Connection Terms and Conditions

JCIX Connection Terms and Conditions

Japan Community IX Association

DISCLAIMER: This is an unofficial English translation provided for reference purposes only. The Japanese text is the authoritative and controlling version. In the event of any inconsistency between the Japanese and English texts, the Japanese text shall prevail.

Chapter 1: General Provisions

(Purpose)

Article 1 These Connection Terms and Conditions (hereinafter “these Terms”) are established to prescribe the terms and conditions for the Internet Exchange Service (hereinafter “the Service”) provided by Japan Community IX Association (hereinafter “the Association”) to its members.

These Terms constitute Standard-form Contract Terms (Civil Code, Article 548-2, paragraph 1) that govern the terms of the agreement regarding use of the Service between the Association and members who use the Service (hereinafter “Connection Agreement”).
These Terms shall be interpreted as mutually supplementary to the Association’s Articles of Incorporation, the Technical Specifications for the Service (Appendix A; hereinafter “Technical Specifications”), the BGP Community Operational Policy for the Service (Appendix B), and other regulations separately prescribed by the Association. In the event of any conflict between these Terms and such regulations, these Terms shall prevail.

(Definitions)

Article 2 Terms used in these Terms shall be defined as follows:

“Member” means a Full Member or Associate Member as defined in the Articles of Incorporation of the Association.
“Full Member” means a Full Member as defined in Article 5 of the Articles of Incorporation (constituting a “member” (社員) under the Act on General Incorporated Associations and General Incorporated Foundations).
“Associate Member” means an Associate Member as defined in Article 5 of the Articles of Incorporation.
“Service” means the collective term for the Port Service, Route Server Service, and ancillary services provided by the Association to its members.
“Port Service” means the service providing physical or logical connection to the Association’s exchange fabric (IX Fabric).
“Route Server Service” means the service providing BGP peering through the route server operated by the Association.
“IX Fabric” means the Layer 2 switching network operated by the Association.
“ASN” means an Autonomous System Number assigned by IANA or an RIR, regardless of the type of holder (individual, corporation, or other entity).
“Suspension Measure” means a measure to suspend a member’s connection to the IX Fabric, including shutdown of the applicable member’s port on the IX switch, blocking of tunnel interfaces such as EtherIP, disconnection of the BGP session with the route server, and any other means the Association deems necessary.

(Amendment of Terms)

Article 3 The Association may, pursuant to Article 548-4 of the Civil Code, amend these Terms without obtaining the individual consent of each member in either of the following cases:

When the amendment is in the general interest of members.
When the amendment is not contrary to the purposes of the agreement, and is reasonable in light of the necessity for the amendment, the reasonableness of the amended content, and other circumstances relating to the amendment.
When making an amendment pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the Association shall designate an effective date for the amended Terms and shall announce the amendment, the amended content, and the effective date by posting on the Association’s website or other appropriate means.
In the case of an amendment that restricts members’ rights or increases members’ obligations, the Association shall, in addition to the announcement in the preceding paragraph, give individual notice to members by electronic means at least 30 days prior to the effective date.

Chapter 2: Connection Agreement

(Formation of Connection Agreement)

Article 4 The Service is provided as a benefit incidental to membership status in the Association as defined in the Articles of Incorporation. Persons who are not members may not apply to use the Service.

A member who wishes to use the Service shall, after satisfying the requirements set forth in these Terms and the Technical Specifications, submit a connection application in the manner separately prescribed by the Association.
A Connection Agreement shall be formed when the Association sends a notice of approval in response to the connection application referred to in the preceding paragraph.
If a member loses membership status, the Connection Agreement shall automatically terminate and the right to use the Service shall simultaneously be extinguished.

(Categories of Members and the Service)

Article 5 The Service shall be available to both Full Members and Associate Members.

Full Members and Associate Members are distinguished solely by the presence or absence of voting rights at the General Meeting of Members as set forth in the Articles of Incorporation, and the terms and conditions for providing the Service shall not differ between the two categories; provided, however, that this shall not apply where the Technical Specifications or these Terms otherwise provide.

