[Local-chapters] Fwd: Request to approve Local Chapter Agreement at Board Meeting

[Serge Wroclawski]

On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 4:34 AM, John Smith <deltafoxtrot256 at gmail.com> wrote:

> The Local Chapter working group has finalised a proposed agreement for
> establishing federated organisations afflicated with OpenStreetMap.
> The document maybe read here:
> http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfpdhmxk_23htjdnjgv

The US OSM working group was discussing this issue last night, and
it's good that you've made this significant step forward, but I have a
few concerns about the document, especially in light of not having
seen any drafts.

> 3.2 The Federated Organisation may be required by the Foundation to provide local services to
> its members.

This statement seems to be about ensuring that local chapters act in
the best interest of their local community, so how about "The
Federated Organization shall be required by the Foundation to act in
the best interest of its members and the Foundation."

The wording as it stands now implies a requirement to provide
unspecified services in the future, which is a hard promise to make.

> 3.3 The Federated Organisation OpenStreetMap members will automatically become members,
> with all the associated rights and obligations, including specifically voting rights, of any ordinary
> Foundation member.

> 3.4 The Federated Organisation will permit the Foundation or its duly elected representative to
> inspect, on request, copies of the Federated Organisation's membership records, financial
> accounts and other records.

Once you've established 3.3, the purpose of 3.4 seems to be to inspect
the financial records of the local chapter to look for improprieties.

The concern I have about it is that laws regarding record keeping
differ wildly and asking 3.4 of a country where privacy is strict may
be either untenable or socially unacceptable. I'm not entirely sure
how this is best addressed, but the wording may need revision in these
cases.


In general though I think this is a good document, but it would have
been nice to have seen a draft. The minutes from your last meeting on
January 17th don't include anything about this document.

- Serge