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4 <head><title>CAcert Community Agreement</title></head>
10 <h3> <a name="0"> 0. </a> Introduction </h3>
13 This agreement is between
14 you, being a registered member ("Member")
15 within CAcert's community at large ("Community")
16 and CAcert Incorporated ("CAcert"),
17 being an operator of services to the Community.
20 <h4> <a name="0.1"> 0.1 </a> Terms </h4>
24 a non-profit Association of Members incorporated in
25 New South Wales, Australia.
26 Note that Association Members are distinct from
27 the Members defined here.
30 means you, a registered participant within CAcert's Community,
31 with an account on the website and the
32 facility to request certificates.
33 Members may be individuals ("natural persons")
34 or organisations ("legal persons").
37 is defined under the Organisation Assurance programme,
38 and generally includes corporations and other entities
39 that become Members and become Assured.
42 means all of the Members
43 that are registered by this agreement
44 and other parties by other agreements,
45 all being under CAcert's Arbitration.
47 "Non-Related Person" ("NRP"),
48 being someone who is not a
49 Member, is not part of the Community,
50 and has not registered their agreement.
51 Such people are offered the NRP-DaL
52 another agreement allowing the USE of certificates.
54 "Non-Related Persons - Disclaimer and Licence" ("NRP-DaL"),
55 another agreement that is offered to persons outside the
59 is the Community's forum for
60 resolving disputes, or jurisdiction.
62 "Dispute Resolution Policy" ("DRP" => COD7)
64 rules for resolving disputes.
67 means the act by your software
68 to conduct its tasks, incorporating
69 the certificates according to software procedures.
72 means your human act in taking on a
73 risk and liability on the basis of the claim(s)
74 bound within a certificate.
78 of making available your certificate to another person.
79 Generally, you install and configure your software
80 to act as your agent and facilite this and other tasks.
81 OFFER does not imply suggestion of reliance.
84 means creation of a certificate by CAcert.
85 To create a certificate,
86 CAcert affixes a digital signature from the root
87 onto a public key and other information.
88 This act would generally bind a statement or claim,
89 such as your name, to your key.
92 means CAcert's top level key,
93 used for signing certificates for Members.
94 In this document, the term includes any subroots.
96 "CAcert Official Document" ("COD" => COD3)
97 in a standard format for describing the details of
98 operation and governance essential to a certificate authority.
99 Changes are managed and controlled.
100 CODs define more technical terms.
101 See 4.2 for listing of relevant CODs.
103 "Certification Practice Statement" ("CPS" => COD6)
104 is the document that controls details
105 about operational matters within CAcert.
109 <h3> <a name="1"> 1. </a> Agreement and Licence </h3>
111 <h4> <a name="1.1"> 1.1 </a> Agreement </h4>
114 You and CAcert both agree to the terms and conditions
116 Your agreement is given by any of
120 your signature on a form to request assurance of identity
123 your request on the website
124 to join the Community and create an account,
126 your request for Organisation Assurance,
128 your request for issuing of certificates, or
130 if you USE, RELY, or OFFER
131 any certificate issued to you.
136 is effective from the date of the first event above
137 that makes this agreement known to you.
139 replaces and supercedes prior agreements,
140 including the NRP-DaL.
144 <h4> <a name="1.2"> 1.2 </a> Licence </h4>
147 As part of the Community, CAcert offers you these rights:
151 You may USE any certificates issued by CAcert.
153 You may RELY on any certificate issued by CAcert,
154 as explained and limited by CPS (COD6).
156 You may OFFER certificates issued to you by CAcert
157 to Members for their RELIANCE.
159 You may OFFER certificates issued to you by CAcert
160 to NRPs for their USE, within the general principles
163 This Licence is free of cost,
164 non-exclusive, and non-transferrable.
167 <h4> <a name="1.3"> 1.3 </a> Your Contributions </h4>
171 You agree to a non-exclusive non-restrictive non-revokable
172 transfer of Licence to CAcert for your contributions.
173 That is, if you post an idea or comment on a CAcert forum,
174 or email it to other Members,
175 your work can be used freely by the Community for
176 CAcert purposes, including placing under CAcert's licences
177 for wider publication.
