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Convention: Actual Document so far

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Jnyusa
Post subject: Convention: Actual Document so far
Posted: Fri 18 Mar , 2005 3:39 pm
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The Charter of Board 77
Last Homely House on the Web


Our Mission Statement

[Ratified June 27, 2005]

Board77 is a democratically governed internet community where members from around the world gather to cultivate friendships and engage in discussion. Our conversations cover any topic of interest to our members, from current events and philosophy to fine arts and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. We aspire to maintain a culture of respect, equality and openness.

Our Key Principles

[Ratified June 27, 2005]

Free Exchange of Ideas: All forms of self-expression are welcome at board77. In our discussion forums we encourage conversation that is vibrant and thoughtful, sometimes deeply personal, opinionated, or humorous and lighthearted. In our collaborative writing forum we value cooperation and support for one another’s creativity. We encourage the exchange of views on the whole spectrum of subjects that pique our curiosity in our daily lives.

Diversity: We pride ourselves on having an international membership that is diverse in culture, gender, age, and interests. We are tolerant toward other viewpoints and opinions without hesitating to express our own. We show appreciation for the differing skills, language abilities, and life experiences that our members bring to the board. We listen to one another, make good-faith efforts to understand one another, and we treat one another respectfully at all times.

Fellowship: Our interactions on board77 demonstrate that fellowship transcends agreement on specific issues, and actually flourishes because of the different perspectives we bring to a discussion. The founders of the board met through a shared love for the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, and we remain mindful of the spirit of fellowship exemplified by Tolkien's Middle-earth and the inspiration that world brings to so many who encounter it. We strive to keep this ideal of fellowship alive and available to the community at large with opportunities for old friendships to deepen and for new ones to begin.

Transparency: The atmosphere of fairness required to foster the free exchange of ideas requires that judgment regarding board behavior be the shared responsibility of all members. Administration and enforcement of by-laws is done as fairly and openly as possible. We see value in exercising power and dealing with challenges publicly, rather than behind the scenes, because this safeguards against the undermining of our principles by privately-made decisions. This approach requires courage and trustworthiness from our members, and a willingness to be frank and forthright in our dealings with one another.

Self-Governance: The members of Board77 believe that externally imposed and enforced rules can stifle free expression; our solution is to leave responsibility for governance in the hands of the members. No member of board77 is more important than any other member, and no single member or group of members ever holds absolute power. We are all responsible for participating in board governance and we are all accountable for our own actions.

Ownership of board77

[Ratified June 27, 2005]

¶1. It is the intention of board77 to eventually become a member-owned internet community. To that end, member Voronwe_the_Faithful has offered to prepare and file the necessary papers to form a nonprofit corporation, organized under the laws of the State of California, once the following has occurred:
• the Charter has been completely finished and ratified;
• the messageboard has moved to the www.board77.com domain name, which is currently owned by member TheLidlessEyes, who has offered to transfer such ownership to a nonprofit corporation formed for that purpose under terms acceptable to both TheLidlessEyes and the other members.

¶2.When formed, this corporation, subject to applicable laws and feasibility as determined by the members at that time:
• will be named board77, unless that name is taken;
• will be formed as a mutual benefit nonprofit corporation;
• will seek tax-exempt status if feasible;
• will have voting members consisting of all persons who register a primary screen name at board77 and are eligible to vote for the Mayor under the by-laws regarding a binding vote of the membership;
• will have a Board of Directors consisting of a single director who will be the current Mayor, who will be elected by the voting members;
• will have CEO, secretary, and Chief Financial Officer, all of whom will also be the Mayor, who nonetheless will be prohibited from taking any action in any of these roles that is not otherwise specified in the Charter without the authorization of a majority of voting members who vote on any issue;
• will have regular Board/Member meetings at which the Mayor can report to the membership on issues affecting the community, the members can inform the mayor about any issues he or she needs to know about, and the members can communicate directly with each other, with the threads in which these Board/Member meetings occur being archived as the official minutes of the meetings;
• will not collect membership dues but will have a donation fund from which miscellaneous expenses will be paid.

¶3. This is a basic outline that is the result of preliminary research only. Before the corporation is actually formed and ownership transferred to it, a comprehensive plan will be presented to the then current membership, a majority of which must approve it for the plan to then go forward.

Our Administrative and Governance Procedures

Article 1: Board77 is a member-moderated board.

[ratified May 15, 2005]

Article 2: Member Rights and Responsibilities
[ratified June 20, 2005]

Some rights and responsibilities are enforceable by procedures and penalties outlined in the Charter; others rest on the determination of all members to observe them. All are essential to our purpose of building a vibrant, diverse, supportive community where both conversation and signature pictures reflect our personalities, our humor, our genuine opinions, our artistic appreciation, our creativity, and above all our mutual friendship.

¶1: Rights and responsibilities enforceable by procedures and penalties outlined in the Charter

A. You have the right:


To post under one registered screen name if you are 13 years of age or older.

