Part one: Authority
Article I: Classes of participation
- Subscriber. A person involved in the organisation in some way but does not have voting rights.
TC: "A person involved in the organisation but who does not have voting rights"
Elias: This change appears reasonable. More concise, without taking away meaning - move to accept - Member. A person who meets the criteria to vote within a defined GROUP.
TC: There is an inconsistency in capitalisation of group and related words - I would like to understand the thinking behind this.
Elias: I've discussed this with Triona and we resolved an appropriate solution is to hyperlink the words, and to write them as normal.
Article II: Groups that are empowered to make decisions
TC: "Groups that can make decisions"
Elias: It's better english to use simple language, seems reasonable
- Plenary. The set of all people subscribed to the mailing list "http://groups.google.com/group/dataportability-public".
TC: Plenary group: All people subscribed to the mailing list "http://groups.google.com/group/dataportability-public".
Elias: This change appears reasonable. More concise, without taking away meaning - move to accept - Steering (Executive committee). The group chartered with the authority to execute governance and operation of the DataPortability Project.
TC: Steering group (Executive committee): Group with the authority to govern and manage the operation of the DataPortability project.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. Not necessary to use the word chartered - move to accept - Action Groups (Standing committees). Groups recognized by the STEERING GROUP to act on its behalf, chartered with a specific responsibilities as defined by the STEERING GROUP or the PLENARY. Their charter and ongoing duties are to be under the review of the STEERING GROUP.
TC: Action groups (Standing committees): Groups that act on behalf of the steering group and are assigned specific responsibilities by either the steering group or the plenary group. Action group charters and duties are subject to review by the steering group.
Elias: To discuss with taskforce - dropping of the word chartered may cause disagreement - Task Forces (Special committees). Entities created to carry out a specific task, as defined by their charter, whose existence is finite and expected to end when that task is complete.
TC: Task forces (Special committees): Task forces are created to carry out a specific task, defined by a charter with a finite existence. Task forces are expected to end when the defined task is complete.
Elias: Change entity to group - move to accept
a) Official TASK FORCES: Created on order of the STEERING GROUP or PLENARY with official status. Official status requires recognition by the STEERING GROUP.
TC: a) Official task forces: Created by the steering group or the plenary group. Official status requires recognition by the steering group.
Elias: Move to accept if taskforce accepts calling the Plenary as Penary Group
b) Unofficial TASK FORCES: Created on order of the PLENARY without official status (i.e., voted in by the PLENARY but not recognized by the STEERING GROUP).
TC: b) Unofficial task forces: Created by the plenary group but not recognised by the steering group and, therefore, operate without official status.
Elias: This change appears reasonable.
Article III: Types of officers
- The STEERING GROUP is to always have four officers: Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer
TC: The steering group must have four officers at all times: Chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary, and treasurer.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - ACTION GROUPS and TASK FORCES are required, at minimum, to have a Chairperson. The positions of Deputy Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer are optional.
TC: Action groups and task forces must have a chairperson and the positions of deputy chairperson, secretary, and treasurer are optional.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - Officer positions are to be appointed by nomination of a MEMBER in good standing followed by a vote of the group in which the office is appointed. Should two or more members be nominated for any one officer position, an election is to be held via a process defined by the STEERING GROUP.
TC: Officer positions in a group are nominated by a member in good standing, followed by a vote of the group in which the office is appointed. If two or more members are nominated for any one officer position, an election is held using a process defined by the steering group.
Elias: This change appears reasonable.Article IV: Scope of powers
- The STEERING GROUP has sole authority to make decisions for the operation, order, and good governance of the DataPortability Project. It specifically has authority over vision, policy, legal, financial, intellectual property, and representations of the Project made to external parties. The STEERING GROUP can, at its sole discretion, delegate any or all of this authority to ACTION GROUPS.
TC: The steering group has sole authority to make decisions for the operation, order, and good governance of the DataPortability project. It has specific authority over the vision, policy, legal policy, financial operation, intellectual property, and representations the project makes to external parties. The steering group can, at its sole discretion, delegate any or all of its authority to action groups.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - Unless otherwise specified, all decision making power is to reside with the PLENARY.
TC: Unless otherwise specified, all decision making power resides with the plenary group.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - Motions passed by the PLENARY regarding areas of STEERING GROUP authority require approval by the STEERING GROUP in order to become officially policy of the DataPortability Project.
