NATIONAL CAPITAL FREENET BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING held on 21 AUGUST 1993 in the HONEYWELL ROOM, RMOC HEADQUARTERS OTTAWA, CANADA 1. Board members in attendance: David Sutherland Chairman Andrew Patrick First Vice President John Ferguson Second Vice President Jean Wilmot Treasurer Robert Pless Stephen Toy Al Seaman Jay Weston Richard Taylor David Blackwood Dave Loan Chair Community Relations 2. Others in attendance: David Hughes Secretary John Morgan Chair Ways and Means Peter MacDougall Chair Public Access Kyla Huckerby Office Manager Marc Labelle Dan L'Ecuyer Ian D. Allen 3. At 9:10 am the meeting was called to order by the Chairman David Sutherland, there was a quorum in attendance. I. TREASURER REPORT: 4. Jean Wilmot presented a report on the Balance of NCF accounts as of July 1993, and Cash Flow Projections up to the first quarter of 1994. The balance showed that the NCF had $91,045 in assets including $46,040 in cash. The Cash Flow Projections were met with some concern because they showed that at the present level of donations and expenditures the NCF could be in a cash flow squeeze in the second quarter of 1994. The consensus was that the NCF would offer a higher level of service by adding more phone lines and start to solicit donations in a more aggressive manner. The board was not asked nor did it approve the general expenditures contained in the Cash Flow Projections. A copy of the Treasurer's report is attached. 5. At this time Andrew Patrick made a motion to increase the number of phone lines by 40 in October and then by a further 15 early in 1994. After some discussion Dave Loan proposed amending the motion that read "The NCF Executive is authorized to make capital purchases of a terminal server and 60 modems and to add phone lines in order to maintain ratio of 1 line per 100 registered users where funding allows". The amended motion was seconded by Stephen Toy and passed unanimously. II. COMMITTEE REPORTS: 6. Ways and Means: John Morgan chair of the committee presented a short report stating that the application for charitable status was still pending at Revenue Canada although Victoria's request had been turned down [ Secretary Comment: the NCF application for charitable status has since been turned down by Revenue Canada, an appeal is in progress]. He said that a funding drive was likely for the fall and asked the board for advice on how such a drive could be best achieved. In addition he indicated that he would once again research the possibility of using credit cards for donations and that an approach was underway to Wintario for funding. 7. Public Access: Peter MacDougall chair of the committee presented a written report (attached) and asked for approval of the following paragraphs contained in the report: "Public Information Access Stations are a key element in fulfilling the objective of the National Capital FreeNet which is to meet the present community information needs of the people, and the public and private bodies and agencies in the National Capital District. A critical element is to find effective and user friendly ways for members of the community to achieve fully interactive and broadly based participation in the rapidly changing communications and media environments. The FreeNet Stations are intended to ensure that FreeNet is available to anyone who has an interest or need for information , particularly those who may not own a home computer or a modem. Any sponsoring organization or individual is free to make a terminal available to the public at their own initiative and expense. Certain Guidelines apply which must be followed if the FreeNet name and logo are used to identify the terminal. A function of the Public Access Committee is to promote the availability of public information access stations to the general public. The following Guidelines must apply in order for any terminal that uses the name and logo which officially designates it as a FreeNet Public Information Access Station : - The FreeNet Public Information Access Station must comply with overall FreeNet Board policies on access to FreeNet - FreeNet must be a key feature of the opening chooser screen on any interface which is presented on a FreeNet Public Information Access Station - Full access to the National Capital FreeNet information base must be available - The full information package as provided by the FreeNet Public Access Committee must be displayed as well as the logo - Each station, though configured as appropriate to a particular location, is to form a family standard which is consistent in appearance and function each with all the others so as to maximize ease of use and user familiarity throughout the region - Sponsors will be given credit on a sign mounted on the Station as specified as well as on the local opening screen." 8. After review the board gave its approval but stated that except in special cases individually approved by the board that the NCF would not fund the installation of public access terminals but should provide information on how organizations could pursue their own funding. Peter MacDougall agreed to provide a detailed cost breakdown for the installation of individual terminals. 9. Community Relations: Dave Loan committee chair outlined some of the issues before his committee and activities planned for the upcoming Ottawa Business and Government Computer Show. Future plans included surveying Information Providers to develop new and better tools to assist them, and the preparation of a document that would outline the real costs in time and resources of providing information. 