CGL Insurance requirement for Registrars

[Calvin Browne <calvin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Having recently been involved in this issue, the following comes to mind.

There is a misconception that the required insurance needs to cover the 
Registrar in every jurisdiction that a Registrant of a potential 
Registrar may be in.
It seems this stems from:

3.7.7.10 For the adjudication of disputes concerning or arising from use 
of the Registered Name, the Registered Name Holder shall submit, without 
prejudice to other potentially applicable jurisdictions, to the 
jurisdiction of the courts (1) of the Registered Name Holder's domicile 
and (2) where Registrar is located.
, taken from the RAA agreement.

However, the above provision only applies to the REGISTRANT and not the 
REGISTRAR.
There is nothing forcing the REGISTRAR to accede to the Jurisdiction of 
the REGISTRANT.
Simply applying this in the (non-public) procedures the registrar 
accreditation staff use to vet applications, and only requiring 
REGISTRARS to get the requisite insurance for jurisdictions in which 
they would contract, would go a long way towards allowing more 
registrars that have previously had issues in this regard.
For informational purposes, a stand alone policy in South Africa of the 
type required, with non North American jurisdiction (as opposed to 
liability) is close to the annual Registrar fee payable to ICANN.
These policies, by their nature, usually require court action in any 
case, before the Registrant may get a payment. As such, they only cover 
Registrants able to cover the requisite initial court proceedings. 
Registrants able to finance such action are rarely the ones requiring 
such action.
regards

--Calvin Browne
  Domain Name Service P/L
  South Africa