Thanks Rupert for thinking about this. The chapter creation process[0] is indeed under-going review following the Board's November decision, and all comments, input is welcome.
There are some reasons that make it a bit difficult to enact your suggestions or to come to the results you suggest in the chapter creation process. Just to take one practical limiting factor, setting up an incorporated entity takes some time and money[1] even if Wikimedia itself did not add any further burdens. This was one of the reasons the non-incorporated user group concept was envisioned largely following along the lines you draw. (Membership organisations with wide trademark use rights, etc.) Best regards, Bence [0] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Step-by-step_chapter_creation_guide [1] http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/starting-a-business - not sure if there is an equivalent easily accessible study for membership organisations, but this is a good proxy On Sat, May 3, 2014 at 9:02 AM, rupert THURNER <rupert.thur...@gmail.com> wrote: > hi, > > out of the experiences of creating 50 chapters, and the recent > frustrated feedback from persons involved in the creation of new > chapters, e.g. belgium and ghana, could we please find a simple and > effective way to organize the chapters creation process? existing > chapters not meeting the requirements have 3 years to adjust their > bylaws. > > target and purpose of chapters: > chapters match a country as defined by the league of nations defined > in 1939 and reaffirmed by the united nations in 1945 [1], to follow > local jurisdiction. they are membership organizations. > > requirements to be a chapter in the bylaws: > * support the mission of the wmf > * be a membership organization, i.e. the highest body is > the assembly of members > * be a member must be possible for everybody who > contributes (i.e. edits, writes software used by wmf projects) > at zero cost (or low cost, e.g. price of one meal?) > * meet the tax exemption criteria. justification needed > if not possible, reviewed regularly. > * an audit committee, consisting of members, who are also > allowed to seek professional help > > this means chapters can created within days, not years. the rules are > clear right from the beginning. measures are already in place if > something goes wrong. > > problems addressed: > * creating a chapter is possible immediately one > finds the legal minimum number of contributors in a > country, most of the time 2 or 3. > * the bylaw requirements guarantee contributors can > easily join any time and no lockout can happen. > negative example: german football federation, > allowing a red bull club (rb leipzig) with 7 members, exorbitant > membership fee, existing rb leipzig board decides who can > become member. > * proper names may be used immediately, current negative > example: "planning wikimedia ghana" registers facebook, and > other social accounts with a temporary name to gather > people. the risk is that it is "planning" forever. later change > of such accounts is nearly impossible without breaking history. > * bank accounts with limited liability are used immediately, > allowing to properly pursue misuse in local jurisdiction. negative > example: kenya, where money disappeared from a > personal account. > * the bylaw requirements allow the inclusion or lockout of people > not contributing at the chapters discretion. example: germany, > switzerland allowing persons and even legal entities to become > member. > * it allows to organize itself in some federal way within a country, > at the discretion of a chapter. > * it guarantees to have the highest level of local jurisdiction control > by meeting tax exemption criteria. examples: germany, uk. > there critieria are in place which can be fulfilled, austria. criteria > exist what cannot be matched, but discussions are ongoing to > change the law. > * initial signing of policies and contracts with the wmf is not required. > using trademarks without approval is easily controlled by established > procedures (legal, fdc, etc). the movement is used to deal with > people and organizations trying to do that every day, in many > countries. > * "contributing" is easily and globally defined by commits, and edits, > as currently used for elections [2] > * no block is there by enforcing auditing costs, as well preventing a > chapters board to "appoint a best friend auditing firm". negative > examples: enron, which was audited by arthur anderson, and > anyway exploded. positive examples: wmf, using volunteers and > kpmg, most chapters. > * there is no different treatment of newborn chapters, chapters with > experienced boards, and chapters who just changed the whole board. > > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country > [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2013 > > kind regards, > rupert. > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
