[Discussion] Consortium Bylaws Draft Available!

[Matt Jonkman]

Ivan Ristic wrote:
>> All committers must complete a copyright assignment to OISF.
> 
> I think you should consider giving shared copyright to committers. I
> think that would enourage people to contribute significant chunks, as
> there will be no danger that the code will be given away and possibly
> "lost".

How do you mean? How would the code be lost? you mean if the foundation
chose to closed source it or something?

> 
>> Advisory Board members are entitled to receive a version of the
>> OISF Engine under more permissive terms for a period of one year.
> 
> This isn't clear enough: do you mean that they get a perpetual licence
> for the code but no updates after one year, or that all their rights
> are terminated after one year?
> 

There's a very good question. Our goal is to keep the vendors involved
and supporting maintenance. So the original intent was if they did not
intend to remain and support maintenance that they'd lose rights.

I know that sounds harsh, but once we get to a stable codebase we
wouldn't want to then see all the supporters just wander off and use
what they had at the moment. But conversely, we don't want to scare
everyone by thinking if they get into this they're in for some major
commitment for the long term.

Any ideas to make this more suitable for all?


> 
>> A 75% vote of all of the Committers can override a Board decision.
>> The bylaws may be amended by a 75% vote of all the Committers.
> 
> In that case you'll need to ensure that you don't get too many
> Committers from the same organisation (or related organisations).

Very true. I expect we'll have a large commiter base once things are
going so we wouldn't have the issue. But maybe we need a clause that if
a majority of commiters are from a single organization other commiters
could challenge that and have their voting power reduced somehow. I'll
check with our lawyers for ideas there, and if that's a legal/advisable
thing to do.

Thanks for your comments Ivan!

Matt

> 
> 
> On Sun, May 10, 2009 at 6:47 PM, Matt Jonkman <jonkman at jonkmans.com> wrote:
>> We're happy to announce with the assistance of the Software Freedom Law
>> Center (http://www.softwarefreedom.org/) a draft version of the bylaws
>> for the OISF. This draft is open for public comment. All comments and
>> questions are encouraged to be made publicly on the OISF Mailing lists,
>> but may also be made privately to team at openinfosecfoundation.org.
>>
>> We welcome all ideas and comment, the charter we intend to adopt must
>> govern this organization for years to come allowing it to both produce
>> effective public products and grow to encompass new ideas and projects.
>>
>> The text of this draft is available here:
>>
>> http://www.openinformationsecurityfoundation.org/bylaws_draft_v0.1.txt
>>
>> Please take the time to read and comment. Watch for the discussion on
>> this OISF mailing list Once the ideas and process is agreed upon by the
>> community in general we'll generate the actual legal documentation and
>> commit that to record.
>>
>> Our primary funding is nearly available, and we're set to start major
>> development in the next few weeks. We'll be scheduling an initial
>> planning meeting in the Washington DC area in the next 2 weeks.
>> Attendance will be open to the public, we encourage you to attend!
>>
>> The OISF Team
>>
>>
>> --
>> --------------------------------------------
>> Matthew Jonkman
>> Emerging Threats
>> Phone 765-429-0398
>> Fax 312-264-0205
>> http://www.emergingthreats.net
>> --------------------------------------------
>>
>> PGP: http://www.jonkmans.com/mattjonkman.asc
>>
>>
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>>
> 
> 
> 

-- 
--------------------------------------------
Matthew Jonkman
Emerging Threats
Phone 765-429-0398
Fax 312-264-0205
http://www.emergingthreats.net
--------------------------------------------

PGP: http://www.jonkmans.com/mattjonkman.asc