To create and register characters for use in the There and Back Again forum (a role-play forum). They must be recorded in the RP Character Registry. RP Character Registry

To post in our Thinking of England forum (a forum restricted to those who are 18 years of age or older) once you have met the eligibility requirements.

To address personal disputes in the Bike Racks forum, and in other forums to post free of disruptions caused by the personal disputes of others.

To post in languages other than English in threads, ranks or signature texts.

To post without confronting advertising spam, pornographic pictures, sexually explicit conversation outside of the age-restricted forum, and pictures or conversations of an offensively violent or distasteful nature.

To a Hearing if you are accused of violating the by-laws; to appeal a Hearing under certain circumstances; to petition for the reversal of a ban under certain circumstances. You must abide by the decisions of our Juries and use proper procedure when contesting the decisions of Rangers or Jurors. Refer to Article 5 of our Charter for a full explanation of your rights under any dispute procedure.

To petition the Rangers for redress if you believe that your other rights have been violated.

B. You have the Responsibility:

To provide a valid email address and to state truthfully your age for board access or entry into any forum with age restrictions.

To refrain from personal attacks or intentional insults that target another member's nationality, ethnicity, religion, native language, gender, age, or sexual orientation, to remove any unintentional insults of this nature upon request, and to refrain from using a foreign language to conceal insults of this nature.

To role-play within the guidelines set by the story originator, and in a way that does not prevent other characters from participating or stifle unnecessarily the creative options of other posters.

To post prudently in the Thinking of England forum and not expose yourself to unnecessary harm. That forum should be free of ridicule, provocation, or demeaning posts and you should report violations to the Rangers. You must also refrain from maliciously spreading information posted by others in that forum.

To keep your posts free of gratuitous advertising, spam that would annoy any reasonable person, and pictures that would disgust or dismay any reasonable person.

To refrain from inflicting damage on the board or the internet access of its members, either deliberately or through negligence, by hacking or introducing viruses.

To refrain from using PM capability to harass other members of the board.

To refrain from soliciting or encouraging the participation of members in illegal activities; but this does not impinge on your right to speak freely about the shortcomings, ethical or practical, of any given law.

To refrain from threatening real life violence or other criminal acts against other members.

¶2: Rights and responsibilities that rest on the determination of all members to keep Board77 a pleasant place for all to post but are not enforceable by procedures and penalties outlined in the Charter

You have the right:


To be treated with courtesy and respect by all posters regardless of their status, and the responsibility to treat others likewise.

To express your thoughts on any topic, as long as you post with respect, forbearance, and consideration for the context, the feelings of others, the value of contrasting viewpoints, and without making personal attacks against other posters.

To use adult language that is generally acceptable in written media or adult conversation, along with the responsibility to refrain from unnecessary cursing or obscenities. We encourage everyone to use language that is clear and contributory (not spam or netspeak) without our having to restrict the expressions that are generally found in adult conversation.

To address a personal dispute with another member in the Bike Racks forum if the other member agrees. You are also entitled to mediation. It is your responsibility to resolve your own personal disputes in a productive fashion, and not to interfere with other members who are doing the same.

To serve as a Ranger, Mediator, or Juror and to run for elected office. It is also your responsibility to participate in the governance of the board whether simply by voting when a quorum is needed, or by serving in some official capacity.


[Continue to next post]

Last edited by Jnyusa on Sun 10 Jul , 2005 5:27 am, edited 49 times in total.

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Jnyusa
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Posted: Thu 24 Mar , 2005 4:23 am
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Article 3: Rangers (Administrators)
[ratified May 15, 2005]

¶1: Number of Rangers and Terms of Office
We have five to seven administrators, called Rangers, depending on the needs of the board at the time. They serve three-month terms and are selected from among the members who are eligible and have volunteered.

There are also up to two Rangers in training who are practicing on the experimental board and may exercise on the main board the routine powers of a Ranger as defined below. Rangers have the power to edit or delete posts, or ban posters for certain offenses and propose banning for other kinds of offenses defined below. In all other kinds of disputes they will intervene only at the request of members affected by the dispute.

Ranger terms are staggered so that two to four new Rangers take office every 2 months.

Terms of Office run as follows: [Jan•Feb•Mar], [Feb•Mar•Apr], [Apr•May•Jun], [May•Jun•Jul], [Jul•Aug•Spt], [Aug•Spt•Oct], [Oct•Nov•Dec] and [Nov•Dec•Jan]

Finishing the term of office for a Ranger who has resigned will not count as a full term for purposes of determining how many successive terms a member may serve, unless the term they are completing has eight full weeks or longer remaining.

¶2: Eligibility of Members to Serve as Rangers

To serve as a Ranger, a member should be at least eighteen years of age, have been a member for six months while maintaining a continuous, visible, and contributory presence on the board, and have spent enough time on the experimental board to demonstrate an ability to perform the routine functions of a Ranger.

