Version: 1.0
Date: August 2024
1.1 The purpose of CHERI Alliance C.I.C. (the Alliance) is to carry on activities which benefit the community and in particular (without limitation) to promote the use and adoption of CHERI open security technology, methodology and/or standards to improve system security and memory protection in software and hardware products. In carrying this out, Alliance members and non-member attendees must:
1.1.1 act with the highest regard for their ethical, legal and professional obligations and the Alliance’s purpose, values, and legal interests; and
1.1.2 follow the Guiding Principles as follows.
2.1 There are many positive aspects to associations such as the Alliance and information that can be shared can include:
2.1.1 non-confidential information that is in the public domain;
2.1.2 technical industry issues including standards and health and safety matters;
2.1.3 non-strategic technical or scientific data that results in consumer benefits;
2.1.4 industry public relations or lobbying initiatives; provided competitively sensitive information is not shared in the process, and advice has been taken if initiatives may exclude market operators; and
2.1.5 industry standards that increase product interoperability, compatibility or safety, provided advice has been taken on the development, transparency, accessibility and potential competitive impact of these standards.
3.1 There are certain areas of sensitive commercial information that should never be discussed between our members or between members and non-members through the Alliance, either formally or informally, intentionally or inadvertently, directly or indirectly through a third party. These include:
3.1.1 current or future pricing, or matters affecting prices;
3.1.2 company-specific sales information;
3.1.3 company-specific cost information;
3.1.4 salaries and wages, hiring practices or limitations on hiring a competitor’s employees;
3.1.5 commercial planning or strategy information including geographic growth and
business expansion or contraction plans; and CHERI Alliance Statement of competition compliance
3.1.6 key contract terms, such as any matters relating to specific suppliers and customers
that are significant to core drivers of market competition, such as key contract.
3.2 Members should never reach any agreement or understanding (including tacitly) with any other member or with any non-member through the Alliance’s work on the following:
3.2.1 prices that either company will announce or charge their customers;
3.2.2 the timing or method of price increases;
3.2.3 terms of sale or delivery that either company will offer customers;
3.2.4 allocating product or geographic markets in which either company will sell or not sell;
3.2.5 allocating customers to which either company will sell or not sell;
3.2.6 bids to any customers, including whether to bid or not to bid;
3.2.7 production, capacity, or sales volumes; and
3.2.8 soliciting each other’s employees or employee salaries and benefits.
3.3 These types of agreements (cartel agreements) are automatically illegal in the UK, the jurisdiction in which the Alliance is established. There can be no justification; the agreement itself is unlawful.
4.1 Any questions relating to this statement, or its contents, should be directed to the Board of Directors of the Alliance.
4.2 Any suspected breach of this statement should be reported to the Board of Directors of the Alliance.