Good day everyone,
First, let me say that I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Paul a bit and completely respect him and the work he does for OpenStreetMap. Paul, thank you for the clarifications. I only mentioned your official role because it seemed to me from your original post, regarding the trademark issue, that you were not recognizing the history and working relationship of the two organizations. Maybe I can state my main point more clearly: this mailing list is not a very good platform to discuss sensitive legal matters because you’ll get replies from folks like me who have no authority to enter into those negotiations. Just as you probably wouldn’t approach other ‘chapters’ on their talk lists. Kind regards, =Russ (speaking on my own accord and not in my role with HOT) From: Paul Norman [mailto:penor...@mac.com] Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 10:52 PM To: hot@openstreetmap.org Subject: Re: [HOT] HOT is now on LinkedIn On 2/12/2015 10:00 AM, Russell Deffner wrote: I know Paul is a freshman OSMF Board Member, but I hope he knows that HOT (US Inc) has been actively engaged and willing to participate in such documentation/agreement as the Local (and Thematic) Chapter Agreements, Corporate Partnerships, etc. I was not writing in my role as a board member but in a personal capacity. The most current information that I could find was from the August 2014 OSMF Board Meeting Minutes which said in regards to the LCA, and I quote: “The plan is to move that agreement to the OSMF web site and add small FAQ, then invite larger existing chapters to enter negotiations. Short list right now: Italy, France, Japan, US, HOT plus probably a few others.” As a secretary I am handling local chapter applications. The current status of LC applications is that I have put out a couple of small public calls for interested organizations to apply to become chapters, but have not yet reached out to others as I'd prefer to keep the number of applicants at one time to a manageable number. The use of trademarks is allowed under the LCA – which according to that last documented statement of the OSMF, HOT is recognized and in negotiation. HOT US Inc has not applied to become a chapter and are not in negotiation. Being recognized as a chapter would occur after the application is completed and accepted, which would be longer. If HOT US Inc or anyone else is interested in becoming a local chapter, the information to start the process is at http://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Local_Chapters/FAQ#Applying_to_become_a_local_chapter. It actually seems to be more of a problem for non-registered entities to use OSM trademarks because the LCA requires the chapter to submit articles of incorporation and bylaws. Unfortunately in the US – not-for-profit or non-profit organizations are companies, basically there is no incorporated entity that is not technically a company under US law. The question of a trademark policy has been referred to the WGs, but it could allow use by non-registered entities
_______________________________________________ HOT mailing list HOT@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot
