Delegate Incentive Program Terms and Conditions
The DIP initially included the requirement that each DIP Participant must adhere to the social agreements reached by the DAO:
Each delegate must adhere to all social agreements reached through Snapshot, including those outlined in proposals such as ‘Improving Predictability in Arbitrum DAO’s Operations,’ ‘Should the DAO Create COI & Self Voting Policies?,’ ‘Incentives Detox Proposal,’ and any other proposals or codes of conduct that may be approved in the future.
In this iteration, and in light of what is outlined in the Rationale, we incorporated a specific set of Terms and Conditions for the program, to which DIP Participants must adhere to participate in the DIP.
Terms
DIP Participants: An individual or entity who applied to the Delegate Incentive Program and it’s eligible to participate in it, and/or is compensated via the DIP.
DAO Contributor: An individual or entity who willingly engages in Arbitrum governance and/or is compensated via a DAO-approved program.
Community Guidelines: The rules of engagement for the Arbitrum DAO forum as outlined and enforced by the Arbitrum Foundation.
Conflict of Interest (COI): A situation where a contributor, or any entity with which a contributor has a direct professional or financial relationship, stands to directly benefit from the outcome of a proposal or election.
1. Values Alignment
DIP Participants should always strive to uphold the seven community values stated below:
- Ethereum-aligned: Arbitrum is part of the Ethereum ecosystem and community
- Sustainable: Focus on the long-term health of the protocol over short-term gains
- Secure: Arbitrum is security-minded
- Socially inclusive: Open and welcoming to all constructive participants
- Technically inclusive: Accessible for ordinary people with ordinary technology
- User-focused: Managed for the benefit of all users
- Neutral and open: Foster open innovation, interoperation, user choice, and healthy competition
2. Good Faith and Best Interest
- DIP Participants should conduct themselves with honesty, integrity, and transparency, fostering trust and confidence among community members.
- DIP Participants should act and vote in accordance with what they see is in the best interests of Arbitrum, which encompasses but is not limited to all of the following: Arbitrum One, Arbitrum Nova, the Orbit Ecosystem, and any future Arbitrum DAO-governed chains.
3. Due Care and Attention
- DIP Participants should remain knowledgeable of developments in regards to Arbitrum DAO’s initiatives and the broader Arbitrum ecosystem.
- DIP Participants should make a professional and unbiased review of each proposal before submitting their vote.
- DIP Participants are advised to vote abstain when unable to conduct the necessary diligence to understand the proposals.
4. Civility and Professionalism
- While separate from the Terms and Conditions, DIP Participants are expected to uphold the community guidelines for activity on the Arbitrum DAO forum and de facto understood gathering places for the Arbitrum DAO, whether online or in-person.
- DIP Participants should seek to create a respectful and inclusive environment for all community members, free from harassment and discrimination.
- Unacceptable behavior includes, but is not limited to:
- Publicly or privately harassing or intimidating others
- Sharing someone’s private information without their consent
- Using sexualized language or imagery, or making unwanted advances
- Making insulting or derogatory comments about others
- DIP Participants should strive to provide constructive feedback that is well-researched and respectful, focusing on the proposal’s merits. Personal attacks are never acceptable.
- DIP Participants should be open-minded and respectful of differing viewpoints, even if they disagree with them. Disagreements are an inevitable part of healthy debate, but they often yield positive results when approached in a civil manner.
- DIP Participants should make a best effort to provide constructive feedback through appropriate channels and avoid taking discussions to social media in a manner that could tarnish Arbitrum DAO’s brand and reputation.
- DIP Participants should avoid making unsubstantiated accusations that imply malice without proper evidence. They should conduct proper due diligence before making any public accusations via social media, public forums, or any other recognized communication channels. This includes exhausting all available avenues — for example, seeking clarification privately — before issuing any public statement that contains an unsubstantiated accusation about a DAO contributor.
5. Responsibility
- Maintaining a culture of productive debate, integrity, and transparency requires a sense of collective responsibility. As entrusted leaders of the Arbitrum community, DIP Participants should take responsibility in fostering and maintaining a culture that promotes the principles outlined herein.
- Best practices of responsible DIP Participants:
- Participation: DIP Participants should make an effort to vote (even if they vote abstain) on all proposals.
- Communication: DIP Participants should clearly communicate their rationale behind votes and discussions to the Arbitrum community.
- Accountability: DIP Participants should maintain knowledge of all DAO initiatives and hold managing parties or elected representatives accountable.
- Responsiveness: DIP Participants should use their best efforts to connect with the Arbitrum community and be accessible to answer questions or concerns.
6. Other Social Agreements
DIP Participants must adhere to the remaining social agreements reached by the DAO, with the understanding that, if there are contradictions between a Social Agreement (such as the DAO’s Code of Conduct) and the DIP’s Terms and Conditions, then the DIP’s policies shall take precedence.
Enforcement & Appeal Process
All DIP Participants are expected to abide by the DIP’s Terms and Conditions. The DIP’s Program Manager is the one responsible for determining violations of the Terms and Conditions and reserves the right to take what it deems as appropriate action, which may include but is not limited to, issuing a penalty, a warning, suspension, or a total removal from the program. Any DAO member can raise a concern to the Program Manager concerning a DIP Participant failing to uphold the DIP’s Terms and Conditions, and the Program Manager must provide an answer; however, the final determination and resulting course of action will depend on the Program Manager and/or the Appeal Process.
Regarding the appeals process, the following mechanism had previously been defined:
The affected delegate may request a Snapshot vote to ratify, change, or revoke the Administrator’s decision. This serves as a one-time appeal, and the decision made by the DAO will be final.
In the new iteration, appeals of any type of sanction (whether suspension or removal from the program) should be submitted by the affected DIP Participant to the Arbitrum Foundation, which would act as a neutral mediator in the situation and have the authority to ratify, change, or revoke the Program Manager’s decision.
In the future and once OpCo is fully operational, responsibility for the resolution of conflicts can be transferred to the OpCo at the Program Manager’s discretion. The Program Manager will acknowledge when this transfer can take place and make it public on the governance forum when it goes into effect.