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The Graph has a protocol role called an Arbitrator who is assigned through decentralized governance. The Arbitrator is an Ethereum Account that has the ability to decide the outcome of disputes in the protocol. The purpose of the Arbitration Charter is to establish norms that constrain the Arbitrator's actions beyond what is expressible or currently expressed in smart contract code. We propose that any Arbitrator that does not comply with the norms laid out in this charter be replaced via decentralized governance.
This charter applies specifically to the Subgraph Service, a data service in The Graph Network that supports indexing subgraphs and serving queries to consumers. Other data services introduced as part of the Horizon upgrade may establish their own arbitration charters.
Given the Arbitrator’s role nature there are certain parts of its behavior that are not specified in smart contract code running on-chain. Having a protocol charter for this actor's behavior creates clarity for the ecosystem in how the role of the Arbitrator will be executed and establishes a standard for measuring the effectiveness of an Arbitrator, which can be referenced in protocol governance discussions around the appointment of an Arbitrator.
The substance of the Arbitration charter is intended to ensure that the Arbitrator is fulfilling their role of supporting a healthy and functioning network where Indexers perform their work correctly, while minimizing the risk to honest Indexers of being economically penalized while interacting with the protocol in good faith.
This section contains the body of the arbitration charter. Later sections elaborate on the context and motivation for the design.
The role of the Arbitrator is to decide the outcome of indexing and query disputes within the Subgraph Service. Their goal is to maximize the utility and reliability of the service.
They fulfill this purpose by examining Proofs of Indexing (POIs) or query Attestations associated with a dispute and checking if they correspond to the results the Arbitrator produced when reproducing the work themselves. The Arbitrator might also choose to rely on other Indexers to reproduce results to aid in an investigation. Finally they decide the outcome according to the norms laid out in this charter.
Disputes are created by a Fisherman against Indexers. A successful dispute resolved in the Fisherman's favor results in a financial penalty for the Indexer and a reward to the Fisherman.
The only recourse for an Arbitrator not fulfilling their duties is to be replaced via decentralized governance. Note that only the Subgraph Service governing body has the authority to appoint or replace an Arbitrator.
Arbitrators have no legal or fiduciary responsibility to any stakeholder in the network and cannot be held responsible for any consequence that arises from incorrect data being served in the network or any economic penalties incurred by stakeholders involved with the dispute process.