The same person may serve as Ranger more than once, but not in two consecutive terms.

A member may not begin a term of office if they are currently involved in any capacity in a Hearing involving another Ranger or a Hearing on a Ban.

Registered members as of March 12, 2005 are eligible to serve as Rangers providing they have spent enough time on the experimental board to demonstrate an ability to perform the routine functions of a Ranger, and are not currently involved in any capacity in a Hearing involving another Ranger or a Hearing on a Ban.

¶3: Selection of Rangers

Service as a Ranger is entirely voluntary. It is not linked to service as a Jury member except insofar as current Rangers are barred from serving on certain juries. A member who has agreed to serve as a Ranger and has entered the pool may withdraw their name at any time.

Eligible members will enter the pool of full Rangers when they feel capable and the full Ranger who has been coaching them agrees that they are capable. They will then serve their term of office in the order in which they entered the pool, unless some reason prevents them from doing this. If the member is unable to serve a term when it is their turn, but knows when they will be able to serve, they may ask to be scheduled for a particular future term. Otherwise they will simply remain ‘next on the list’ until the timing of a term coincides with their ability to serve.

The mayor will be responsible for keeping track of the eligibility of members, the order in which they enter the pool of full Rangers, and the actual scheduling of terms of office.

The Mayor is held accountable for determining what constitutes a ‘continuous, visible, and contributory presence,’ approaching members so qualified to obtain their agreement to serve, and entering the names of those who volunteer into the pool of Rangers-in-training. That roster will be prominently posted, and volunteers will remain on the training roster for at least ten days.

While volunteers are on the training roster, all members are responsible for reviewing the roster to determine whether they know any good reason why a particular volunteer would not make a good Ranger and should not immediately enter the pool of full Rangers when their training is complete. If no member expresses a concern or objection volunteers will enter the pool of full Rangers without delay. If a member does have a concern or objection to a particular volunteer, these must be sent by email to the Administrator account, where they will also be forwarded to the Mayor so that the Mayor together with current Rangers can review them for merit.

If the concern or objection involves a serious violation of by-laws for which a formal action of some kind is required, then the volunteer will not enter the pool of full Rangers until the issue is resolved. The Mayor and current Rangers together will inform the volunteer immediately, attempt to verify the merit of the accusation insofar as possible, and if it has merit they will initiate whatever procedure is called for in the by-laws. If exonerated, the volunteer may enter the pool of full Rangers when training is complete. If restrictions are placed on the volunteer as a result of the procedure, they will not enter the pool of full Rangers until the by-laws allow them to do so.

If the concern or objection involves matters of courtesy, or unfamiliarity with certain forums, or anything else affecting only the comfort level of the members, the Mayor or an appropriate Ranger will explain the problem to the volunteer as tactfully as possible and suggest ways that their posting might become more “visible and contributory” before they enter the pool of full Rangers.

The Mayor will retain record of these concerns and objections and make sure that any full Ranger who is coaching the volunteer knows of them as well. When the volunteer expresses his/her readiness to enter the pool of Rangers, including their correction of any prior deficiency, and the full Ranger who has been coaching them agrees, the Mayor will send an email to any member who has raised a prior objection and ask permission to lift the objection, explaining what has been done to rectify the problem. If the member still objects, they must explain why and the issue will be revisited as before. If no response is received within seven days, the objection will be lifted and the volunteer may enter the pool of full Rangers. The pool of full Rangers will be posted prominently.

Guidelines in the selection of Rangers: Members will generally serve their term of office when it is their turn; but it is also advisable that the group of Rangers serving at any particular time provide coverage for as many time zones as possible and include at least one person whose native language is not English. The Mayor may adjust the scheduling of terms to meet this ideal situation as long as this does not result in members jumping too far forward in the queue or having their term of office postponed more than once when it is their turn and they are available. Members who are entering the pool of Rangers should read and agree to the Code of Conduct for Rangers, Paragraph 6, below.

¶4: Routine powers of Rangers

• Activate memberships;
• Create new forums when a majority of current Rangers agree it is necessary;
• Move the appropriate threads into newly created forums as necessary;
• Create temporary Ranger positions when a majority of current Rangers agree this is necessary, provided that the appointees have served as Rangers in the past and no formal complaint has been issued against them for their actions as a Ranger; a temporary appointment will last for two full weeks and may be renewed one time (four full weeks in total);
• In the Jury Room and the Archive, enable posting rights, delete illegitimate posts from Hearings, and delete threads when they are finished;
• In the Thinking of England Forum, enable posting rights when age confirmations are received;
• Lock, split, or move threads upon request of members, or when it is necessary to improve the coherence of a forum; the thread originator must be notified beforehand;
• Edit Posts if they affect the display of the page, e.g. stretched pages, after notifying the poster;
• If a poster registers an invalid email address, restrict posting rights to the Bike Racks and send the poster a PM so that a correct address can be provided;
• Download new smileys;
• Delete double posts at the request of the poster.

