[foundation-board] Chapter MoUs especially in re OKF Germany Chapter

Thu Oct 21 11:57:49 UTC 2010

Dear Fellow Board Members,

As you may know, two weeks ago I was in Germany (as was Jordan). It
was great to meet up with German colleagues and members of the nascent
German Chapter.

It is clear that things are progressing rapidly there. In particular,
it appears that there may be some monies available -- via grant or
paid work -- of the type that fits within the OKF remit.

Talking with the main OKF Germany protagonists (Daniel Dietrich and
Friedrich Lindenberg), it was clear they would like to conduct these
activities as an OKF Germany but were unsure of what exactly they were
'allowed' to do. From discussions with them it was clear that:

a) We should formalize more the relationship between OKF Germany
chapter and OKF 'central' i.e. the Open Knowledge Foundation (Ltd)
headquartered here in the UK. Specifically we should create a new MoU
suitable for them (and other chapters). NB: there is already a rather
vague MoU in place that was drafted and agreed earlier in the year
when the chapter officially launched.
b) We should aim to this relatively rapidly (if possible) at least for them

While in Germany, Jordan and I in collaboration with Daniel and
Friedrich already started work on a draft MoU which you can find
below. I would like to propose the following:

1. Creation of a basic MoU draft by myself, Jordan and Paula
2. View of this by the board with provisional sign-off (for final
sign-off see below)
3. Submission of MoU to the OKF Germany and the wider community for
consultation (esp on okfn-coord)
4. Final sign-off by the board of the revised version that comes out
of this process

Does this sound sensible, does anyone object to this process or
already have comments on the basic MoU below?

Regards,

Rufus

## MOU

NB: I believe Jordan has additions and amendments to this text which
he has not yet shared (e.g. around requirements to remain active)

The OKF acknowledge OKF Germany/Deutschland (OKFD) as an official
chapter of the OKF and permit them to use the name OKF Germany, OKF
Deutschland subject to the following requirements:

1. They comply with the puroposes of the OKF as stated in the OKF
MoAssoc and as transposed into the german version. Specifically the
following items from the OKF MoA:

  (a) To promote the openness of all forms of knowledge where
knowledge is taken to include information, data and all other
synonymous terms.
  (b) In particular
     1) To promote freedom of access, creation and dissemination of knowledge.
     2) To develop, support and promote projects, communities and
tools that foster and facilitate the creation, access to and
dissemination of knowledge.
     3) To campaign against restrictions both legal and non-legal on
the creation, access to and dissemination of knowledge.

[Aside: may want to think about amending OKF MoA for usage by chapters
(and perhaps for ourselves) - e.g. to mention opendefinition.org in
relation to openness, to change campaign to "work to reduce the legal
and non-legal limitations on the creation, access ... "]

2. OKFD is a seperate legal entity with distinct liablitities

3. They permit the OKF to designate, should they wish, one individual
to sit on OKF Germany board

4. That the OKFD designate one board member who will act as the
contact point and liason for OKF and to provide regular reports as
requested on a regular basis (up to quarterly but more likely annual
or semi-annual)