181 You retain authorship rights, and the rights to also transfer
182 non-exclusive rights to other parties.
183 That is, you can still use your
184 ideas and contributions outside the Community.
188 Note that the following exceptions override this clause:
192 Contributions to controlled documents are subject to
193 Policy on Policy ("PoP" => COD1)
195 Source code is subject to an open source licence regime.
198 <h4> <a name="1.4"> 1.4 </a> Privacy </h4>
202 You give rights to CAcert to store, verify and process
203 and publish your data in accordance with policies in force.
204 These rights include shipping the data to foreign countries
205 for system administration, support and processing purposes.
206 Such shipping will only be done among
207 CAcert Community administrators and Assurers.
211 Privacy is further covered in the Privacy Policy ("PP" => COD5).
214 <h3> <a name="2"> 2. </a> Your Risks, Liabilities and Obligations </h3>
217 As a Member, you have risks, liabilities
218 and obligations within this agreement.
221 <h4> <a name="2.1"> 2.1 </a> Risks </h4>
224 A certificate may prove unreliable.
226 Your account, keys or other security tools may be
227 lost or otherwise compromised.
229 You may find yourself subject to Arbitration
233 <h4> <a name="2.2"> 2.2 </a> Liabilities </h4>
236 You are liable for any penalties
237 as awarded against you by the Arbitrator.
239 Remedies are as defined in the DRP (COD7).
240 An Arbitrator's ruling may
241 include monetary amounts, awarded against you.
243 Your liability is limited to
247 "Foreign Courts" may assert jurisdiction.
248 These include your local courts, and are outside our Arbitration.
249 Foreign Courts will generally refer to the Arbitration
250 Act of their country, which will generally refer
251 civil cases to Arbitration.
252 The Arbitration Act will not apply to criminal cases.
255 <h4> <a name="2.3"> 2.3 </a> Obligations </h4>
262 to provide accurate information
263 as part of Assurance.
264 You give permission for verification of the information
265 using CAcert-approved methods.
267 to make no false representations.
269 to submit all your disputes to Arbitration
273 <h4> <a name="2.4"> 2.4 </a> Principles </h4>
276 As a Member of CAcert, you are a member of
278 You are further obliged to
279 work within the spirit of the Principles
281 These are described in
282 <a href="http://svn.cacert.org/CAcert/principles.html">Principles of the Community</a>.
285 <h4> <a name="2.5"> 2.5 </a> Security </h4>
287 CAcert exists to help you to secure yourself.
288 You are primarily responsible for your own security.
289 Your security obligations include
293 to secure yourself and your computing platform (e.g., PC),
295 to keep your email account in good working order,
297 to secure your CAcert account
298 (e.g., credentials such as username, password),
300 to secure your private keys,
302 to review certificates for accuracy,
305 when in doubt, notify CAcert,
307 when in doubt, take other reasonable actions, such as
308 revoking certificates,
309 changing account credentials,
310 and/or generating new keys.
314 Where, above, 'secure' means to protect to a reasonable
315 degree, in proportion with your risks and the risks of
319 <h3> <a name="3"> 3. </a> Law and Jurisdiction </h3>
321 <h4> <a name="3.1"> 3.1 </a> Governing Law </h4>
324 This agreement is governed under the law of
325 New South Wales, Australia,
326 being the home of the CAcert Inc. Association.
329 <h4> <a name="3.2"> 3.2 </a> Arbitration as Forum of Dispute Resolution </h4>
332 You agree, with CAcert and all of the Community,
333 that all disputes arising out
334 of or in connection to our use of CAcert services
335 shall be referred to and finally resolved
336 by Arbitration under the rules within the
337 Dispute Resolution Policy of CAcert
339 The rules select a single Arbitrator chosen by CAcert
340 from among senior Members in the Community.
341 The ruling of the Arbitrator is binding and
342 final on Members and CAcert alike.
346 In general, the jurisdiction for resolution of disputes
347 is within CAcert's own forum of Arbitration,
348 as defined and controlled by its own rules (DRP => COD7).