Rangers are required to:
• Note all Ranger edits in a post, and email the poster advising them of the edit;
• Rangers-in-training may have their administrative powers enabled and exercise routine powers under the supervision of a full Ranger, but administrative powers are disabled when the training session is over.

Rangers may not:
• Edit or delete posts or lock threads without permission of the originator unless the originator has engaged in conduct justifying an immediate ban;
• Delete smileys or change the style of the board without allowing members to express their opinion beforehand in the proper forum;
• Change the permissions of a poster at the poster's request, except for routine changes of permission in the Jury Room, Archives, and Thinking of England Forum; nor can they ban members for any reason other than those listed below.

¶5: Special and Emergency powers of Rangers

• Edit Posts if they contain objectionable content, for example: abuse of another poster, defamatory remarks, pornographic, violent or distasteful content, or advertisement of products.

• Enact an Immediate Ban for the following offenses if the poster has registered within the last seven days:
1. Spamming the board with ads;
2. Spamming the board with porn;
3. Hacking the board;
4. Refusing to abide by the Decision of Jury in a Hearing;
5. Threats of real life violence or other criminal acts against members.

In all other cases the poster has the Right to a Hearing, and if the poster registered more than seven days ago they are considered a member of the community and have a right to a hearing for these offenses as well; but their posting rights will be restricted to the Jury Room for the duration of the hearing.

• Temporarily suspend posting rights or restrict access to a forum:
1. In the Invite Forum, if information about the contents of an invitation thread has been revealed to a nonmember, access can be suspended [this provision becomes void if the Invite Forum is removed]
2. In the Jury Room, if poster has interfered with a Hearing on a Ban, board-wide posting rights can be suspended until the Hearing is concluded;
3. In the There and Back Again forum, if more than one complaint has been made against the way an RP identity has been used, posting rights can be suspended until a Hearing can be held regarding the continuation of that identity;
4. In the Thinking of England Forum, if more than one complaint has been made about the way a poster has been posting there, posting rights can be suspended until a Hearing can be held to determine the right of continued access to that forum;
5. If a sig pic is arguably pornographic, violent or distasteful it can be removed; and if the poster persists in reposting it, posting rights outside the Jury Room can be suspended until a Hearing decision is reached.

• Convene a Hearing on a ban whenever a bannable offense is called to their attention.

• Convene a Hearing to reverse a ban if the following three conditions are met:
1. if the duration of the ban was not specified;
2. the banned poster has requested a new Hearing in writing;
3. at least one month has elapsed since the ban went into effect; Rangers can postpone a requested hearing longer but not more than three months.

Procedures for using special and emergency powers
An immediate ban is of unspecified duration. A Hearing must be convened to reverse it.

When posting rights are suspended, a Hearing must be held and the Jury will decide the duration of the suspension.

Extraordinary Powers of Rangers
Recognizing that unforeseen events may occur which require a quick response, Board77 Rangers are expected to use their best judgment in emergencies, and to take whatever action they believe necessary to protect the board. An emergency would be an event which threatened real and immediate harm, but which is not otherwise addressed by this charter. In such an event, the Ranger(s) in question would be expected to explain the circumstances and consult with the board membership as soon as possible. Such measures are temporary by their nature and subject to review by [some body as yet to be determined.]

¶6: Code of Conduct for Rangers

Be the Ranger you want everyone else to be.

Prioritize functioning as a Ranger. You can still post as a normal poster yet your priority should lie in keeping the board running smoothly, attending to requests, helping to work on any pending agendas and generally strive to make Board 77 a better place for all members.

Read the Handbook for Rangers, observe all the by-laws of the board, and enforce them uniformly. If you are unsure of your authority to take a particular action, use your best judgment and confer with another Ranger as soon as it is possible to do so. Act as a model poster in accordance with all the rules laid out for board 77.

Keep the other Rangers updated regularly in a dedicated thread in Forum Management.

If you are going to be absent from the board for more than 72 hours, notify the other Rangers by posting in Forum Management and delegate any pending tasks.

Assign priority to answering business-related PM's and emails. If you cannot handle the request of a member yourself, let them know that you have given it to another Ranger.

Don’t ‘hide’ being online. Having volunteered as a Ranger you have agreed to be available and members need to know which Rangers are online.

When posting references to other threads, insert them as clickable links naming the full thread-title to make the posting experience an easy and pleasurable one for everyone.

If you have to edit someone else’s post, note this in the post with your name and the date.

Help the Rangers-in-training to the best of your abilities.

Treat all posters the same. When editing posts, answering requests, or enforcing by-laws, be courteous and do not try to intimidate posters with your office.

Please don't try to influence the behavior of our posters on other boards, either by discouraging them from posting or encouraging them to post certain things, or by telling them that what they do on other boards will have consequences for them on B77.

