Updated: Proposed Changes to Telos Arbitration Governance Documents and Information on Amend Vote

Over the past year, Detroit Ledger Technologies, Telos Crew, and the TCD worked together to create and deploy a new arbitration portal for Telos Resolve. In an effort to make arbitration a self-sustaining process, various design changes were made to how arbitrators would be compensated that deviates from the current version of the Telos Arbitration Rules and Procedures (TBNARP) and Arbitration Parameters Schedule. The following blog post serves to outline those changes.

̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶g̶r̶o̶u̶p̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶q̶u̶e̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶c̶e̶r̶n̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶i̶o̶d̶,̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶p̶o̶i̶n̶t̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶i̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶l̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶f̶e̶e̶d̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶n̶e̶c̶e̶s̶s̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶k̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶p̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶m̶a̶l̶ ̶A̶m̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶v̶o̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶l̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶s̶.̶

The Amend proposal for these changes is now live. You can vote on the proposed changes through the following methods:

• Browser (desktop / mobile): https://app.telos.net/trails/ballot/updatetbnarp/1693416727826
• DecideVoter (iOS / Android): https://mainnet.decidevoter.app/amend/proposal?proposal_name=updatetbnarp&treasury_symbol=4,VOTE

Summary

• On-chain arbitration has been a mandate of Telos Governance since the launch of the network.
• Various attempts have been made to launch “Telos Resolve” (the name of the portal) over the years, but some complexities have held up a functioning implementation.
• Arbitrators will be elected by token holders and members of the Telos blockchain network will be able to raise disputes against accounts and smart contracts that could be malicious or buggy code that produce unexpected outcomes.
• Various network actors including Detroit Ledger Technologies, Telos Crew, and the TCD teamed up to develop and deploy a completed Telos Resolve platform.
• Due to changes in the compensation structure for arbitrators from a set case class fee schedule to a free market system, the Telos Blockchain Network Arbitration Rules and Procedures core governance document requires an Amend proposal to reflect this new compensation model.
• Some other minor changes have been included throughout the document to provide clarity and fix grammatical and spelling errors
• A separate document, the Arbitration Parameters Schedule, will also be modified by Block Producer multisig to remove minimum fee guidelines and adjust minimum deposits required.
• A diff checker highlighting the proposed changes between TBNARP 1.0 and TBNARP 2.0 can be found here: https://www.diffchecker.com/e4VSFUsq/

Major Clause Changes

Telos Arbitration Rules and Procedures (TBNARP)

A diff checker highlighting the proposed changes between TBNARP 1.0 and TBNARP 2.0 can be found here: https://www.diffchecker.com/e4VSFUsq/

2. Definitions

“Respondent” will now be formally defined in the definitions. The previous attempt to define Respondent did not actually properly define it. Some of the definitions have also been modified and reordered

Amended Section 2: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmUHCq5y2io5GBH6tqtEN8HqvHgU9csLFQWbcAwZtFf9rs?filename=tbnarp_002_1.1.md

6. No Arbitrator Liability

In this clause, “Smart Contracts” were explicitly included in the definition of potential arbitration parties because they are included in other parts of the document.

Additionally, the clause includes a new sentence to adjust deposit and fee refunds logic in the situation where an arbitrator or arbitration entity can no longer perform its duty, resulting in the case needing to be resubmitted to the portal for new arbitrators.

Finally, the following sentence at the end of the clause was removed: “The Telos Foundation indemnifies Elected Arbitrators and former Elected Arbitrators for their legal defense fees in legal actions arising directly from their service as an Assigned Arbitrator on a Case in the form of an indemnification insurance policy, a copy of which shall be provided to each Elected Arbitrator following their election.” Providing insurance has not been forecasted in the Telos Foundation budget and is not a reasonable expectation at this time.

Amended Section 6: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/Qmeny2DZxP2FJpUcuchxpfQqjf7vJch5gdixqz64sJPRbK?filename=tbnarp_006_1.1.md

8. Case Classes

The Core Code Bug or Wrongful Action case class was modified to be easier to understand / grammatically correct.

The Failure to Deliver Worker Proposal System case class was updated to lower the threshold of required number block producers required as Claimants from 15 to 1/3 of block producers (using the prods.minor permission).

Amended Section 8: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmcuB38Jbiy2jAtq62HvcJwiLJCWMBC671qJLTw6qLq5AN?filename=tbnarp_008_1.1.md

9. Arbitration Parameters Set by Block Producers

Removed the requirement of Telos Foundation or Telos Works to pay fees related to certain classes of case.

