE NCC Procedural Document Available

David,

On Thu, 2009-07-16 at 21:08 +0200, David Monosov wrote:
> Dear ncc-services-wg, address-policy-wg,
> 
> From the document:
> 
> [...]
> 
> 4.2 Violation of RIPE Policy, Law or Contract
> 
> The RIPE NCC will de-register the independent Internet number resources in case
> of a fundamental breach of contract by the End User, supported by a Dutch court
> order; or
> 
> Violation of Law by the End User, supported by a Dutch court order; or violation
> of RIPE Policy by the End User.
> 
> [...]
> 
> IANAL, so please forgive me if this course of inquiry is completely misguided,
> but does this not explicitly put the validity of resource assignments in the
> hands of Dutch courts and Dutch prosecutors?
> 
> RIPE NCC, as an organization domiciled in the Netherlands would at all times
> have to comply with valid court orders. However, prior to the existence of a
> direct contractual relationship with end users and this policy, RIPE NCC merely
> served as a custodian for a database. Challenging the contents of this database
> would have been a legal adventure.
> 
> With the introduction of complete contractual chain through RIPE NCC, a LIR, and
> the end user, combined with this formal explicit policy to which the end user
> and the LIR must agree - isn't there a potential loophole being created for an
> enterprising litigant to impose Dutch legislation where it is might be favorable
> to their cause on foreign end users?
> 
> Certainly, if this interpretation isn't overly naive, such a loophole was not
> the intention of policy 2007-01. Has the RIPE NCC received any legal counseling
> on this matter, and would it be willing to publish the opinion they were
> provided with?

All that this says is that the RIPE NCC is bound by Dutch law, which was
always the case, with or without a contract.

Someone could always take the RIPE NCC to court, in the Netherlands or
in any other jurisdiction on the planet that will accept the case.

Remember, the point of this endeavor is to identify who is responsible
for any given assignment. This should result in less legal pain, not
more.

--
Shane