MINUTES OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL FREENET BOARD MEETING 10 February 1996 held in the Senate Room, Robertson Hall, Carleton University The following Board members were in attendance: Julie Chahal, 2nd Vice President, ab161 Jessica Cohen, aa724 Brett Delmage, aa693 Yvonne Dionne, ao594 Chris Hawley, ah654 Rebecca Last, as006 Andrew Patrick, 1st Vice President, aa118 Dave Sutherland, President, aa001 Richard Taylor, Secretary, aa333 Absent: David Blackwood, aa332 Scott Catterill, aa355 Rosaleen Dickson, ac174 David Loan, aa112 Stephen Toy, aa102 NCF Staff Present: Lisa Donnelly, Executive Director, am412 Roy Hooper, System Administrator, xx016 James Wilkinson, Projects Coordinator, da957 Members/Volunteers present: Miranda Gray, ak717, David Jones, aa457, Jean-Guy Marinier, bi108, Chris Lewis, and some others David Sutherland called the meeting to order at 1:15 pm. 1. INTRODUCTIONS 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 23 JANUARY 1996 Two corrections were made: In item 4 concerning the AGM, members should send suggestions for items of special business for the AGM, not "motions". In item 6a, Andrew Patrick acknowledged that a motion to defer does require a seconder. With these changes, the minutes of the last meeting were approved. Moved by Julie Chahal, seconded by Rebecca Last, CARRIED. 3. REVIEW OF THE AGENDA Richard Taylor requested that a motion regarding minute taking be added. it was added as the first item after Review of Agenda. It was suggested that discussion of volunteer issues be removed? Brett Delmage requested that it remain as a short item. It was agreed that we should move to the in-camera portion of the meeting at 3:45 pm and try to complete the meeting by 4:00pm. Regarding receiving of reports, it was agreed to defer the Development report that was distributed on-line very recently. 4. MOTION: Recording of Board members' votes That all votes of the NCF Board of Directors be recorded votes with the Minutes showing the names of all Directors and whether they voted in favour of the motion, against the motion, to abstain or were absent. Not voting in an on-line vote would be recorded as absent. Moved by Richard Taylor, aa333, Seconded by Julie Chahal Background: This procedure has been suggested by a member in the message below. It would promote accountablity to the membership, and would assist all members in deciding whether or not to re-elect a Director. >I notice, while reading the board minutes, that members' votes on various >motions, is not recorded. I think it would be useful, (to other members of >the board and to the membership in general), if individual members' votes >were reflected in the minutes of all BoD meetings. >This should not be a difficult thing to accomplish. The secretary, or the >person taking minutes could call the roll of attending directors, and >record the way they vote. At the last meeting of the BoD, I personally noted >that not all attending directors, recorded a vote or even an abstention, in >a number of instances. In my mind, it is the responsibility of ALL >directors to participate fully in discussions which concern motions before >the BoD. The idea of showing up, simply to insure that a member be >recorded as present at every third meeting, so that they can continue as a >member of our Board of Directors, does not further the cause of leadership. >Directors, for the most part, were elected by the membership of NCF/LCN. >They should be accountable to the voters. The above suggestion, is one way >to promote accountability. Discussion: Andrew Patrick proposed an amendment that recording the vote be at the discretion of the chair or of the majority of the board. No seconder. Motion to defer - moved by Andrew Patrick, seconded by Brett Delmage. Discussion This item was posted on-line less than one week prior to this meeting. There has not been enough time for consideration. If certain votes at this meeting should be recorded, then a Board Member can ask that the vote be recorded. Motion to defer passed. 6 to 3 5. OLD BUSINESS a. Export News MOTION is still on the floor - Moved by Dave Blackwood, seconded by Rebecca Last That we accept the Report and the recommendations of the Export Newsgroups Taskforce. Deferred from last meeting. Jessica Cohen - asked if the original motion can be withdrawn because other options are available. The Export Newsgroups Taskforce recommends separating the report into two parts. As Dave Blackwood was absent, Rebecca Last agreed to withdraw the motion with no objection from the assembly. MOTION: That the following recommendations from the export news task force be implemented: 1) that the attached site agreement be adopted; [see Report of the Export News Task Force] 2) that all information providers and SIG moderators be contacted for permission before we export their newsgroups; 3) that a message be posted in all other SIGs to notify members that it will be exported; where objections are posted, that there be a mechanism for SIG users to vote on whether the SIG should be exported; 4) that the Executive Committee is authorized to decide if a site needs to be removed; 5) that the Export News Task Force take any further implementation details to the Executive Director. Moved by Jessica Cohen, seconded by Rebecca Last. Discussion: Chris Hawley: implementation details? Miranda Gray: eg. voting mechanism is a detail that hasn't been decided but could be done on approval from Exec. Director; don't need to come back to full Board. Jessica: default is NOT to export Lisa: do we have the resources? Miranda: implementation can be gradual. Chris: mechanism for contacting SIG contact people? Miranda: contact by e-mail and posting Richard: why Executive Committee to decide re removal? Jessica: concern over overwork Richard: AMENDMENT that Complaints Committee be substituted for Executive Committee in point 4 (friendly amendment accepted for discussion) Miranda: Complaints Committee is overloaded Yvonne: is this