TC: Motions passed by the plenary group that relate to the areas of authority of the steering group must be approved by the steering group before they can become official policy.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - The PLENARY has the ability to overturn a decision by the STEERING GROUP (reference: Article X:4).
TC: The plenary group can overturn a decision by the steering group (reference: Article X:4).
Elias: This change appears reasonable.Part two: Membership
Article V: Membership - General provision
TC: Article V: Membership - General
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - One becomes a MEMBER in good standing of any GROUP in the DataPortability Project by contacting the SECRETARY of that GROUP (or the CHAIR, if there is no SECRETARY) and declaring their intent to join.
TC: To become a member in good standing of any group in the DataPortability project, a person contacts the secretary of the group (or the chairperson, if there is no secretary) to declare the intention to join.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - GROUP MEMBERSHIP is the result of this declaration of intent, and is not satisfied by SUBSCRIBING to a mailing list (reference: Article I)
TC: This declaration of intent is required to become a member of a group. Subscribing to a mailing list does not qualify a person as a group member (reference: Article I).
Elias: I would prefer the following - The declaration of intent for membership is required to become a member of a group. Subscribing to a mailing list does not qualify a person as a group member (reference: Article I).Article VI: Membership - Plenary
TC: Article VI: Membership - Plenary group
- A member of the plenary is someone who has agreed to opt-in.
TC: A member of the plenary group is any person who has agreed to opt-in. Question - not sure what agreed to opt-in means - can we find a clearer explanation?
Elias: Opt-in is deliberate. But in the context, it implies you can be a member of the plenary group by opting-into the mailing list and participating in votes. Left undefined as this process may change.Article VII: Membership - Steering Group
TC: Article VII: Membership - Steering group
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - The initial roll of MEMBERS of the STEERING GROUP shall consist of everyone who attended at least two of the regularly scheduled Steering Action Group teleconference calls between April 1 2008 and June 1 2008 and who opts-in to join the STEERING GROUP by contacting the STEERING GROUP mailing list
TC: The initial list of members of the steering group consists of everyone who attended at least two of the regularly-scheduled steering action group teleconference calls between April 1 2008 and June 1 2008 AND who opts-in to join the steering group by contacting the steering group mailing list. Note: I'm not happy with the idea of contacting a mailing list (anthropomorphism) but am not clear exactly what the process is.
Elias: Agreed. Best to leave it as "opt'in". - Any STEERING GROUP MEMBER may nominate one person per meeting to become a MEMBER.
TC: Any member of the steering group can nominate one person to become a member at any steering group meeting.
Elias: No change - this takes away the intent of this provision which is to restrict the ability to nominate. However, another issue, is this implies members can only get nominated at meetings not quorum? - Approval of a nomination for MEMBERSHIP requires a simple majority of the quorum. If approved by vote, the nominee's membership is considered active immediately, and that person is eligible to vote on any subsequent ballots.
TC: Approval of a membership nomination requires a simple majority of the quorum. If approved by vote, the membership becomes active immediately, and the member is eligible to vote on any subsequent ballots.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - A person may be nominated for MEMBERSHIP no more than once in a ninety (90) day period.
TC: A person can be nominated for membership no more than once in a ninety (90) day period.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - Attendance at STEERING GROUP meetings is open to all interested parties, and no person shall be excluded based upon lack of membership.
TC: Attendance at steering group meetings is open to all, and non-members will not be excluded on that basis.
Elias: This change appears reasonable although I think we should also add participation is encouraged as well.Article VIII: Loss of Membership - Steering Group
TC: Article VIII: Loss of membership - Steering group
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - If a STEERING GROUP MEMBER becomes inactive, they must be nominated and voted on to regain status.
TC: If a member of the steering group becomes inactive, the member must be re-nominated and voted on to regain membership status.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - A STEERING GROUP MEMBER is to be considered inactive if they have failed to participate in three of the last five consecutive calls for quorum.
TC: A member of the steering group is considered inactive if the member fails to participate in three out of five consecutive calls for quorum.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - For the purposes of determining whether a MEMBER is inactive and to prevent abuse, only one count per week of calls for quorum is to be used.
TC: For the purposes of determining whether a member is inactive and to prevent abuse, only one count per week of calls for quorum is to be used. Note: I don't understand what "one count per week of calls" means.