If you are going to be absent for two full weeks or more, you must notify the other Rangers in Forum Management and arrange in advance for a temporary Ranger to take your place.

If you find you must be absent for more than four full weeks, we ask you to resign because a temporary Ranger cannot be appointed to replace you. This will not affect your future eligibility, although you will return to the bottom of the roster as if you had served your term.

If you are asked to set up and oversee a Hearing on a Ban, do so promptly.

Try to face criticism from posters calmly and not take it personally.

If you receive a warning because of a violation of the Code of Conduct, please accept it with good grace. You will always be given a chance to explain your side of any issue. Warnings are not made public, and if they do not accumulate into a Formal Complaint, no record is kept of them.

There are certain things which might result in your removal from office, and by agreeing to the Code of Conduct you are agreeing to these terms as well:
• You will not deliberately or maliciously ban posters who are entitled to a hearing or suspend posting rights without due process, except in the course of exercising Extraordinary powers;
• You will not reveal private information to which you have access because of your office, such as profile information that members have made hidden or the contents of secret ballots cast by PM or email;
• You will not give another poster access to the administrator panel;
• You will not boast on the board about criminal activities or encourage other posters to engage in them, such as use of illicit substances, activities forbidden to minors, obtaining bootleg films or CDs or other violations of copyright law.

If you have been accused of any activity that would result in your removal from office, you have a right to a hearing.

¶7: How to Contest the Decision of a Ranger

All Ranger decisions may be contested.

Disputes of a personal nature involving a Ranger can be resolved at the Bike Racks.

In more serious cases, like bannings, or a poster feeling treated unjustly when having their posting rights restricted, etc. there is a more formal case from the outset and the procedures are described in the article on Member Rights.

Members may contest in the following way any Ranger decisions made while exercising the routine powers of Rangers, such as edits, moving threads, etc.
• The member affected by the action contacts the Ranger by PM or email and requests that the action be reviewed
• If the poster and the Ranger can reach an agreement between them, nothing else need be done. If the poster and the Ranger cannot agree, the poster can ask for an independent review.
• The independent review will be conducted by two other Rangers and one Jury member, and they will decide to overturn or uphold the original decision.

¶8: When is a Ranger Removed from Office

A Ranger cannot be removed from office without due process.

Except for those special cases listed, no single violation or act of negligence will be sufficient to remove a Ranger from office. If a Hearing is convened, a pattern of repeated violations or negligence damaging to the board must be shown, and a Ranger must have received Warnings and Formal Complaints.

When a Ranger resigns or is removed from office, a new Ranger is selected to complete the term of office.

Grounds for Warnings to a Ranger
• Being absent from the board for more than 72 hours without notifying the other Rangers, except in personal emergency or computer failure.
• Failing to respond in timely fashion to business-related emails and PM's from members and other Rangers.
• Posting hidden at times when the Ranger is needed to be visible.
• Special treatment of posters or arbitrary enforcement of the by-laws.
• Conduct Unbecoming a Ranger, such as discourtesy or intimidation, or attempting to influence poster behavior on other messageboards.

Procedures for Warnings to a Ranger
• The action or omission must be brought to the attention of the current
Rangers.
• Two Rangers must agree that a warning is justified.
• These two Rangers will notify the Ranger under complaint and give that person a chance to explain themselves. If the explanation is satisfactory, nothing more need be done.
• If two current Rangers still believe a warning is justified, they will write briefly the reason and forward this to the Mayor by email.
• If the current Rangers are in disagreement as to whether action is required, no warning will be filed.
• The record of warnings is maintained by the Mayor and does not become public unless it aggregates to a Formal Complaint.
• Warnings are purged after the Ranger leaves office.

Grounds for Formal Complaints Against a Ranger
• Three warnings for the same action or omission.
• Being absent from the board for more than two weeks and failing to notify the other Rangers in advance to arrange for a temporary Ranger.
• Deliberate unilateral actions for which the by-laws require a majority of Rangers to agree, or any other deliberate and direct violation of the by laws.
• Failing to convene and oversee a Hearing when required, or refusing to convene a Hearing on a ban when this is necessary.

Procedure for Formal Complaints Against an Administrator
• The action or omission that is the basis of the Formal Complaint must be brought to the attention of the current Rangers.
• Two Rangers must agree that a Formal Complaint is justified.
• These two will notify the Ranger under complaint and give that person a chance to explain themselves. If the explanation is satisfactory, nothing more need be done.
• If the two current Rangers still believe a Formal Complaint is justified, they will write briefly the reason and forward this to the Mayor by email.
• If the current Rangers are in disagreement as to whether action is required, the Formal Complaint will be filed but it will be marked “Disputed.” Disputed complaints are purged when the Ranger’s term of office ends and will not bar them from serving as a temporary Ranger.