meeting the original intent? See on-line posting re how export news fits our strategy Lisa: concern about other implementation possibilities - we're overworked already Andrew: concern about procedure: this is a lengthy verbal motion concern about wording: "moderator" of a SIG - unclear definition Jessica: explanations of newsgroup ownership Andrew: potential problems with site agreements - Executive Committee would be more appropriate Chris: SIGS vs information providers - the originator of a group may feel ownership of a SIG Miranda: understanding is that if a group has a formal organization then they should be an IP if not then SIG Lisa: concern about default option Dave Sutherland: default is NOT to export because ANY objection will cause a vote Julie: does not support idea given change to environment Brett: will probably vote against because he doesn't support overall idea of exporting newsgroups - Planning Committee is working on some associated ideas. We could get a more integrated solution. ED is overloaded. Andrew: if motion had a different implementation then would have been in favour VOTE: FOR: Rebecca Last as006 David Sutherland aa001 Jessica Cohen AGAINST: Julie Chahal ab161 Brett Delmage aa693 Yvonne Dionne ao594 Andrew Patrick aa118 ABSTAIN: Chris Hawley ah654 Richard Taylor aa333 ABSENT: Rosaleen Dickson ac174 David Loan aa112 Stephen Toy aa102 David Blackwood aa332 Scott Catterill aa355 Jessica Cohen asked for Board direction for Export News Task force. Discussion of alternatives for sharing newsgroups: MOTION: to reconsider the April 1995 decision to, in principle, share newsgroups Moved by Julie Chahal, seconded by Richard Taylor WITHDRAWN after discussion of implications of a motion to reconsider Further discussion: Chris: let's implement off-site access to newsgroups by members Brett: direct e-mail to members is a more effective fund-raising mechanism. Let's get the members discussing this at the AGM. Jessica: do you want this as an AGM vote? Rebe: wants to propose this as an AGM issue Yvonne: the other (NNTP) alternative fits better with other NCF strategy Rebe: we should debate principle, not technical detail discussion of access by members vs access by non-members Julie: we should have a lot of local people as members regardless of access mechanism. They should come in through the front door and see our info in context. Need to improve our access. Dave: WWW tools will allow people to use their own newsreaders and get newsgroups out of context. Chris Lewis BNR - NNTP won't get through BNR firewall. I want ncf newsgroups for BNR users. [Note: BNR has recently changed its name to "Nortel"] Roy: people skip past other info context anyway Miranda: board is not ready to send this to AGM Andrew: suggest we leave the issue as is - suspend Export News Task force Lisa: yes - let's get a clear mandate before Task Force does anything more Chris: wants to give Export News some direction even if it is stand by until April Jessica: Export News will not do anything until directed 5b FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION MOTION: That NCF adopt the following policy: Policy ------ The National Capital FreeNet (NCF) supports the Fundamental Freedoms listed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and provides a medium for free, public expression of opinions and ideas, and a means for people to form associations. No user shall be restricted or denied access to NCF for expressing or receiving information that does not violate Canadian laws. Freedom of expression is limited by Canadian law. NCF users are responsible for the information and messages they post on the NCF system, and should be aware of Canadian laws that limit freedom of expression. The National Capital FreeNet cannot determine whether or not material posted on the NCF system is legal; however, NCF will cooperate with Canadian legal authorities to identify the person responsible for questionable material. NCF will only remove illegal material when directed to by Canadian legal authorities. Users who try to avoid their responsibilities by providing false identification will have their membership and access revoked. Community standards within NCF determine WHERE particular kinds of information should be posted. Separate areas have been set up for particular topics. Users should respect the rights and feelings of others when posting to particular topic areas. NCF may move or delete information that has been placed in an inappropriate area, if there are complaints from the community affected. There will always be at least one place on the NCF system that is appropriate for all legal expressions of ideas and opinions. Currently, that area is the newsgroup ncf.general. System limitations may prevent NCF from allowing some forms of expression. If certain information is overloading the NCF system because of its size, complexity or routing, it may have to be removed simply to prevent inconvenience to other users. Other policies deal with particular cases. Moved by Richard Taylor seconded by Yvonne Dionne Friendly AMENDMENT: in the last paragraph change "its size, complexity or routing" to "exessive use of system resources" [Note: since the minute taker was actively participating in the discussion, the discussion was not recorded.] Motion to defer (to an indefinite date) moved by Andrew Patrick, seconded by Jessica Cohen. VOTE: FOR: Julie Chahal, ab161 Jessica Cohen, aa724 Brett Delmage, aa693 Yvonne Dionne, ao594 Chris Hawley, ah654 Andrew Patrick, aa118 Dave Sutherland, President, aa001 AGAINST: Rebecca Last, as006 Richard Taylor, aa333 ABSENT: Rosaleen Dickson ac174 David Loan aa112 Stephen Toy aa102 David Blackwood aa332 Scott Catterill aa355 6. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 20, at 7:00pm in the Senate Room, Robertson Hall, Carleton University. 7. IN CAMERA discussion of staff terms and contracts. Note: the Board never did get around to discussing "volunteer issues" at this meeting. 8. AJOURNED around 4:30pm.