Re: [gentoo-project] RFC: Expanding Foundation Bylaws, section 4.9 Termination from Membership

[Daniel Robbins]

The current bylaws are sufficient.

Threats should not be tolerated. It seems like right now, all it takes are
the trustees to vote on it to remove that member. Your addition leaves it
up to interpretation whether specified events fit the criteria you define,
which just make it more confusing than a simple vote of trustees in the
first place.

So I don't think any of this helps; and with the videos at the end, it just
kind of seems paranoid.

-Daniel

On Wed, Feb 7, 2018 at 9:50 PM, zlg <zlg@g.o> wrote:

> The Bylaws text[1] currently indicates this:
>
> ~~~
> Section 4.9. Termination from Membership.
>
> Membership may be terminated by a majority vote of the board of trustees
> in the event that any member acts contrary to the purpose(s) of the
> Gentoo Foundation.
> ~~~
>
> I propose a bylaw specifically outlining certain behaviors that will not
> be tolerated by the Foundation under any circumstances. Namely, the use
> of legal threats to short-circuit established conflict resolution
> processes laid out by the Gentoo Foundation (and Comrel), including
> threats against Officers.
>
> Here's a rough draft of what I have in mind:
>
> ~~~
> Section 4.9.1: Aggressive Legal Behavior
>
> Foundation members who engage in aggressive legal behavior shall
> surrender their Foundation membership immediately, and may re-apply for
> membership no sooner than the end of the current Trustee term, at the
> sole discretion of the sitting Trustees.
>
> Aggressive legal behavior includes, but is not limited to:
>
> * Insinuating or implying that legal action may follow if demands are
>   not met;
> * Threatening legal action against a Foundation member or Officer
>   personally;
> * Contacting the employer of a Foundation member or Officer in an
>   attempt to cut off their source of personal income.
> ~~~
>
> (Trustees may want to replace "surrender ... immediately" with "per a
> vote of Trustees", if a more democratic process is desired)
>
> Rationale
> ---------
>
> The Gentoo Foundation and its officers have been on the receiving end of
> such threats in the past. It is not in the spirit of Gentoo or its Code
> of Conduct to legally coerce others into compliance with one's will. By
> acting directly against another Foundation member or a Foundation
> Officer, the person communicating legal threats is an existential threat
> to the Foundation itself and "raises the temperature" [2] of the
> community.  This reduces positive community participation and destroys
> morale, whether this occurs in public or in private. It is not healthy
> for the continued operation of the Foundation, or the community that
> supports it, to tolerate aggressive legal behavior. Thus, I ask the
> Trustees to consider adding explicit notes about such destructive
> conduct to the bylaws.
>
> I believe that the addition and enforcement of such a bylaw will result
> in more civil and direct communication among Foundation members, and
> encourage us to solve problems on our own instead of threatening to use
> law as a weapon against each other. Additionally, such behavior is
> counter to the purposes of the Foundation. Legitimate legal concerns can
> be communicated in good faith without threatening others, using weasel
> words, or attempting to silence other members by force.
>
> Such behavior concerns me due to the growing prevalence of things like
> SWATting[3], which has resulted in the deaths of innocent people. [3's
> references, 4] I do not think Gentoo is immune to this; a proactive
> approach is needed to curb this type of behavior before it has time to
> build.
>
> Thank you for reading.
>
> ~zlg
>
> [1]: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Foundation:Bylaws#Section_4.9.
> _Termination_from_Membership.
> [2]: http://freenode.net/changuide
> [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting
> [4]: WARNING: CONTAINS POLICE BODY CAM FOOTAGE. NOT SAFE FOR WORK
>      http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article192111974.html
>