1) I don't know about the complete history of the OSMF, but there have been some issues before. Out of the top of my head: In the recent past a membership has been denied in because the application was by a company, not an individual person. Also, about a year ago the board has postponed the acceptance of a group of members.<div>
<br></div><div>2) Some applications just attract extra attention. You can compare it with traveling. Some people are picked out the line at customs for an extra check. Renewal of membership is different. You are already member.</div>
<div><br></div><div>3) The basis for the refusal of both membership applications is in the disruptive behavior / intentions by the persons. Edwin-ldbg's application was a complete joke that any sane person would not take seriously. However, looking at the circumstances I've treated the application normally. He literary stated his intentions to be hostile to the Foundation.</div>
<div>Mike Dupont has attracted the attention of the mailinglist moderators in the past for inflammatory behavior (not only towards the OSMF board). There is not just one single item that caused the denial of Mike's membership. It's a series of disruptive or hostile behavior over the recent time.</div>
<div>Also taking into account that neither of them had paid for the membership themselves, showed their intentions where not sincere.</div><div><br></div><div>Different opinions are welcomed; but in a civil, respectful way.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Refusing somebody membership is not an easy decision. Having a policy, like Frederik suggests, looks like a solution, but is extremely difficult to make; if not impossible. What are your criteria, and how do you measure them? This has been discussed about a year ago in the group that was working on the AoA rewrite. You can only name some vague criteria like "disruptive, damaging, faul intentions toward the Foundation". But, then what is the limit? In the end somebody needs to make a decision. That's now up to the Board.</div>
<div>Extra problem is that disruptiveness most of the time is combined with an opposite opinion.</div><div><br></div><div>Henk </div><div> <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2012/8/25 Martijn van Exel <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:m@rtijn.org" target="_blank">m@rtijn.org</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hi,<br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div>I have a few follow-up questions about this board decision:</div>
<div>* I do not remember having seen any announcement of this kind before on this list. Can I infer that this is the first time membership has been denied to applicants?</div><div>* Are all applications and membership renewals held to the same level of scrutiny? I personally don't remember ever having been asked about revealing potential conflicting interests when applying for or renewing my membership.</div>
<div>* It is still not quite clear to me why these individuals were denied OSMF membership. For '<span>Edwin-ldbg' you mention that the application was 'not serious' but treated as if it were, and you leave it at that. For 'Mike Dupont', you quote recent disruptive behavior and refusal to comply with the CT (when it seems that the applicant actually does have an OSM account for which he accepted the CT - is this true?), later adding that he is an outspoken opponent of board policy. All these arguments seem to me to be insufficient to deny someone membership. This leads me to ask what the criteria are for denying someone membership, and how those were applied here?</span></div>
<div><span><br></span></div><div><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif">I am not expressing an opinion about whether these individuals should be able to become members of OSMF. What I am expressing is some concern with the procedure followed, a concern which is in line with what Tobias Knerr expressed before me.</font></div>
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</font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">-- <br>martijn van exel<br><a href="http://oegeo.wordpress.com" target="_blank">http://oegeo.wordpress.com</a><br>
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