(Conditions of Use)

Article 6 Members shall comply with the following conditions when using the Service:

Hold and maintain a valid ASN.
Comply with the technical requirements set forth in Chapter 3.
Comply with these Terms and the Technical Specifications.
Comply with applicable laws and regulations and generally accepted Internet use norms.
Provide the confirmation regarding exclusion of Antisocial Forces separately prescribed by the Association.

Chapter 3: Service Content and Technical Requirements

(Port Service)

Article 7 The Association shall provide members with connection ports to the IX Fabric. Port specifications shall be as set forth in the Technical Specifications.

The types of port speeds available shall be as set forth in the Fee Schedule separately prescribed by the Association.
Equipment required for physical connection (cables, optical transceivers, etc.) shall conform to the Technical Specifications.

(Route Server Service)

Article 8 The Association shall provide members with BGP peering to the route server. Members may optionally choose to participate in route server peering.

The operational policy for the route server (filtering policy, etc.) shall conform to the Technical Specifications and other technical documents separately prescribed by the Association.
The use of BGP Communities shall conform to the operational policy set forth in Appendix B.

(Technical Requirements)

Article 9 Members shall comply with the technical requirements set forth in the Technical Specifications when using the Service. Technical requirements include matters relating to routing security (including compliance with MANRS (Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security) actions for network operators), BGP configuration, IRR (Internet Routing Registry) registration, and Layer 2 matters.

The Technical Specifications may be revised from time to time by resolution of the Board of Directors to accommodate stable operation of the Service and technological advances. Revision of the Technical Specifications shall not constitute an amendment to these Terms, and the Association shall notify members of the revised Technical Specifications by posting on the Association’s website or other means.
Members who have not yet completed compliance with the technical requirements relating to routing security at the time of admission may be approved to use the Service on the condition that they achieve compliance within the grace period set forth in the Technical Specifications.

(Member’s Responsibility for Equipment)

Article 10 Members shall, at their own responsibility and expense, prepare and maintain the telecommunications equipment, circuits, and services on the member side that are necessary for using the Service.

Members shall bear sole responsibility for their ASN, IP addresses, routing configuration, and other technical arrangements.

Chapter 4: Membership Fees and Service Charges

(Membership Fees)

Article 11 Members (both Full Members and Associate Members) shall bear an Initiation Fee and Annual Membership Fee based on their membership status. The amount of the Initiation Fee and Annual Membership Fee, payment methods, payment timing, non-refundability, and other matters relating to membership fees shall be governed by the Articles of Incorporation and the Membership Regulations separately prescribed by the Association.

The Annual Membership Fee shall include the Basic Package for the Service (one connection port to the IX Fabric regardless of speed or connection type, and one IPv4 address).

(Service Charges)

Article 12 If a member uses Service resources beyond the Basic Package described in paragraph 2 of the preceding article (meaning use of additional connection ports, additional IPv4 addresses, or other resources prescribed by the Association), the charges for such use (hereinafter “Service Charges”) shall be as set forth in the Fee Schedule separately prescribed by the Association.

The Fee Schedule shall be established or revised by resolution of the Board of Directors in accordance with the cost of providing the Service, technological advances, and other circumstances. Establishment and revision of the Fee Schedule shall not constitute an amendment to these Terms, and the Association shall disclose the Fee Schedule to members on the Association’s website or Member Portal.

(Payment of Service Charges and Non-refundability)

Article 13 The method and timing of payment of Service Charges shall be as set forth in the Fee Schedule or invoices issued by the Association. Payment methods shall include credit card payment.

Service Charges already paid shall not be refunded by reason of termination of use of the Service or any other reason; provided, however, that this shall not apply where the reason is attributable to the Association.

(Fee Reduction or Waiver)

Article 14 The Association may, by resolution of the Board of Directors, reduce or waive the whole or part of membership fees or Service Charges for a member who is recognized as contributing to technical research, development, or promotion of Internet peering activities related to the Service, or who notably contributes to the improvement of the value or scale of the Association’s IX Fabric, or who otherwise meets the criteria separately prescribed by the Association.

The criteria for reduction or waiver under the preceding paragraph, application procedures, and other necessary matters shall be governed by the Fee Reduction Internal Regulation separately prescribed by the Association. Reductions and waivers shall, in light of the purpose of Article 6 of the Telecommunications Business Act (Fairness of Use), be applied consistently to all members meeting the applicable criteria in accordance with objective and reasonable criteria.

