[OpenID board] The new OIDF Local Chapters Policy

Wed Apr 23 00:16:41 UTC 2008

Snorri,

First, a deep thanks to you for the work you have put in on this - and also
to Nat and Mike for their time and energy.

Second, congratulations on condensing this to a 1-page document!! That is
one of its greatest strengths.

Overall I am quite happy with this. Following are my constructive
suggestions/questions after reviewing it:

PARAGRAPH #1

Suggest modifying, "Local Chapters ("Chapters") are not a part of OIDF," to
say, "From a legal standpoint, Local Chapters ("Chapters") are independent
from the OIDF itself,". The former language makes it sound like OIDF does
not want local chapters, whereas the very term "chapter" infers that the
local chapter is indeed part of the OIDF "family".

Secondly, I suggest you spell out the acronym "NPO" when you first use it.

PARAGRAPH #2

The leadership team designated in #4 and the URL of the website in #5 should
be part of this email communication. Even better, the email should include a
specific URL to a page on the Chapter website where the contact information
and leadership team info is listed. From then on the Chapter can just
maintain the info there.

PARAGRAPH #3

While I think I understand the intent here, it is somewhat confusing for a
Chapter to become a Member of OIDF. Does that mean as a member of OIDF, it
has the same voting rights as any other member of OIDF? How are the dues
determined, or are there dues for Chapters? Is this entirely separate from
whether any of the members of the Chapter are also members of OIDF? The
overall principal is okay, but answers to those questions should be spelled
our clearly in this paragraph.

PARAGRAPH #6

This might be a little too general. For example, if the Japan Chapter
develops a Japan Chapter member logo, it should be able to restrict the use
of that logo to members of the Japan Chapter, no? However this might be
covered by a simple exclusion such as "Chapters must agree that any
intellectual property or trademarks developed or held by the Chapter, other
than those used only to identify the chapter or membership in the chapter,
must be freely available for use to the OpenID Community."

PARAGRAPH #11

First, it may not be OIDF _organizing_ chapters (for example, the OIDF did
not organize either OpenID Europe or OpenID Japan ;-), but _recognizing_
chapters. How about saying, "OIDF is free to recognize Chapters areas
anywhere in the world, with no restrictions on the number of chapters in any
particular jurisdiction."

Second, the wording in the second sentence could be more clear, e.g.,
"However, if there are several Chapters in one nation state, for the purpose
of dealing with tasks best handled at the national level, OIDF will
designate one of these Chapters as the "National Chapter". 

PARAGRAPH #12

Suggest, "OIDF may authorize a Chapter Committee. This committee must be
composed of at least one Chapter leader and at least one OIDF board member."
(I'd recommend using "may" and "must" terminology throughout.)

PARAGRAPH #13

Suggest, "OIDF will not alter the present "Chapters Policy" without the
consent of a majority of the Chapters who have accepted it." Getting
unanimous agreement could be hard. 

OTHER

One thing I didn't see is a commitment on the part of the Chapter to promote
membership in the OIDF. One further idea (that obviously would need board
discussion) is the idea of a reciprocal discount, i.e., all Chapter members
would receive an X% discount on their OIDF membership, and vice versa.

Hope this helps,

=Drummond 

  _____  

From: Snorri [mailto:snorri at snorri.eu] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 4:17 PM
To: 'Mike Jones'; 'Bill Washburn'; 'Nat Sakimura'
Cc: board at openid.net; 'Scott Kveton'; david at sixapart.com; 'Johannes Ernst';
'Drummond Reed'; 'Dick Hardt'
Subject: The new OIDF Local Chapters Policy
Importance: High

Dear Mike-Members of the OIDF Board:

Please find attached (PDF) our proposal for the new "OIDF Local Chapters
Policy," to which I have devoted much time over the last few days. I am very
thankful to Nat Sakimura, who has fully participated to this proposal, as
well as for his valuable observations.

I do hope you will appreciate that this result does not just come from a
merely European, or Japanese, point of view; rather. It is the fruit of a
consultation at the global level, taking into account all the specificities
we are well aware of in a world that is sharing OIDF's interests. The goal
is to make the policies as beneficial to all parties involved as possible,
and, above all, to OpenID, respecting and honoring each participant's needs
and expectations.

I add that another, longer version (a contract) is also available upon
request. However, for the sake of being efficient and with expediency in
mind, I prefer submitting this short version, which is relatively close to
the one currently present at http://openid.net/foundation/chapters/.

I would be grateful if you were to read this proposal for the OIDF Local
Chapters policy during your next board meeting (next agenda?), so as to have
it submitted for possible approval; we are looking forward to responding to
any remarks the board Members may have.

I am confirming to you that, were this present version in full force and
effect, we would immediately be able to have it accepted by the Chapters in
Europe. This would be an excellent introduction for the rest of the world to
follow.

We hope you will enjoy reading this Chapters Policy.

Best regards,

-Snorri

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