[OpenID board] Revised local chapters policy

Mike Jones Michael.Jones at microsoft.com
Mon May 5 16:37:45 UTC 2008


The proposed revised local chapters policy is below.  You can compare it to the existing local chapters policy in force at http://openid.net/foundation/chapters/.  This has been developed with a lot of input from Snorri and Nat (thanks guys!) and should enable us to have both OpenID Europe and OpenID Japan sign on as local chapters.  Please consider this before the board meeting on Thursday, as I plan to have us vote on it then.

                                                                Thanks all,
                                                                -- Mike



OIDF Local Chapters Policy



1 - Independent Organizations

Local Chapters ("Chapters") are independent of the OpenID Foundation ("OIDF") itself and thus can either be informal organizations or formal legal entities, which is a decision left to the Chapter organizers.



2 - Registration

Chapters must register with OIDF by sending an email to board at openid.net<mailto:board at openid.net>. In this email, Chapters will signify their agreement to the terms of this policy, and will supply all contact information to be used for this Chapter, so that the Chapters committee can maintain the references on the OIDF web site ("openid.net").



3 - Members

Chapters will clearly inform their members and prospective members that membership in the Local Chapter does not grant them membership in the OIDF and will encourage their members to also join OIDF.



4 - Leadership Team

Chapters must be headed by a designated leadership team, composed of at least three people.



5 - Internet site

Chapters should have their own web site, listing events and news. This Chapter-sponsored web site is the responsibility of the chapter organizers, not of the OIDF staff or volunteers.



6 - Intellectual Property

Chapters must agree that any intellectual property or trademarks developed or held by the Chapter must be freely available for use to the OpenID Community, in particular, they must agree that any intellectual property or trademarks developed or held by the local chapter must either be owned by OIDF, jointly owned by the OIDF, or licensed to the OIDF under terms that allow OIDF to use them in whatever way it sees fit, including sublicensing to others under terms of its choosing.


7 - Purpose

Chapters must agree that all Chapter activities are focused on fostering the widespread adoption and use of OpenID and in support of the OIDF's mission statement.



8 - Financing

Chapters must operate independently, with no expectation of receiving funds from OIDF. However, they may apply to the OIDF board for funding of specific activities or events, and these requests will be considered on their merits.



9 - Activities Report

Chapters must exhibit "liveness". At least every year the Chapter's leaders must report to the Local Chapters Committee on their chapter activities. Meetings are good.  Evidence of an active mailing list is sufficient.


10 - Listing of Chapters

OIDF will list the Chapters on openid.net in a geographically organized list, providing contact information and link sites to the Chapter.



11 - Nondiscriminatory Acceptance

All proposed Chapters agreeing to abide by the Local Chapters Policy will be accepted as Local Chapters by the OIDF.



12 - Territories

OIDF will recognize any proposed eligible Local Chapters, regardless of the geographic scope of the chapter, including chapters with overlapping territories and missions.  Chapters organized at the nation state level may apply to the OIDF to be recognized as the OIDF-designated national chapter.  OIDF will recognize at most one chapter as the designated national chapter in a nation-state at any time.



13 - Non-Exclusive Relationships

Chapters are free to maintain relationships and partnerships with other organizations and to maintain their own memberships, provided that the purpose and conduct of those relationships is consistent with this Local Chapters Policy.



14 - Local Chapters Committee

OIDF may authorize a Local Chapters Committee. This committee must be composed of at least one Chapter leader and at least one OIDF board member.



15 - Chapter Removal

If a Chapter has violated the Chapters Policy (e.g.: if a Chapter does not report its activities or pursues activities in conflict with its mission to promote OpenID) and the violation has not been corrected and completely resolved within 3 months after written notice by OIDF, OIDF can remove that Chapter from its listings. The OIDF Board may delegate the authority to de-list a chapter with cause to the Local Chapters Committees.  A Chapter may appeal the committee's decision to the board.  A Chapter may also request to be de-listed.



16 - Changes to the Local Chapters Policy

If the OIDF alters the Local Chapters Policy it will notify Local Chapter leaders of the change. Following notification, the Local Chapter leaders will have 90 days to reply to the Local Chapters Committee either accepting the revised policy or stating why they are unwilling to operate under the revised policy. Should they not accept the revised policy, the OIDF will record the policy version under which the Chapter was admitted and allow that chapter to continue operating under that policy, except in cases where the board determines that substantial legal risk or financial harm would be incurred by the OIDF or that damage to OpenID would result.  Failure to formally opt out of the revised policy within 90 days of the change will be deemed acceptance of the new policy.



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