Constitution Review Working Group Report TOR 09/00

ISOCNZ Constitutional Review Working Group

Report to Council September 2000

Members

These are the Terms of Reference for the Working Group that have been formulated. This is published here for your information. Once we have any substantive work to publish we will have a web page and a discussion forum, akin to the one for the SRS WG, to assist with keeping traffic down on this list.

Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Work of the Constitutional Working Group of the ISocNZ.

We will be looking at the Constitutional structure, methods and processes (rather than reference just to rules and bylaws). The work of this WG will need to be aligned with any other on-going WGs examining particular structures of ISOCNZ and particularly the MEP WG.

These terms of reference may be expanded as we take note of issues raised on the -members list and of course direct contact between member/s and the WG.

1. This is the Internet Society of NZ as such it should start from the basis that the Internet is its foundation and all functionality should flow from that premise (as a basis for direction when considering alternatives).

2. Membership and criteria

• The various forms that exist should be examined as to their correctness (and the "benefits" and terms laid down by the Society at the point of joining)
• Examine the process of validation of membership (- what criteria can we create to as a benchmark for validation [and therefore entry to the Society]? - what constitutes "financial" membership and consequences of becoming "un-financial"? - impact of validation in relation to 2, a above)
• Revocation of membership (- what grounds? - what mechanisms? ? fair hearing etc.)
• Obligations placed on members (- are they over-burdensome, - are they adequate?) and Rights of members
• Electronic voting rights (- when are the voting rights rescinded? - how to manage electronic voting with validation of votes and ensure correct scrutineering of electronic votes, - what if any, statutory methods to use). I hope that this topic will be dealt with in close association with the Working Group dealing with Electronic communications.
• Accessibility to genuine participation in the functioning of the Society through both Working Groups and Standing Committees (This is will also be considered in part under point 3 below)
• Bi-directional communications between Members and the Society and
  - to include examination of the Website (- up-to-dateness? - appropriate areas? - ease of use?)
  - to include examination of the lists, (- who creates them, - who moderates, - rights to post, - archiving, - what should be private to the subscribers, - what should be Member accessible, - what should be general publicly accessible)
  - to include obligatory subscription versus optional subscription to Society mailing lists (- and to include examination of the current policy viz-a-viz the revocation of membership, in conjunction with 2, c above)

3. The Role of the Council, membership in the Council, powers of Council compared to powers of members, relationship of the Council to the membership.

4. Term of office and method of election of Councillors and officers (and, including recall of a Councillor).

(a) Code of ethics for Councillors.

5. Timing, methods and rules for calling and holding of meetings (Council and Society).

6.. The probity of Councillors concurrently holding a position on the Board of Domainz (as referred by the AGM to this WG)

(a) Relationship of ISOCNZ as shareholder to the finance producing, wholly owned subsidiary (currently Domainz). As requested on the - members list by Rick Shera.

8. The role (functioning/non-functioning) of the IAG, rules and rights and Council seat appointment. (Here I feel we should also examine the relationship of the Society to ISPs/Registrars and whether we need to formulate any specific rules as such.)

9. Examination of the By-Laws and formulate modifications that will be needed to comply with new recommendations.

10. Examination of the ratified policy documents that concern the structure of Management of ISOCNZ, the functioning of the Council, functioning of the Society, Member obligations/rights (and accessibility) and produce modifications that will be needed to ensure a coherent Constitution.

All the Best
Chris Streatfield
Convenor of the Constitutional Working Group
chris@kriss.net
Tel: +64 4 565 0909
Fax: +64 4 565 0209

© 2000 The Internet Society of New Zealand
Last updated 21 September 2000