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Judge rules Cisco's reseller agreement as unfair

By Cisco Subnet on Thu, 10/23/08 - 1:51pm.
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A court judge's ruling on Cisco's reseller agreement could set off a flurry of lawsuits from partners who believe their business has been harmed by the network giant's Indirect Channel Partner Agreement (ICPA). Judge Gregory H. Lewis in the California Superior Court in Santa Ana, Calif., presiding over a trial between former reseller Infra-Comm and Cisco, ruled that parts of Cisco's ICPA were "unconscionable", reports ChannelWeb. "Unconscionable" refers to a contract or parts of a contract that is one-sided in favor of the person who has the superior bargaining power.

Infra-Comm sued Cisco for allegedly snatching a $5 million opportunity away from the reseller and turning it over to AT&T. Cisco, in turn, claims Infra-Comm harmed the networking giant's busines and misused its brand name.

This week, the judge found three provisions in Cisco's ICPA unconscionable: that the partner is not provided with an opportunity to negotiate the terms of the contract when using Cisco's Web site to renew contracts; that Cisco could terminate a reseller agreement with only a month's notice, or without notice at the beginning of each year; and that the ICPA limits damages to what a reseller pays Cisco over the course of three months for services and products, which could be unfair to longtime resellers.

A Cisco spokesperson told ChannelWeb that the provisions in question were common in the industry and that it would continue to vigorously defend Infra-Comm's allegations.

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This week, the adjudicator

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This week, the adjudicator begin three accoutrement in Cisco's ICPA unconscionable: that the accomplice is not provided with an befalling to accommodate the acceding of the arrangement if application Cisco's Web website to renew contracts; that Cisco could abolish a reseller acceding with alone a month's notice, or after apprehension at the alpha of anniversary year; and that the ICPA banned amercement to what a reseller pays Cisco over the advance of three months for casework and products, which could be arbitrary to longtime resellers.buy movies online

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The Cisco Subnet blog is written by Network World managing editor Jim Duffy and is the official blog of Network World's Cisco Subnet community. The Cisco Subnet site is managed by Online Community Editor Julie Bort. Cisco Subnet is the independent voice of Cisco customers and is your gateway to daily Cisco news, blogs, opinion, books, prize giveaways and more. Visit the Cisco Subnet home page daily and while you are there, subscribe to the Cisco Alert e-mail newsletter, which includes news and views generated by the Cisco Subnet community as well as Cisco-related stories on Network World and elsewhere on the Web.