Chapter 5: Service Level

(Nature of the Service)

Article 15 The Service is provided on a Best Effort basis. The Association does not guarantee specific numerical values for line quality, latency, packet loss rate, uptime, or other service quality metrics.

Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, the Association shall make reasonable efforts toward stable operation of the IX Fabric.

(Maintenance)

Article 16 The Association may conduct scheduled maintenance for the upkeep and improvement of the IX Fabric.

When conducting scheduled maintenance, the Association shall, in principle, notify members by electronic means at least 7 days in advance. This shall not apply in cases of emergency.

(Operational Transparency)

Article 17 The Association shall endeavor to publish the following information on its website or a platform designated by the Association:

Operational status of the Service (status page).
Summary of and recovery status from any outages.
History of past outages.

Chapter 6: Prohibited Acts and Fabric Protection

(Prohibited Acts)

Article 18 Members shall not engage in any of the following acts when using the Service:

IP source address forgery (Spoofing).
Sending or relaying DDoS attacks.
Transmitting traffic that imposes an excessive load on the IX Fabric.
Announcing routes using a third party’s ASN without authorization.
Sending or receiving traffic in violation of applicable laws.
Sending spam through the IX Fabric.
Unauthorized access to or interference with the equipment of the Association or other members.
Transmitting Layer 2 control packets such as Spanning Tree Protocol (STP/RSTP/MSTP). Members shall disable these protocols on connecting devices or configure their ports facing the IX Fabric so that such packets are not transmitted.
Mass transmission of BUM Traffic (Broadcast, Unknown unicast, and Multicast) caused by loop configurations or equipment malfunctions.
Any other act that significantly impedes the sound development of the Internet.

(Automatic Port Shutdown by Fabric Protection Functions)

Article 19 To maintain the stability of the IX Fabric, the Association shall implement protection functions on member-facing ports, including automatic blocking of Layer 2 control packets, rate limiting of BUM Traffic, limitation of the number of MAC address entries, and other protection functions conforming to international best practices. Details of the protection functions shall be set forth in the Technical Specifications.

If a member’s port is automatically shut down as a result of the protection functions referred to in the preceding paragraph, this constitutes an automatic response measure for fabric protection and not an intentional Suspension Measure by the Association as described in Article 21. The Association shall endeavor to notify the applicable member promptly.
Recovery of a port following an automatic shutdown under the preceding paragraph shall be carried out by the Executive Director (Engineering and Operation) upon confirmation of the cause, based on an application from the member.
Repetition of the same incident shall be subject to corrective recommendation procedures separately prescribed by the Association, as a violation of Article 18.

Chapter 7: Withdrawal, Suspension Measures, and Expulsion

(Voluntary Withdrawal from Service)

Article 20 A member may terminate use of the Service voluntarily at any time in accordance with procedures separately prescribed by the Association. Termination of use of the Service shall take effect upon completion of the Suspension Measure.

Withdrawal from membership itself shall be governed by the Articles of Incorporation and procedures separately prescribed by the Association.

(Suspension Measures)

Article 21 The Association may implement Suspension Measures against a member in any of the following cases:

Non-payment of membership fees.
Violation of technical requirements.
Prohibited acts set forth in Article 18.
When it becomes apparent that the member constitutes or has a relationship with Antisocial Forces.
Any other material breach of the member’s obligations under these Terms.
When implementing measures under the preceding paragraph, the Association shall endeavor, except in cases of emergency, to provide the applicable member with an opportunity to remedy the situation in advance.

(Expulsion)

Article 22 Expulsion of a member shall be governed by Article 9 of the Articles of Incorporation and procedures separately prescribed by the Association. Upon loss of membership status due to expulsion, the Connection Agreement shall terminate pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 4.

Chapter 8: Secrecy of Communications and Fairness of Use

(Secrecy of Communications)

Article 23 The Association shall protect the secrecy of communications handled in the Service pursuant to Article 4 of the Telecommunications Business Act.

The Association shall not acquire, intercept, retain, or inspect the content of communications between members passing through the IX Fabric. Information handled by the Association for the operation of the Service shall be limited to metadata necessary for operation, including MAC addresses, traffic statistics, and similar data.
The Association shall not use the metadata described in the preceding paragraph for purposes other than operation of the Service, except in cases where required by law or other justifiable reasons exist.

