The Agreement
Establishing a source code escrow starts with the contract. The Archive's escrow contracts present a fair, balanced agreement, which protects both the developer's and the user's legitimate interests. Why put up with endless contract modification and unnecessarily high legal expenses? The Archive contracts are ready to sign. This effectively eliminates a long and costly negotiation process that, nine times out of ten, arrives at the same conclusion-the attributes already written into an Archive contract. Our escrow contracts are signed by the software developer and The Archive.

The Deposit
Once the contract is signed, the software developer must deliver the deposit materials to The Archive. The materials should include the source code saved on an electronic medium and relevant documentation. The deposit is prepared and verified by the developer with a security seal placed on the container. The Archive offers several options in independent technical verification of the deposited source code material.

State-of-the-art Storage
The Archive stores all source code deposits in our state-of-the-art, Class 125-2 Hour, 350-4 Hour ceramic fire data storage vault ranking among the five largest in the world. This unique facility provides the ideal environment, with proper humidity and temperature to store electronic media as well as paper documentation. Unlike concrete vaults buried underground, our facility can be accessed quickly in the event of a fire, and provides protection against heat, smoke and steam that can cause irreversible damage to electronic media.

Maximum Security and Confidentiality
In addition, no one can access our vault unless they can pass the biometrics retinal scanner. Except to carry out our duties as the escrow agent, The Archive will not permit any of our employees to have access to the source code on deposit.

Releasing the Source Code
The Archive contracts contain one simple release condition: The source code is released to the user in the event of developer bankruptcy. Ownership rights are retained by the developer, and the user is provided with the proprietary information necessary to maintain the product.

User-Friendly Enrollment of Licensees
When the developer enrolls new licensees, the user simply calls The Archive and enrolls as a beneficiary of the source code escrow.

Submitting Updates
When new releases of the escrowed software are made, the developer should submit the updated source code materials to The Archive.

For more information, please call 1-888-777-3201 (toll free) or email us at info@thearchive.com.

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