The Board of Directors is requested to add this motion to
amend NCF By-law number three to the agenda for the 1999
Annual General Meeting, under Special Business.

MOTION

Moved by Sandy Campbell (dt820)
Seconded by John Rowat (ba338)

MOTION

Sandy Campbell (dt820) moves, seconded by John Rowat
(ba338), that the present By-law No. 3 which reads
"3. There shall be no membership  fees or dues" be replaced
by the following:

"3.  The rights, benefits, and duties of membership shall
include the  responsibility of sharing in operating costs,
in the form of an annual  contribution whose minimum amount
and terms shall be established from  time to time by the
Board of Directors in light of financial and  operational
requirements."

(END)


RATIONALE

This change simply gives formal approval and authority to
the Board to  use its best judgment in carrying out its
responsibilities in terms of  increasing the number of
contributors and the amount of contributions.  It would be
left to the Board to establish the method of approving new
applications for membership and for renewals.

This proposed substitution takes into account the reality
that NCF  must operate in a far more frugal manner than a
conventional  commercial corporation and that its most
precious resource is members  who volunteer time and talent.
Those people can become discouraged  and fed up by red-tape
and second-guessing.  The proposed change gives  the Board
the freedom and flexibility to use its good judgment to make
the business and technical and other decisions necessary to
let NCF  thrive, for the benefit of the membership and of
the community.

It is premised on the notion that we want Board members to 
be imaginative leaders, NOT a committee of dutiful clerks, 
obediently following and implementing an exhaustive list of 
rules and regulations; they must have the maneuvering room 
to lead NCF toward the future, rather than being constrained 
by  outdated approaches which leave us frozen and
unchanging as the times change around us.  Attempting to 
maintain the status quo may succeed in slowing the 
downward spiral, but it won't stop it, and it certainly won't 
reverse it.

It is reasonable to assume that members who volunteer to 
serve on the Board, at some cost to themselves of time and 
the stresses that go with the job, are motivated by dedication 
to the idea of Freenet, and can be trusted with the freedom of 
action this amendment envisages.  This will, in effect, be 
enabling legislation, which clarifies the Board's ability to take 
the actions it deems necessary in an area of special 
sensitivity and of special importance to Freenet's future.  It 
responds to the distracting, divisive, and potentially damaging 
debate that followed the Board's announcement last fall of  the 
revised  contributions policy.  It eliminates the gray area, a 
source of confusion that led to often-acrimonious debate.

As for the name "Freenet,"  there is no need to change it,
truly.  The system remains "free," with no agenda beyond
providing service to its users and to the community.  It has
no political or corporate affiliation, no restrictions on
who may have an account, and reasonable requirements
governing usage and cost-sharing.  The name should stay;
its meaning must simply be understood in the broader sense. 
For our members, and for potential members and for the 
general community there is a valuable cachet and powerful 
symbolism in the name under which Freenet was born.  We 
should not casually turn our backs on our history. Symbols 
have meaning and are important.

(END)