(Fairness of Use)

Article 24 The Association shall not engage in unreasonable discriminatory treatment of specific members without reasonable grounds in the provision of the Service, pursuant to Article 6 of the Telecommunications Business Act.

Where the treatment of members differs, including fee reductions or waivers under Article 14, such treatment shall be applied consistently to all members meeting the applicable criteria in accordance with objective and reasonable criteria separately prescribed by the Association.

Chapter 9: Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

(Disclaimers)

Article 25 The Association shall not be liable for:

Damages suffered by members or third parties resulting from interruption or suspension of the Service.
The content of information sent or received by members through the Service.
Any issues arising from traffic exchange between members.
Failures caused by natural disasters, power outages, failures in the services of other telecommunications carriers used by the Association, or other events beyond the Association’s control.
Even where the Association bears an obligation to compensate a member for damages in connection with these Terms, the scope of such compensation shall be capped at an amount equivalent to one year’s Annual Membership Fee paid by such member to the Association in the most recent year; provided, however, that this shall not apply in cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence by the Association.

Chapter 10: Miscellaneous Provisions

(Handling of Personal Information)

Article 26 The Association shall handle personal information obtained in connection with the provision of the Service in accordance with the Privacy Policy separately prescribed by the Association.

(Governing Law)

Article 27 These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan.

(Jurisdiction)

Article 28 With respect to disputes arising from these Terms and Connection Agreements, the Tokyo District Court shall be the court of exclusive jurisdiction by agreement for the court of first instance.

Supplementary Provisions

These Terms shall take effect on June 1, 2026.

Schedule: Disclosure of Terms of Provision

This Schedule is intended to disclose in advance the terms and conditions of the Service to members and persons considering use of the Service.

1. Service Provider

Item	Content
Name	Japan Community IX Association
Address	Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (Principal Office)
Contact	Contact form or contact information listed on the Association’s website

2. Service Content

The Service is an Internet Exchange (IX) service consisting of the following:

Port Service: Provision of physical or logical connection to the IX Fabric.
Route Server Service: Provision of BGP peering through the route server (participation optional).
Ancillary services.

The Service is provided on a Best Effort basis; no numerical service quality guarantees are provided (Article 15 of these Terms).

3. Fees

Item	Content
Initiation Fee	Payable once at admission. Amount determined by the General Meeting of Members pursuant to the Membership Regulations.
Annual Membership Fee	Payable each Fiscal Year (April 1 to March 31 of the following year). Amount determined by the General Meeting of Members pursuant to the Membership Regulations.
Basic Package	The Annual Membership Fee includes one port and one IPv4 address regardless of speed or connection type. Currently, the Annual Membership Fee is uniform regardless of speed or connection type.
Service Charges	Charges for additional resources beyond the Basic Package (additional ports, additional IPv4 addresses, etc.) shall be as set forth in the Fee Schedule established by the Board of Directors. Currently, no additional fees have been established.
Reduction/Waiver	Members meeting certain criteria may receive a reduction or waiver of the whole or part of membership fees or Service Charges by resolution of the Board of Directors (Article 14 of these Terms; see also the Fee Reduction Internal Regulation).
Non-refundability	Initiation Fees and membership fees already paid shall not be refunded pursuant to the Membership Regulations; Service Charges already paid shall not be refunded pursuant to Article 13 of these Terms, except where the reason is attributable to the Association.

The amount of membership fees shall be as set forth in the Membership Regulations and as determined by the General Meeting of Members; the Fee Schedule for Service Charges shall be available on the Association’s website or Member Portal.

4. Contract Period and Renewal

A Connection Agreement is formed upon the Association’s notice of approval of the connection (Article 4 of these Terms).
Annual Membership Fees accrue on a per-Fiscal Year basis and continue until withdrawal or loss of membership status. Annual Membership Fees are invoiced on a monthly pro-rata basis in consideration of members’ burden (Membership Regulations).
No minimum subscription period or cancellation fees apply.