Time Limit and Penalty for Formal Complaints Against a Ranger
Formal complaints are kept on record for nine months following the end of a term of office. During that time, the member may not serve as a temporary Ranger or begin a new term of office as a full Ranger.

Grounds for Removal of a Ranger
• Desertion: A Ranger who deserts the board and cannot be contacted for a period of 30 days should be removed from office.
• Incoming Rangers must agree to resign if they will be away from the board for a period longer than than four full weeks, because it is not possible to replace them with a temporary Ranger. Such a resignation will not affect their eligibility to serve as a full Ranger in the future or as a temporary Ranger at any time, but their name will return to the bottom of the roster of full Rangers as if they had served their term. If a Ranger faces this circumstance and does not resign, then this is considered Grounds for Removal.
• Pattern of Absences, Failure to Respond and Other Warnings: If a series of warnings or violations results in three Formal Complaints, the other Rangers may consider whether to convene a hearing to remove that Ranger. If five Formal Complaints have been filed, a hearing is required.
• Extreme Abuse of Power: a hearing may be convened if a Ranger deliberately and maliciously bans a member who is entitled to a hearing or suspends posting rights without due process, except in the course of exercising extraordinary powers.
• An Immediate Hearing is required if a Ranger:
1. reveals private information obtained as a result of their office, such as profile information that members have made hidden or the contents of secret ballots cast by PM or email;
2. gives another poster access to the administrator panel;
3. uses the board to boast about criminal behaviors and/or encourage other posters to engage in them.

Procedure for Removal of a Ranger
• Two Rangers must agree that the charges against a Ranger are sufficiently serious and not manufactured, and that a hearing is justified. The Ranger who is considered for removal will be notified by PM and by email, and the call for a hearing will be posted in the Jury Room.
• The posting rights of the Ranger in question will be restricted to the Jury Room and administrative powers will be revoked for the duration of the hearing.

Penalties Associated with Removal of a Ranger
An administrator can be removed from office and barred from holding office in the future for a length of time commensurate with the offense.
• Pattern of Absences, Failure to Respond and Other Warnings: One year
• Desertion: One year
• Breach of Privacy: One year
• Giving another person access to the Administrator Panel: One year
• Encouraging criminal behavior: One year


[Jump over the Griffon and Continue to next post]

Last edited by Jnyusa on Tue 28 Jun , 2005 6:10 am, edited 26 times in total.

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"All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
Epigraph on the tombstone of W.C. Fields.


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Griffon64
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Posted: Sat 26 Mar , 2005 2:46 pm
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Jn - how about sticky-ing this or perhaps making it an announcement?

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Jnyusa
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Posted: Sat 26 Mar , 2005 2:51 pm
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Article 4: Office of the Mayor
Ratified June 27, 2005

¶1: Term of Office, Eligibility, and Selection
A Mayor for the board will be chosen once a year in a membership-wide election between candidates who meet the eligibility requirements and choose to run. To be eligible, a candidate must be a registered member for six months and be nominated by one other member. No member may serve two consecutive terms as Mayor.

No provision is made for selecting an Assistant to the Mayor, however if a current Mayor decides that an Assistant Mayor is needed to fulfill the duties of this office, he/she may propose that the Charter be amended to provide for a selection process and the membership will convene for an amendment according to the by-laws.

¶2: Duties and Powers of the Mayor
The duties of the Mayor include Record Keeping, Verification and Notification regarding various eligibilities, scheduling Ranger terms of office, designating spokespersons, greeting new members, and presiding at boardwide functions.

Record Keeping
Eligibility and Service Records:
• Join dates, so that eligibility for the Jury and the Ranger Pool is not delayed;
• Date of entry into the Ranger Pool;
• Date of entry into the Jury Pool;
• Start and end dates of Ranger terms of office;
• Date of last service as a Mediator;
• Date of last service as a Juror;
• Designation and date of last service as a Loremaster.

Objections, Complaints and Penalties:
• Member objections to another member’s entry into Ranger Pool, until the objection is lifted;
• Warnings given to Rangers, until three warnings result in a formal complaint or until the term of office expires;
• Disputed Formal complaints against a Ranger, until the term of office expires or until five complaints result in a hearing;
• Formal complaints against a Ranger, for one year after the term of office has expired, or until five complaints result in a hearing;
• Outstanding penalties imposed by a Jury and their expiration dates;
• Immediate bans, and the date when they become eligible for a petition to reverse.

Verifications
Verification that a member has displayed a ‘continuous, visible, and contributory presence’ as the requirement for entry into the Ranger Pool.

Notifications
• Notification to individual members when they become eligible for the Jury Pool and the Ranger Pool;
• Notification to the board by means of a posted roster that members are newly entering the Ranger Pool;
• Notification to current Rangers and to the individual member when there has been an objection to their entry into the Ranger Pool;
• Notification to objecting members when a potential Ranger has repaired any deficiencies and will enter the pool;
• Notification to members in the Ranger Pool when it is their turn to serve a term of office, at least one month prior to the beginning of the term;
• Notification to the board by means of a posted roster which members are available to serve as Jurors and Mediators;
• Notification to current Rangers when an outstanding penalty has expired.

