Sec. 11.15.31.06. Electronic Interface

A. Establishment. Pursuant to this chapter, a contractor shall develop the following at its own expense:

(1) An electronic system that will enable authorized participants to:

(a) Access vehicle records and process vehicle title and registration transactions electronically; and

(b) Issue permanent registration plates and stickers for their customers at the point of vehicle sale; and

(2) A computer program for the electronic transfer of funds collected by participants for titling and registration fees and to ensure that all moneys collected by participants are transferred to the proper account on the same date the vehicle transaction data is transmitted.

B. Specifications.

(1) A contractor shall develop and maintain an electronic system that allows a participant's terminal, when under the control of an authorized user, access to information available from the Administration's databases using the contractor's electronic system.

(2) A contractor shall interface to the Administration's mainframe in accordance with the Administration's specifications.

(3) The Administration reserves the right to select the method of connection to be used by each participant, provided the security measures set forth in Regulation .11D of this chapter are met.

(4) The specifications described in this regulation may not be materially changed in any manner except by written amendment to the agreement and approved according to the procedures established by State law and regulation.

C. Software Escrow.

(1) The contractor's software, for which the contractor or others have copyright or ownership rights in its current version and in its most recent past version, used to perform the work required by this regulation shall be escrowed with an independent third party who will act as an escrow agent.

(2) Software shall include:

(a) All source codes;

(b) Maintenance tools;

(c) Proprietary or third party utilities;

(d) Descriptions of the software program generation;

(e) Names and home addresses of key programmers; and

(f) Documentation, and related materials.

(3) Copies of all licenses or agreements, which permit the contractor to use commercially available software in performing the work required by this regulation, shall also be escrowed.

(4) The Administration shall approve the escrow agent and the contractor's and escrow agent's escrow policies and procedures regarding, but not limited to:

(a) Frequency of escrowed software updates;

(b) Maintenance of escrowed items at the escrow agent;

(c) Item release conditions;

(d) Procedures for dispute resolution; and

(e) The name and address of the party who shall periodically audit the escrow account.

(5) Escrowed item formats may include, but are not limited to, magnetic tapes, disks, disk packs, diskettes, compact disks, compact disk read-only memory, other forms of media in machine readable form, and the written documentation prepared in connection with the software.

(6) Escrowed software may not include encrypted data with any keys provided, or with viruses or corrupted data.

D. Upgrades. A contractor shall obtain written approval from the Administration before the implementation of any software modifications or enhancements.