5. Payment Method and Timing

Initiation Fee: Payable in full within 30 days of receipt of the notice of admission approval (Membership Regulations).
Annual Membership Fee: The Monthly Fee (Annual Membership Fee divided by 12) shall be invoiced monthly (Membership Regulations). No invoices shall be issued for Monthly Fees attributable to months on or after the month following the month in which withdrawal or loss of membership status takes effect.
Service Charges (if applicable): As set forth in the Fee Schedule or invoice.
Payment method: Methods designated by the Association, including credit card payment.
Trial Period: Transitioning Members from the experimental service shall not be charged an Annual Membership Fee through August 31, 2026 (waived); the Initiation Fee shall be deferred and invoiced on September 1, 2026 (Membership Regulations, Supplementary Provisions).

6. Termination (Withdrawal) Procedures

A member may terminate use of the Service voluntarily at any time by following the procedures separately prescribed by the Association (Article 20 of these Terms).
Termination of use shall take effect upon completion of the Suspension Measure.

7. Changes to Terms of Provision

Amendments to these Terms shall be made pursuant to Article 548-4 of the Civil Code and announced by posting on the Association’s website or other means (Article 3 of these Terms).
Amendments restricting members’ rights or increasing members’ obligations shall be notified to members at least 30 days prior to the effective date.
Revisions to the Technical Specifications (Appendix A) shall be announced separately from amendments to these Terms, by posting on the Association’s website or other means.

8. Complaints and Inquiries

Complaints and inquiries regarding the Service shall be received at the contact window listed on the Association’s website.

9. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

The Service is provided on a Best Effort basis; no quality guarantees are provided (Article 15 of these Terms).
The Association’s disclaimers and the cap on damages (amount equivalent to one year’s Annual Membership Fee for the most recent year) are set forth in Article 25 of these Terms.

10. Location of Technical Requirements

The technical requirements for use of the Service (port specifications, BGP configuration requirements, routing security requirements, IRR registration, Layer 2 requirements, etc.) are set forth in the Technical Specifications (Appendix A).

Appendix: Disclosure Pursuant to the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions

This disclosure is provided by the Association as an advertisement for mail-order sales pursuant to Article 11 of the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions.

Item	Content
Name of Service Provider	Japan Community IX Association
Address	Will be disclosed without delay upon request.
Contact	Will be disclosed without delay upon request. Inquiries: Contact form listed on the Association’s website.
Person in Charge of Operations	Wataru Mito
Charges for the Service	Initiation Fee and Annual Membership Fee (amounts determined by the General Meeting of Members pursuant to the Membership Regulations). The Annual Membership Fee includes a Basic Package (one port and one IPv4 address regardless of speed or connection type). Charges for additional resources beyond the Basic Package shall be as set forth in the Fee Schedule established by the Board of Directors (currently no additional fees have been established). The most current amounts shall be displayed on the Member Portal or website.
Costs Other than Charges	Telecommunications equipment, circuits, optical transceivers, cables, and other equipment and services required for connection on the member’s side shall be at the member’s expense (Article 10 of these Terms).
Timing and Method of Payment	Initiation Fee: Payable in full within 30 days of receipt of the notice of admission approval. Annual Membership Fee: Monthly Fee (Annual Membership Fee divided by 12) invoiced monthly. Payment methods include credit card payment and other methods designated by the Association (Membership Regulations).
Timing of Service Provision	Service shall commence upon formation of the Connection Agreement, once technical requirements have been satisfied and connection work has been completed.
Cancellation (Withdrawal) / Returns	Members may voluntarily withdraw or terminate use of the Service at any time (Article 20 of these Terms; Article 11 of the Membership Regulations). As the Service constitutes provision of a service, no cooling-off period (right to cancel application) is provided. Initiation Fees and membership fees already paid shall not be refunded except where the reason is attributable to the Association (Article 9 of the Membership Regulations). No minimum subscription period or cancellation fees apply.
Nature of Service	The Service is provided on a Best Effort basis; no numerical quality guarantees are provided (Article 15 of these Terms).
Operating Environment / Technical Requirements	Members must hold a valid ASN and satisfy the technical requirements set forth in the Technical Specifications (Appendix A), including compliance with MANRS (Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security), BGP configuration, IRR (Internet Routing Registry) registration, and Layer 2 requirements.