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[atlarge-discuss] Draft Bylaws 2. Membership
Starting with the easier parts of determining "who are we?",
I've come up with this rough draft as a point of departure.
Of course, this is just my perspective on the types of
clauses we *might* want under the general heading of membership
issues. Any suggestions as to improving this would be much
appreciated, on- or off-list.
---
2. Membership
2.1 Categories/criteria of membership
2.1.1 Any human person may become a voting <b>member</b>, by
registering him- or herself as willing to support the
aims and abide by the Constitution and bylaws of
this organization.
2.1.2 No organization, commercial or otherwise, may become
a voting member.
2.1.3 National, regional and interest groups of individual
Internet users may become <b>affiliate members</b>,
with speaking rights but no vote, if they are
willing to support the aims and abide by the
Constitution and bylaws of this organization.
2.2 Members' obligations (dues, etc.)
2.2.1 The membership dues payable by voting members will be
established from time to time by a 2/3 majority of
votes cast at a General Meeting or in a referendum.
2.2.2 The dues payable by an affiliate member will be set as
a 2% levy on the dues it collects from its members.
2.2.3 To become or remain a member in good standing, the member
must either
a) pay the appropriate dues, or
b) obtain a waiver of dues in accordance with a
procedure to be established by the Board
within 2 months of receipt of notice that dues are payable.
2.2.4 Each member is responsible for providing a valid e-mail
address at which they may be contacted, and at which
they will receive all official notices and information.
Such notices will be deemed to have been delivered if
they are sent to the address last provided by the member.
2.2.5 Each member promises to abide by the Constitution and
bylaws of this organization and respect the rights of other
members; violations of this promise may lead to the
disciplinary measures described in article 2.6 below.
2.3 Members' rights (vote, etc.)
2.3.1 Each individual member in good standing at the moment when
notice of an upcoming election or referendum is given,
or who fulfils the requirements of membership within
ten days of such notice, will be eligible to vote.
2.3.2 Any member in good standing at the relevant time may
a) be nominated or present his/her own candidacy
for any elective position;
b) nominate or second the nomination of another member;
c) propose, second or speak to any resolution of the
membership;
d) expect timely personal notice of all meetings, online
events, polls, availability of financial and other
reports, resolutions of the Board, and any other
information necessary to his/her full participation;
e) request the posting or circulation of information
to all members where there are grounds for doing so;
f) participate in all meetings, elections and referenda
(in person, by e-mail or otherwise) in both discussion
and voting.
2.3.3 Affiliate members in good standing will be entitled to
a) receive the notices in d) above at their organization's
address;
b) make requests for distribution of information as per
e) above; and
c) participate in meetings and discussions by means of
one delegate of their choice;
but will not be eligible to vote in elections or referenda,
have their delegates stand for or nominate others to any
elective position, or propose or second resolutions.
2.4 Method of registration
2.4.1 Individual members will register by means of the form
provided on the organization's Web site or, where their
Internet access makes this difficult, by downloading the
form and sending it by postal mail to the Secretary. No
application for membership from any natural person will
be rejected except on the grounds that it
a) contains incomplete or fraudulent information, or
b) constitutes an attempt by an individual to obtain
more than one vote.
2.4.1 A separate form will be provided on the organization's
Web site application for affiliate membership. This must
be completed and signed by the authorized signing officers
of the prospective affiliate, and sent by postal mail to
the Secretary along with a copy of its articles of
incorporation, membership agreement, a resolution
of its directors stating the number of its members and
the amount of dues collected from them, and a cheque for
2% of that sum or an undertaking to pay the amount due
on receipt of invoice.
2.5 Method of resignation
2.5.1 Any individual or affiliate member may resign at any time
by sending notice in writing by postal mail or e-mail to the
Secretary.
2.5.2 Such notice will take effect on the date on which it is
received and the reasons given for such resignation will
be published to the membership if it contains a request
that this be done.
2.5.3 Membership dues paid up to the time of resignation are
not refundable.
2.6 Disciplinary measures (suspension and/or expulsion)
2.6.1 A member who acts contrary to the interests of the
organization or contravenes its bylaws will be given
warning that this conduct must cease or it will lead
to his or her suspension.
2.6.2 The member who has received such warning may be
suspended from membership in good standing for a
period of 30 days by a resolution of the Board if
the offense is repeated. On expiry of the 30 days,
the member will be automatically restored to good
standing.
2.6.3 Any member who reoffends after the above suspension,
or who is discovered to have used a false identity
or worked against the aims of the organization in
registering as a member (whether with fraudulent or
merely malicious intent) may be summarily expelled
by a resolution of 2/3 of the Board and will not
be eligible for readmission for a period of one year.
2.7 Membership roll (who maintains it, has access, etc.)
2.7.1 a) The membership roll will be kept up-to-date and in
good order at all times by the Secretary or by another
person working under his or her direction.
b) Each member's contact information and date of
registration will be recorded, along with a unique
permanent membership number by which correspondence can
be authenticated.
c) The Secretary will send each new member an e-mailed
message to confirm registration, double-check that contact
information is correct, and provide the member with copies
of the Constitution and bylaws of the organization as well as
the URLs at which other pertinent documents may be found.
d) The membership list may be published on the organization's
Web site in a form which provides only the name and
country of residence of individuals, and only the pseudonym
and country of residence for individuals who have requested
confidentiality; the names and full contact information
will be provided for organizations which are affiliate
members.
2.7.2 Statistical information on membership -- numbers of
new and lapsed memberships, geographical distribution
and other non-personal data -- will be reported
monthly on the association's Web site and may be
obtained by e-mail on request to the Secretary by
any interested party.
2.7.3 Personal information on individual members will be
kept entirely confidential unless the individual has
given prior permission specifically for its release
for a particular purpose.
2.7.4 The act of registering as a member will constitute
the granting of permission to the organization to
use
2.8 Privacy and security procedures
2.8.1 Because there can be unwanted political and social
consequences to membership in organizations, any
individual member may request that his/her real name
and contact information be kept confidential, and
may choose a pseudonym by which to be known openly.
In such cases, the person's true name and contact
information must be provided but will be stored
in encrypted form and will be decrypted only if it
becomes necessary to the member's authenticate identity.
2.8.2 a) The membership roll, books and records, and all other
documents which are not expressly to be made available
to the general public will be stored securely at all
times. Appropriate precautions such as encryption,
password-protection and storage on devices not
accessible via the Internet will be taken against
illegal access.
b) It is agreed that this provision will not be used to
prevent disclosure of relevant information to members
in good standing, such as quarterly reports on the
finances of the organization or resolutions of its
Board of Directors. However, information which is to
be published to members only must be distributed in
such a way as to prevent unauthorized access.
2.8.3 Any member who requires access to confidential
information must undertake not to disclose the
information to others and to take appropriate
precautions against unwitting disclosure.
2.8.4 The organization may use informal polling and open
voting for informational purposes; however, all
elections and referenda will be conducted by secret
ballot and by means which do not allow any given
person access to both the identity of a given voter
and the contents of the ballot cast.
---
That's as far as I've got. Let me know what you think.
Regards,
Judyth
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Judyth Mermelstein "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC <espresso@e-scape.net>
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"A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
"Un mot suffit aux sages; pour les autres, il en faut plus."
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