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Creating a new chapter

If you are managing a national chapter or intend to create one, please contact the board.

Note: the following is from an out-of-date page from an old working group. It will be replaced.

Regionalisation workgroup

This is work in progress. In heavy construction, that is. In fact, we haven't even started. But we have setup a working group with the purpose of easing the creation of national chapters. We will need to provide a template for statutes, and instructions for the people who are going to do it.

The working group currently consists of Gérald Sédrati-Dinet, Antonis Christofides, Erik Josefsson, Laura Creighton, and Andreas Trawoeger.

Basic principles

Find bellow, a first (unsorted) bullet list of basic principles that could be stated for the creation of a national chapter and relations with "mother FFII" :

  • There should be compatibility between object of national chapters and object of mother FFII.
  • In their statutes, national chapters should include a reference to mother FFII.
  • Wording of statutes can be adapted to the specific legal case of each country (for eg. in some countries, it could be easier to have a minimal document for statutes and to put more details in rules of procedure).
  • Statutes of national chapters should be submitted to mother FFII for approval.
  • Members of national chapters are managed locally.
  • Members of national chapters are automatically members of mother FFII (without voting right by default).
  • Mother FFII should have access to data concerning members of national chapter.
  • Membership fees are collected locally.
  • 50% of mebership fees and donations are given back to mother FFII.
  • Members should subscribe (and be approved according to local rules) via national chapter (when a national chapter exists in their country).
  • Members who subscribe directly via mother FFII are ignored from national chapters.
  • Relations with press are managed locally, in coordination with other national chapters and mother FFII.
  • Relation with enterprises are managed locally, in coordination with other national chapters and mother FFII.
  • A national chapter should appoint at least: a president, a treasurer, a contact with mother FFII, a responsible for contact with press, a responsible for contact with enterprises (roles can ve taken by the same person).
  • A national chapter should have a website www.ffii.xx or xx.ffii.org.

Those items are still to be discussed, developped (with rationales). Given that wording of statutes is heavily dependant of national laws with regard to associations, I (gibus) don't think that this working group will end up with a template for statutes, but merely with some guidelines...

Purpose of mother FFII

Current purpose

Currently FFII's purpose is written on http://www.ffii.org/assoc/statut/zweck/index.en.html:

  • The purpose of FFII is promotion of data-processing literacy by supporting the creation of those public information goods on whose free availibility private productivity in data processing depends most, and by supporting research into the effects of different regulatory frameworks on such productivity. The statutory purpose of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure is Popular Education by Accessibilising, Newly Creating and Legally Securing) of public interest information works. The aim of the association is public education by accessibilising, newly creating and legal securing of public information goods, ie information goods for which the following criteria can be best applied:
    Free use
    Everybody can use (e.g. that it can used, developed and redistributed, at least if the conditions needed for public benefit as listed here are preserved) the information, without needing the consent of possible owners (e.g. owner of author, copyright, patent, exploitation or other rights).
    Openness of sources
    The information is available in source form (primary form), i.e. the form in which is was designed and would be used for further development by the author.Everybody has the chance to grasp the initiative to further develop the information good. The way for doing this is not blocked by unnecessary barriers. For further development no non-free development tools are needed.
    Interoperability

    The information can be used and developed independently of other information goods, especially independently from software products that do not satisfy both above criteria. All "system requirements" of the information good are publicly specified, i.e. not in the form of manufacturers' or product names but in form of references to freely available descriptions of freely implementable interfaces.
    These interfaces allow automatized access for the main functionality available to the outside, are built up systematically and do not contain unneeded complexity, are fixed by definitive documentation and independent from the further development of the information good.

    Educational value
    The information opens access to knowledge and methods hitherto closed. It is suited to increase the ability of their users. It does not contain any anti-enlightenment elements (e.g. product advertisement, pornography and hate propaganda).

Example of FFII France

In order to be compatible with FFII's purpose without overlapping with other existing (free software) associations, FFII.fr has adopted the following objective (raw translation from http://www.ffii.fr/statuts-ffii-france, no legal value):

  • Purpose of the Association [FFII.fr] is to defend information rights and freedoms, mainly including:
    • rights of authors and users of software according to national and international laws ;
    • legal security of producers and users of softwares, notably with regard to software patents.
    • Any related activity is also concerned.

Note that the statutary objectives are further developped on rules of procedure (rough translation of http://www.ffii.fr/reglement-interieur-ffii-france):

  • FFII.fr, beyond objectives defined in Art. 2 of statutes, acts in the following directions:
    • articulating its actions and ressources with the ones of FFII, association currently registered in Munich, which FFII.fr is the French chapter;
    • encouraging debates on rights of authors of softwares and facilitating spreading information about these rights, organising any kind of events in order to defend legal security of authors and users of softwares;
    • promoting actions to raise awareness and educate public at large, medias, enterprises and politicians.

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