10. System Design: Andrew Patrick handed out a list of system administration priorities for the NCF (attached) of which the board had no objections. John Ferguson then made a motion that the NCF hire a full time system administrator on a term basis [Secretary Comment: salary withheld until hiring is completed]. It was seconded by Richard Taylor and passed unanimously. Andrew Patrick was given authority to appoint a committee and hire the system administrator. III. FRENCH LANGUAGE COMMITTEE 11. Marc Labelle made a presentation on behalf of members interested in furthering access to French language on the NCF. He gave a short report on the status of the September French Language Committee meeting and requested formal recognition. Dave Loan made a motion that the NCF Board create a sub-committee, for the purpose of making recommendations to the board on issues of providing French Language Services and promoting French Culture on the NCF. It was seconded by Stephen Toy and passed unanimously. IV. OFFICE MANAGERS REPORT 12. Kyla Huckerby, the NCF Office Manager presented a written summary of the office operations during the last three months (attached). One of the recommendations was to streamline administration by allowing for quicker and more centralized decision making. To accomplish this Andrew Patrick proposed that the Executive take over more of the day to day decision making from the board. The Board agreed that the Executive should make decisions on administrative matters and inform them after the fact. 13. David Sutherland stated that the NCF Office Managers current contract expires soon and recommended extending the contract for a further three months. Andrew Patrick moved that the Office Managers contract be extended for three months, it was seconded by John Ferguson and passed unanimously. V. REFINED USER INTERFACE 14. Dan L'Ecuyer made a presentation on a user interface he is developing that could allow more user friendly access to FreeNet. The Board was impressed with Mr. L'Ecuyer's presentation but decided to look at other interfaces before making any decisions. VI. POLICY DECISIONS 15. Several requests had been made users for telnet access to sites not currently served by the Gopher. The Boards decision was that the NCF would only allow access to global Internet tools and only in cases where NCF resources permit. This limits telnet to those sites that are served by the Gopher global internet tool and since NCF resources are currently strained it was decided that restrictions on File Transfer Protocols be continued. Access to Internet E-mail services and Usenet News will remain unrestricted. 16. In order to deal with members who contravene the User Agreement or other NCF policies Andrew Patrick moved that Warning notices could be sent at the discretion of the Executive and that 30 day suspensions or removal of account privileges could be imposed at the discretion of the Board of Directors. It was seconded by Dave Loan and carried unanimously. 17. In order to expedite the Board of Directors electronic voting the following procedure was suggested. a. A Board Member would place a motion in the "board mail alias" or in the Board Discussion Area on FreeNet . b. Once the motion had been seconded all board members or interested parties could participate in discussion concerning the motion. c. The author would then call for a vote, restating the motion and indicating a time limit for voting. A 72 hour minimum was suggested. d. Board members would then respond in only one of three ways, in favour, opposed or abstain. e. Once the time limit had passed the author of would tally the votes and report the results. Five votes would be required for a quorum. 18. The Board agreed to implement this procedure. 19. There had been a request from users to implement a Singles SIG using anonymous postings, the Board felt that it did not have sufficient information to set a policy on anonymous or double blind postings but did agree to implement the SIG in the normal manner in which where postings are identified by name. 20. Dave Loan moved that personal for sale areas be allowed in individual SIGs as long as they did not violate NCF policy on commercial advertising. Richard Taylor seconded the motion and the vote was split 5/5 the motion was not carried. In favour were Dave Loan, Richard Taylor, Stephen Toy, Al Seaman and Robert Pless. Opposed were Andrew Patrick, John Ferguson, Jay Weston, David Blackwood and David Sutherland. VI. ELECTIONS FOR THE NCF BOARD OF DIRECTORS 21. David Sutherland brought forward the issue of Elections for the NCF Board of Directors. According to the bylaws the one third of the Board of Directors positions (5) must be opened to nomination and election this year at the annual general meeting. After some discussion it was suggested by the chairman, David Sutherland that all positions on the Board should be opened for election on one, two and three year terms as indicated in the bylaws for the first elections and that voting should take place electronically by proxy on FreeNet if possible with arrangements also being made for voting at the Annual General Meeting. No final decision was made and the matter was left open for discussion. 21. The next Annual General Meeting was tentatively scheduled for the first Tuesday in December 1993. VII. ADJOURNMENT 22. The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 pm.