Amended Section 9: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmWdmp6ehBN4T5SF1f18jK2FXMzp3FrxmwVhVcXHSuq5Uz?filename=tbnarp_009_1.1.md

10. Arbitrators Are Not Employees

Added standard boilerplate that states Arbitrators and their entities are responsible for paying taxes in their terrestrial government jurisdiction on income they earn through the arbitration process.

Amended Section 10: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmZtdyXUxKTfT8VGzc7GKeoez9J5Ho2jfS9wewwj6JTKTr?filename=tbnarp_010_1.1.md

12. Choice of Arbitrator

Completely replaced to outline the new arbitration selection process via a free market based bidding process.

Amended Section 12: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmdtEf1KFVyUP2ommm4ogBTkBA3JhmZ7ZDeTpAh77tuDvU?filename=tbnarp_012_1.1.md

14. Arbitrator Recusal

Modified to require that cases must restart from the beginning of the process when an arbitrator is removed or recused themselves, unless another person within the Arbitration entity without conflict of interest can resume the case.

Amended Section 14: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmRmnsB1yMtzX3TpzMAC3kDQRhEk9dfocoX2LkRpbgmTuo?filename=tbnarp_014_1.1.md

Arbitration Parameters Schedule

According the TBNARP, the Arbitration Parameters Schedule can be changed by the elected arbitrators and is implemented by the block producers by a ⅔ + 1 vote. Since there are currently no elected arbitrators, the working group is recommending changes to the schedule in anticipation of the arbitration process reboot.

The recommended change to the Arbitration Parameters Schedule is to replace fixed amount minimum TLOS required for deposits with percentage of the total quoted amount by the selected arbitrator(s) during the bidding process. For the sake of simplicity, these should all be set to the same amount and the elected arbitrators can change them in the future.

Minor Clause Changes

Telos Arbitration Rules and Procedures (TBNARP)

The following clauses received minor updates that did not materially change the nature of the clause. The scope of the updates include but are not limited to punctuation, grammar, capitalization, clarity, or references to documents.

15. Assigned Arbitrator Removal

Amended Section 15: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmQ7DJfZn9ipTuQSP9tWvCKuyzap2GLSVRQ9HiEsq3ACqL?filename=tbnarp_015_1.1.md

16. Notice of Arbitration Case

Amended Section 16: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmfCs9LCYPmFqZWFPXxXCww8jRxa6EpNwqGF7XUeWXzGmJ?filename=tbnarp_016_1.1.md

17. Filing a Counter Case

Amended Section 17: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmUT4SzeD8uAbpor1XMjkkBGKyfmceMpPsz6JuUhRBin79?filename=tbnarp_017_1.1.md

18. Joining a Case

Amended Section 18: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmNryuE4PQYxVXdDcZBWTGngmzeurWqoMGn8wasML7Rgoh?filename=tbnarp_018_1.1.md

22. Nature of Arbitration Proceedings

Amended Section 22: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/Qmf2p6LxQPbpMc9yRKZ8Vd4xmX5LiejkxW6rzAymVVrMES?filename=tbnarp_022_1.1.md

24. Presentation of Evidence

Amended Section 24: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmezDnfEo1m7WMK6h6sHnLpxFzgnQHoUPw1FwZzPFrDLXa?filename=tbnarp_024_1.1.md

26. Proceedings

Amended Section 26: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmbYCyeCXFcrSkfyXAW4BvLKKNZd5aYTGzN9fD3wNa7PxE?filename=tbnarp_026_1.1.md

27. Inclusion of Precedents

Amended Section 27: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmfFEYHvCfRES3xvEbSqkgNcAQD4qhCGexKgwS4dpSSSj3?filename=tbnarp_027_1.1.md

29. Scope of Decision

Amended Section 29: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmQLnJL1KhMMQeXgBVUGP5565YvAeTDfUnvL8V32ARgC4z?filename=tbnarp_029_1.1.md

30. Execution of Decision

Amended Section 30: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmNwCbzEdAjsrZ9mnC6e9UwPGsKTPzrSRtCtRD8f2XaDH1?filename=tbnarp_030_1.1.md

31. Accusation of Arbitrator Malfeasance

Amended Section 31: https://ipfs.telos.net/ipfs/QmPa9xuze5rSQ5gFF5fF2qaVk4BW9kPiPSTkH8r3jqwjM2?filename=tbnarp_031_1.1.md

Vote Now!

The Amend proposal will be active for voting for approximately 12.5 days. Make your voice heard below by using one of the following methods below and go Telos!

• Browser (desktop / mobile): https://app.telos.net/trails/ballot/updatetbnarp/1693416727826
• DecideVoter (iOS / Android): https://mainnet.decidevoter.app/amend/proposal?proposal_name=updatetbnarp&treasury_symbol=4,VOTE