Scheduling
The Mayor will schedule Administrative terms of office, ensuring insofar as possible adequate time zone coverage, the presence of one Ranger whose native language is not English, and the availability of members to serve when it is their turn.

Designating Spokesperson(s)
The Mayor will be aware of transactions between board77 and the public, and may authorize members to speak or act on behalf of the board whenever such a function is needed.

Greeting new members
The Mayor will send out an email greeting to new members in which their eligibilities are explained.

The Mayor will preside over any board-wide festivities and present honorees.

¶3: Screen name, Forums, and Permissions used by the Mayor
A screen name, “Mayor,” is created for use by the person holding this office when making posts of an official nature. The password will change with the officeholder.

A subforum of the Outside Forum is created and entitled “Michel Delving” in which the Mayor will maintain those records that the Charter designates as public. The subforum will be a read and write forum so that members are able to discuss with the Mayor as needed and make the Mayor aware of developments that affect the Board.

The Mayor will have permission to read and write in the private subforum of Forum Management in order to maintain those records that the Charter designates as private. He/she will maintain a thread there for that purpose. The Mayor will not have any administrative powers other than permission to read and write in the Outside Forum and the private subforum of Forum Management during his/her term of office.


¶4: Elections
[This paragraph approved July 1, 2005; not yet ratified]

Elections will be held once a year according to the following schedule:

• On July 20, the current Mayor will post an announcement that the nomination period will begin in 30 days.
• On August 19, a 10 day nomination period will begin, extending through August 28.
• When the nomination period concludes, an election committee will be convened and a ten day voting period will begin on September 3.
• The voting will conclude on September 12.
• The new Mayor will be inaugurated on September 22.

During the nomination period, an individual member may nominate or second one candidate only.

The Election committee will be a three-person committee headed by the current Mayor. The current Mayor will select two individuals that she or he believes to be reliable, and together they will oversee the voting process, including counting the votes and announcing the results. No one who is a candidate for Mayor may be a member of the committee. One Ranger will be assigned to the committee to facilitate processes requiring access to the administrative panel, however the Ranger will not participate in committee proceedings.

The vote will be conducted by secret ballot submitted by PM or email, using instant runoff format if there are more than two candidates and with each voter listing their top three choices in order of preference. The current Mayor will vote first and convey his/her vote by PM to any Ranger who is not him/herself a candidate, so that in the event of a tie the vote already cast by the Mayor will count a second time as the deciding vote.

Members serving as Rangers at the time of the election may run for Mayor, but must resign as Rangers if they are elected.

¶5 Grounds and Procedure for removing an Elected Official from office

The Mayor may have time periods when he/she cannot be on the board regularly, and may seek assistance from the Rangers by giving them advanced notice of the tasks that must be performed during that time period.

However, if the Rangers must use their administrative powers to enter the threads of Michel Delving or the Outside Forum on five separate occasions on an emergency basis because the Mayor, through negligence and without giving advance warning of his/her absence, has failed to do any of the following in timely fashion:
• schedule Ranger terms of office;
• advise Rangers of an expiring penalty in advance of its expiration;
• update the Jury Pool;
• resolve member objections so that a volunteer can enter the Ranger pool;
• send out eligibility notifications within two weeks of eligibility or member greetings within two weeks of activation;
• provide authorization for a member to represent the board in dealings with the public;
• convene any committee for which the Mayor is responsible;
• make the necessary announcements for elections;
the Rangers may convene a Hearing to remove the Mayor from office. A majority of current Rangers must agree that this is necessary.

The Rangers must convene a Hearing to remove the Mayor or any other elected official under the following circumstances:
• the elected official deserts the board and cannot be contacted for a period of 30 days;
• the elected official reveals private information obtained from members as a result of their office;
• the elected uses the board to boast about criminal behaviors and/or encourage other posters to engage in them.
________________

Amendments to Article 4:

¶1: Term of Office, Eligibility, and Selection

To be eligible, a candidate must be 18 years of age or older, a registered member for six months, and be nominated and seconded by two other members.

¶1: Term of Office, Eligibility, and Selection
No provision is made for selecting an Assistant to the Mayor, however if a current Mayor decides that an Assistant Mayor is needed to fulfill the duties of this office, he/she may propose that the Charter be amended to provide for a selection process and the standing Committee for Charter Amendments will convene according to Article 7.
<>
The Mayor may not serve as a Ranger, Juror, Loremaster, or Mediator during his/her term of office.

¶3: Screen name, Forums, and Permissions used by the Mayor

A new subforum is created and entitled “Michel Delving” in which the Mayor will maintain those records that the Charter designates as public. The subforum will be a read and write forum so that members are able to discuss with the Mayor as needed and make the Mayor aware of developments that affect the Board.