352 We use Arbitration for many purposes beyond the strict
353 nature of disputes, such as governance and oversight.
354 A systems administrator may
355 need authorisation to conduct a non-routine action,
356 and Arbitration may provide that authorisation.
357 Thus, you may find yourself party to Arbitration
358 that is simply support actions, and you may file disputes in
359 order to initiate support actions.
362 <h4> <a name="3.3"> 3.3 </a> Termination </h4>
364 You may terminate this agreement by resigning
365 from CAcert. You may do this at any time by
366 writing to CAcert's online support forum and
367 filing dispute to resign.
368 All services will be terminated, and your
369 certificates will be revoked.
370 However, some information will continue to
371 be held for certificate processing purposes.
375 The provisions on Arbitration survive any termination
376 by you by leaving CAcert.
377 That is, even if you resign from CAcert,
378 you are still bound by the DRP (COD7),
379 and the Arbitrator may reinstate any provision of this
380 agreement or bind you to a ruling.
384 Only the Arbitrator may terminate this agreement with you.
387 <h4> <a name="3.4"> 3.4 </a> Changes of Agreement </h4>
390 CAcert may from time to time vary the terms of this Agreement.
391 Changes will be done according to the documented CAcert policy
392 for changing policies, and is subject to scrutiny and feedback
394 Changes will be notified to you by email to your primary address.
398 If you do not agree to the changes, you may terminate as above.
399 Continued use of the service shall be deemed to be agreement
403 <h4> <a name="3.5"> 3.5 </a> Communication </h4>
406 Notifications to CAcert are to be sent by
408 <b>support</b> <i>at</i> CAcert.org.
409 You should attach a digital signature,
410 but need not do so in the event of security
415 Notifications to you are sent
416 by CAcert to the primary email address
417 registered with your account.
418 You are responsible for keeping your email
419 account in good working order and able
420 to receive emails from CAcert.
424 Arbitration is generally conducted by email.
427 <h3> <a name="4"> 4. </a> Miscellaneous </h3>
429 <h4> <a name="4.1"> 4.1 </a> Other Parties Within the Community </h4>
432 As well as you and other Members in the Community,
433 CAcert forms agreements with third party
435 Thus, such parties will also be in the Community.
436 Such agreements are also controlled by the same
437 policy process as this agreement, and they should
438 mirror and reinforce these terms.
442 <h4> <a name="4.2"> 4.2 </a> References and Other Binding Documents </h4>
445 This agreement is CAcert Official Document 9 (COD9)
446 and is a controlled document.
450 You are also bound by
454 <a href="http://www.cacert.org/policy/CertificationPracticeStatement.php">
455 Certification Practice Statement</a> (CPS => COD6).
457 <a href="http://www.cacert.org/policy/DisputeResolutionPolicy.php">
458 Dispute Resolution Policy</a> (DRP => COD7).
460 <a href="PrivacyPolicy.html">
461 Privacy Policy</a> (PP => COD5).
463 <a href="http://svn.cacert.org/CAcert/principles.html">
464 Principles of the Community</a>.
468 Where documents are referred to as <i>=> COD x</i>,
469 they are controlled documents
470 under the control of Policy on Policies (COD1).
474 This agreement and controlled documents above are primary,
475 and may not be replaced or waived except
476 by formal policy channels and by Arbitration.
479 <h4> <a name="4.3"> 4.3 </a> Informative References </h4>
482 The governing documents are in English.
483 Documents may be translated for convenience.
484 Because we cannot control the legal effect of translations,
485 the English documents are the ruling ones.
489 You are encouraged to be familiar with the
491 which provides a more readable introduction for much of
492 the information needed.
493 The Handbook is not however an agreement, and is overruled
494 by this agreement and others listed above.
497 <h4> <a name="4.4"> 4.4 </a> Not Covered in this Agreement </h4>
500 <b>Intellectual Property.</b>
501 This Licence does not transfer any intellectual
502 property rights ("IPR") to you. CAcert asserts and
503 maintains its IPR over its roots, issued certificates,
504 brands, logos and other assets.
505 Note that the certificates issued to you
506 are CAcert's intellectual property
507 and you do not have rights other than those stated.