Elias: This is going to be changed per task force consensus pending - If a MEMBER believes they will miss a call for quorum, they may contact the chair and get a leave of absence without consequence to their MEMBERSHIP. This allows them to temporarily be removed from quorum.
TC: If a member expects to be unavailable to attend a call for quorum, the member can contact the chairperson and request a leave of absence. Leave of absence allows a member to be temporarily removed from quorum and does not affect the membership status.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. however affect "their" status. - In the event the STEERING GROUP no longer has any active MEMBERS, the PLENARY is to determine a means of appointing new MEMBERS to fulfill the need of a STEERING GROUP
TC: If the steering group no longer has any active members, the plenary group will determine a means of appointing new members to fulfill the need of a steering group.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - A MEMBER may have their MEMBERSHIP revoked by a two-thirds majority vote of the STEERING GROUP
TC: The membership of a person can be revoked by a two-thirds majority vote of the steering group.
Elias: This change appears reasonable.Part three: Procedure
Article IX: Determining Quorum
TC: Article IX: Determining quorum
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - During a Face-to-Face meeting, a Quorum shall be a simple majority of the MEMBERS who are physically present in the room or otherwise present via teleconference. For a Quorum to be recognised during such a Face-to-Face meeting, the minimum notice period prior to the meeting occurring shall be thirty (30) calendar days and a teleconference facility must be set up for MEMBERS not physically able to attend.
TC: During a face-to-face meeting, (Note: I don't like the term face-to-face - not sure what that means to a Chinese speaker for example - but having problems thinking of a suitable alternative) a quorum will be a simple majority of the members who are physically present in the room or who attend via teleconference. For a quorum to be recognised during such a meeting, the minimum advance notice for the meeting shall be thirty (30) calendar days and a teleconference facility must be set up for members who cannot attend in person.
Elias: Point noted. - During a Teleconference, a Quorum shall be reached if a simple majority of the MEMBERS are present. Their presence will be recorded in response to a roll call, either verbally or via a designated backchannel. For the Quorum to be valid during a Teleconference, the minimum notice period prior to the Teleconference occurring shall be seven (7) calendar days.
TC: During a teleconference, a quorum will be achieved if a simple majority of the members are present. Their presence will be recorded in response to a roll call, either verbally or using a designated backchannel. (Note: The term backchannel is jargonistic and sounds rather obscene! Perhaps we could change to a designated alternative, such as Skype chat, meetup etc) For the quorum to be valid during a teleconference, the minimum advance notice for the teleconference shall be seven (7) calendar days.
Elias: This It's in specific reference to a skype chat, but can sometimes be video conference chat programme. Not sure what else we can call it - During an Electronic Ballot via a designated mailing list, a Quorum will be assumed. For the Quorum to be valid where a vote is called via Electronic Ballot, the minimum time from the call for a vote to the close of voting shall be seven (7) calendar days.
TC: During an electronic ballot using a designated mailing list, a quorum will be assumed. For the quorum to be valid for an electronic ballot, the minimum period from the call for a vote to the close of voting shall be seven (7) calendar days.
Elias: This change appears reasonable.
Article X: Procedure for passing decisions
TC: Article X: Procedure for making decisions
- A GROUP can only pass a motion if they have quorum during a session and the minimum requirements of notice for the means of communicating the vote on the motion
TC: # A group can pass a motion only if a quorum exists at a meeting AND the minimum notice requirements for the vote are complied with.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - In the absence of consensus, a motion is to be passed by simple majority of members.
TC: In the absence of consensus, a motion can be passed by a simple majority of the members.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - Changes to this Governance Policy require a two-thirds majority vote by the STEERING GROUP
TC: Changes to this governance policy require a two-thirds majority vote by members of the steering group.
Elias: This change appears reasonable. - The PLENARY can overturn any STEERING GROUP decision with a two-thirds vote
TC: To overturn a decision of the steering group requires a two-thirds majority vote by members of the plenary group.
Elias: This change appears reasonable.
Comments (1)
Jun 14, 2008
Elias Bizannes says:
Triona - I am on my work network, and my Intenet seems borked for some reason. K...Triona - I am on my work network, and my Intenet seems borked for some reason. Keep making the suggestions in line, hopefuly Skype will work again and I can answer any questions.