A second subforum which is not readable by the members is created and entitled "Sensitive Information - Mayor" in order to maintain those records that the Charter designates as private. The Mayor will not have any Administrative powers other than permission to read and write in the Outside Forum so that Jury Pool and Mediator records can be maintained, and access to the hidden subforum entitled "Sensitive Information - Mayor" during his/her term of office.

Last edited by Jnyusa on Sat 09 Jul , 2005 9:55 pm, edited 19 times in total.

_________________

"All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
Epigraph on the tombstone of W.C. Fields.


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Impenitent
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Posted: Wed 01 Jun , 2005 6:53 am
Try to stay perky
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ARTICLE 6: AGE RESTRICTED FORUM
Ratified 30 May 2005

[size=11¶1: Disclaimer statement

A statement on the front page of the Message Board and on the registration form will state:

“Notice: Adult language is allowed on B77, but generally occurs no more frequently than in real life. We do require that members be at least thirteen years of age before joining. This board also contains an age restricted forum for discussion of topics inappropriate for children. The contents of this forum are not accessible to members who are under the age of eighteen, nor are they immediately accessible to the newest registrants.

All new Board registrations must provide their date of birth and a confirmation email from the member’s registration email address before membership is activated.”

¶2: Forum header description and visibility
The “Thinking of England” forum header will be visible in the index but access is restricted to those who have specific permission to do so. The forum description will state: "Discussion of topics inappropriate for children; not accessible to those under the age of eighteen."

¶3: Eligibility to access the Age Restricted forum
A member becomes eligible to access the "Thinking of England" forum after three months and 100 posts. After this time, a member can request access to the forum from an administrator. [/size]
This clause ratified and added to Article 6 on 26 June 2005

¶4: Terms of participation in Age Restricted Forum

Before permission is activated, an email with the “Thinking of England” forum sticky note information will be forwarded to the new member, who will be required to agree to the terms of participation in that forum as outlined in that sticky by return email.

¶5:
Posters, when in the “Thinking of England” forum, must be even more alert to abusive or exploitive behaviour (especially taking advantage of another’s emotional vulnerability, youth, or inexperience in adult environments) than in other forums. Posters are encouraged to act on conscience when they witness such behaviour and to report any violation of the by-laws to the Administrators.

¶6:
As a courtesy, new posters to the 'Thinking of England' forum are encouraged to make their arrival known to existing posters in a Courtesy Introduction thread created for this purpose in that forum.

¶7:
It is the intention of the membership to stay abreast of any changes in the law that would affect their responsibilities toward the public where this forum is concerned.[/size]

Last edited by Impenitent on Fri 08 Jul , 2005 11:19 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Jnyusa
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Posted: Sun 05 Jun , 2005 1:15 am
One of the Bronte Sisters
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Article 9: Policy on Forum Readability

It is the policy of board77 that new forums will be created as read-and-write forums for all registered members, and will be read-only to the public, unless otherwise designated by a Binding Vote of the Membership conducted according to Article 7.
Changing the permissions of an existing forum also requires a Binding Vote. [approved July 1, 2005]

Article 10: Goals
Ratified June 27, 2005

The Board will develop goals once a year and post them where all members can read them.

Article 12: Ratification and Amendments: The committee for the creation of our Charter was convened on Friday, March 11, 2005 and the Charter was adopted by the membership and can be amended according to the following procedure.

¶1. Ratification of the Charter

Approved by Committee March 17, 2005
The membership will be given ten days to discuss those parts of the Charter presented by the originating committee. During that period, anything deemed controversial will be removed and tabled for later consideration. Following the discussion a yes/no vote will be held for ten days, two weekends inclusive. In order for this vote to be valid, 30% of the registered members as of March 12, 2005 must vote, that is, thirty-nine (39) out of one hundred and twenty-seven (127) registered members. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of the voting members must approve the Charter for it to be adopted.

¶2: Amendments to the Charter
Any items withdrawn for later consideration by the originating committee, and any subsequent changes made to the Charter will be adopted as Amendments. [later in the agenda]

RESOLUTIONS OF THE MEMBERSHIP

It is resolved that our Goals for 2005 are:
1. To open the board to the public
2. To decide whether to move to our own site
3. If we move, to resolve the related ownership issues by the end of the calendar year.
[June 27, 2005]

_________________

"All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
Epigraph on the tombstone of W.C. Fields.


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Jnyusa
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Posted: Sun 10 Jul , 2005 5:29 am
One of the Bronte Sisters
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Could I ask a Ranger to lock this thread so it will fall down and not confuse the members when they look in here for the stuff being ratified?

I'm reloading the Charter into a new thread with a separate post for each article so that we won't run out of space and accidentally erase part of the charter when we add to it (as I did earlier).

Jn

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"All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
Epigraph on the tombstone of W.C. Fields.


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