NetSure^® Protection Plan Summary

VERSION 2.0 OCTOBER 6, 2000

THIS DOCUMENT IS A SUMMARY OF THE NETSURE^® PROTECTION PLAN (THE "PLAN") AND DESCRIBES IMPORTANT BENEFITS AND OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE PLAN. THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE PARTIES TO THE PLAN, HOWEVER, ARE GOVERNED BY THE PLAN ITSELF, RATHER THAN THIS SUMMARY. FOR A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THESE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS, PLEASE SEE THE PLAN AT: https://www.verisign.com/repository/netsure. (SEE SECTION 1 OF THE PLAN FOR THE DEFINITIONS OF CAPITALIZED TERMS USED IN THIS SUMMARY.)

I. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the NetSure^® Protection Plan. The Plan applies to you if (and only if) you are what the Plan refers to as a "NetSure^® Subscriber," that is, a person issued a certain class and type of VeriSign Digital ID^SM Certificate on or after the Effective Date of the Plan for that class and type of Certificate. VeriSign Certificates issued on or after the applicable Effective Date are known as "NetSure^® Certificates." This Plan does not apply to you if you only obtained a Demo, Free, or Test Certificate. For a complete list of Certificates covered by the plan, see https://www.verisign.com/repository/ns_list.

As a NetSure^® Subscriber you have greater warranty protection and other assurances under the Plan than available under previous agreements. The Plan's protections are included in the price of your NetSure^® Certificate. The Plan provides protection against certain occurrences, such as loss, theft, modification, or unauthorized access to your Private Key (corresponding to the Public Key in the NetSure^® Certificate). The Plan also protects you against Unauthorized Revocation, Loss of Use, and the Erroneous Issuance of Certificates and Impersonation. The Plan contains additional limited warranties. See the Plan for details.

In addition to the limited warranty protection under the Plan, VeriSign will pay you for certain kinds of damages that you may sustain in the event one of these occurrences takes place, up to specified and limited amounts depending, in part, on the class of NetSure^® Certificate that you have obtained. Of course, however, the Plan assumes that you have fulfilled your obligations such as taking reasonable precautions to prevent loss or unauthorized use of your Private Key and using computer systems that are reasonably secure from intrusion or misuse. The protection in this Plan is subject to the Plan's disclaimers of warranty and limitations of liability. NetSure^® is a program provided by VeriSign and backed by Lloyd's of London.

II. SUMMARY OF THE PLAN'S TERMS

VeriSign provides the limited warranties in the Plan exclusively to NetSure^® Subscribers. For a complete list of Certificates covered by the Plan, see https://www.verisign.com/repository/ns_list. VeriSign makes no warranty under this Plan to any other persons, including other parties relying upon a digitally signed message from a NetSure^® Subscriber.

• Section 1 "Definitions" presents important definitions for terms used in the Plan. You should read these definitions before you read the other provisions of the Plan. Some of these definitions do not appear in VeriSign's Certification Practice Statement or other agreements under which you received your NetSure^® Certificate. These definitions may have different meanings outside of the Plan.
• Section 2 "Limited Warranties to NetSure^® Subscribers" provides for the enhanced set of limited warranties that you receive under this Plan. These limited warranties give you greater protection than the limited warranties in previous agreements. The warranties protect you against, among other things, Compromise of a Private Key, Unauthorized Revocation, or Loss of Use of your NetSure^® Certificate. Section 2 also contains warranties against Erroneous Issuance and Impersonation of a VeriSign Certificate. See the definitions section of the Plan that explain many of these terms.
• Section 3 "Incidental and Consequential Damages for Breach of Warranty and Damage Limitations" contains VeriSign's promise to pay you if VeriSign breaches one of the warranties in Section 2, up to certain limits. The most VeriSign will pay you for all breaches during the Operational Period of a NetSure^® Certificate is $1,000 for a Class 1 Certificate, $25,000 for a Class 2 Certificate, $50,000 for a Class 3 Certificate, $100,000 for a Server Certificate, $100,000 for a Class 3 Authentication Bureau Certificate, $250,000 for a Global Site Plus and 1,000,000 for a Healthcare Certificate. This is the "Certificate Lifetime Limit." Payments by VeriSign reduce the available Certificate Lifetime Limit of your NetSure^® Certificate. In addition, there is a Per Reliance Limit if you sustain a loss due to relying on the VeriSign Certificate of another, based on the Certificate Lifetime Limit of the VeriSign Certificate that you relied on and the available balance of your Certificate Lifetime Limit.
• Section 4 "Notice" requires that you give prompt notice to VeriSign of any breach(es) of the limited warranties in Section 2 as prescribed by the agreement or Section 3.2.
• Section 5 "Limitations Period" provides that VeriSign is under no obligation to make payment against a NetSure^® Certificate if you fail to submit a Loss Report Form within one year after the Operational Period of your NetSure^® Certificate.
• Section 6 "Refund Policy" states that you can request revocation of your NetSure^® Certificate and obtain a full refund for the amount paid for the NetSure^® Certificate if the IA breaches a material obligation under Section 2 of the Plan or a material obligation under the agreement relating to you.
• Section 7 "Persons Excluded from the Plan" clarifies that the Plan covers only NetSure^® Subscribers, provides no warranties to any other persons, and creates no third party beneficiary rights.
• Section 8 "Restrictions on Rights of Employers and Other Principals" explains that an employer or other principal has no rights under the Plan even if you use a NetSure^® Certificate on the employer's or other principal's behalf, unless the employer or principal is named as the Subject of a Valid NetSure^® Certificate.
• Section 9 "Restrictions on Rights of Subscribers Regarding Erroneous Issuance" states that in the event that a VeriSign Certificate incorrectly names you as its subject, you are subject to the damage limitations in Section 3 and the other terms and conditions in the Plan.
• Section 10 "Exceptions to the Plan" explains that VeriSign cannot warrant against factors over which it has no control, such as attacks against Internet service providers.
• Section 11 "Disclaimers of Warranty" contains disclaimers of warranty relating to Nonverified Subscriber Information, representations in Certificates, "nonrepudiation", and the performance of hardware or software. In addition, VeriSign disclaims any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
• Section 12 "Limitation on General Contract Damages" places an overall limitation on VeriSign's liability for general contract damages to all persons caused by reliance on a single Certificate if you file suit or initiate any other legal proceedings against VeriSign.
• Section 13 "Exclusion of Certain Elements of Damages" states that VeriSign will not be liable for certain kinds of damages, except as provided for in Section 3.
• Section 14 "Exclusion of Punitive Damages" states that VeriSign will not be liable for punitive damages.
• Section 15 "Assignment of Claims" provides that in exchange for VeriSign's payments to you under this Plan, you will permit VeriSign to seek and recover damages from persons who may be responsible for your losses.
• Section 16 "Severability" covers the situation where a court determines that one or more provisions of this Plan is deemed unenforceable or invalid. In that case, the court can enforce the remainder of the Plan and reform the Plan so that it is enforceable, valid, and, to the extent possible, consistent with the intent of the Plan.
• Section 17 "Amendments" permits VeriSign to amend the Plan, describes the methods of publishing notice of such amendments, and states that amendments will be come effective fifteen (15) days after proper publication.

This Introduction is only a summary of the terms of the Plan. See the Plan for the complete statement of the terms of the Plan at: https://www.verisign.com/repository/netsure.