Charter

Constitution

For examples of sample constiutions visit Linux Australia

This is the constitution of the Free and Open Source Software Society (Persatuan Perisian Sumber Bebas dan Terbuka).

Definitions

In these rules:

• the Act - means the Societies Act of 1966
• the Society - means the Society registered as "Perisian Sumber Bebas Dan Terbuka (Free and Open Source Software Society)"
• the Committee - means the
• the Steering Committee - means the Committee.
• office bearers - means the Committee
• Free and Open Source Software - means software which are licensed under licenses that are considered Free Software licenses by the Free Software Foundation.
• FOSS - means Free and Open Source Software
• Open Standards - means Open Standards as defined by the United Nations Development Programme - Asia Pacific Development Information Program - International Open Source Network - Free/Open Source Software: Open Standards Primer. (FIXME - a clear link to the definition is required)
• participation - means the act of contributing to the goals of the Society. This can be achieved in several manners such as code contributions, documentation, translations, maintenance and non-trivial activities which benefit FOSS or the Society.
• contribution - refer to participation
• vote - can be either by a show of hands, an email proxy vote sent to the secretary, online voting, or any method the committee chooses to define
• present - can be physically present, or present online

Name

• The Society shall be known as the "Perisian Sumber Bebas Dan Terbuka" in Malay and "Free and Open Source Software Society" in English.
• The name may be abbreviated to "FOSSS".

Place of Business

• The Society's registered place of business shall be:

55 Lorong Zaaba,

Taman Tun Dr. Ismail,

60000,

Kuala Lumpur,

Wilayah Persekutuan,

Malaysia

• The place of business can be at any other place, as may from time to time be decided by the Management Committee. The registered place of business of the Society shall not be changed without prior approval of the Registrar of Societies.

Aims and Objectives

• Public Image and Voice

• The Society will represent a single voice representing the FOSS related interest of its members and projects. The foundation will also act as a platform to announce joint-marketing efforts of those organizations (both corporate and non corporate organizations) which would want to make FOSS-related announcements.

  • As part of fulfilling this role, the Society will advocate FOSS and issue feedback and statements on public FOSS issues and government policy.

• Corporate and Organizational Point of Contact

  • Companies and other organizations which want to communicate with the FOSS community of the Society should be able to use the Society as their first point of contact. The Society will be responsible for helping these organizations understand FOSS and become involved in matters of common interest. The foundation will be vested with the power to represent its members in these conversations.
  • The Society will also act as a forum for discussions between the organizations and companies which have an interest in FOSS. There will be a subgroup of the Society which will include members from these organizations to make this possible.

• Direction and Vision

  • The Society will provide a sense of leadership and cohesive direction to Malaysian FOSS community projects.
  • As the Society evolves, other duties which are appropriate and necessary for the Society to undertake will emerge. Before the Management Committee of the Society decides takes on any major new duties that deviate from the general goals of the Society, it shall consult with the broader FOSS community and use the feedback to guide its activities.
  • Fund Receipt and Disbursement
  • Individuals and organizations that want to make a monetary contributions to the Society will be able to do so by making a contribution to the Society. The Society will be in charge of disbursing these funds in accordance to the wider goals of the Society and to the extent possible, in accordance with the wishes of the benefactor.

Membership

There shall exist two levels of membership:

Application for Membership

• In order to apply for membership, the application:
• must be made by the applicant in writing or through the society's online membership application system; and
• must be lodged with the secretary of the association.
• Upon receiving the application, the Secretary will refer the application to the Management Committee to determine if the application will be approved or rejected. The Management Committee's decision is final.
• In the case of a rejected application, the reasoning for rejection must be forwarded to the applicant.
• In the case of an accepted application, the Secretary is required to enter the applicant into the register of members.

Committee

• The supreme power of the Society is vested into the Committee.
• The committee shall consist of the following positions:
• President
• Vice-President
• Secretary * required to maintain the register of members.
• Treasurer
• There shall only be one person assigned to each position.
• After the first eighteen months of the incorporation of the Society, elections for each posts within the Committee will be held at the Annual General Meeting.
• Committee members are legible for re-election.

Resignation & Termination

• Any member who fails to comply with the rules of the Society or has acted in a manner to bring disrepute upon the Society may be expelled or suspended for a period of time as the Committee deems fit.
• Before the Committee expels or suspends the member, the member shall be informed of the grounds for such expulsion or suspension in writing and be given an opportunity to explain and clear himself in person. Such suspension or expulsion shall be enforced, unless otherwise reversed by a general meeting upon appeal by the said member.
• Members who have not participated for a year will have their membership revoked.
• Any member may choose to terminate their membership at a reasonable time.

General Meeting

• With the exception of the first annual general meeting of the association, the association must, at least, once in each calendar year, and within the period of 6 months after the expiration of each financial year of the association, convene an annual general meeting of its members.
• The association must hold its first annual general meeting:
• within the period of 18 months after its incorporation under the Act;
• within the period of 6 months after the expiration of the first financial year of the association
• The business of the annual general meeting shall be:-
• To receive the minutes of the previous annual general meeting
• To receive the Committee's report on the working of the Society during the previous year
• To receive the Treasurers' report and the audited accounts of the Society for the previous year;
• To elect a Committee and to appoint auditors for the ensuing year;
• To deal with such other matters as may be put before it.
• The Secretary shall send to all members at least 30 days before the meeting an agenda including copies of minute and reports, together with the audited accounts of the Society for the previous year. Copies of these documents will also be made available at the registered place of business of the Society for the perusal of members.

Audit

• two persons, who shall not be office-bearers of the society, shall be appointed by the annual general meeting as honorary auditors. they shall hold office for one year and may e reappointed.
• the auditors shall be required to audit the accounts of the society for the year, and to prepare a report or certificate for the annual general meeting they may also be required by the president to audit accounts of the society for any period within their tenure of office, at

Financial Provisions

FIXME

Trustee

• There shall be one trustee, whom shall be appointed at the annual general meeting.
• The Trustee shall be a veteran and respected community member. The Trustee has the power to remove members of the committee, to arbitrate arguments and to ensure that the committee delivers on the objectives of the board.

Amendments of Rules

• these rules shall not be amended except by resolution of a general meeting. such amendments hall take effect form the date of their approval by the registrar of societies. any amendments to the rules shall be forwarded to the registrar within 60 days of being passed by the general meeting.

Dissolution

• The society may be voluntarily dissolved by a resolution of not less than three-fourths of the membership present in a general meeting.
• In the event of the Society being dissolved as provided above, all debts and liabilities legally incurred on its behalf shall be fully discharged, and the remaining funds shall be disposed of in such manner as may be decided upon by a general meeting.
• Notice of dissolution shall be forwarded to the Registrar of Societies within 14 days of its dissolution

Technical Requirements

• The Society will have preference for Free and Open Source Software.

• The Society will have preference for Open Standards.

• The Society is required to use file formats that are Open Standards.

  • In the case an external entity requiring the usage of a non Open Standard file format, the Society shall provide the external entity with both the non Open Standard, and Open Standard file format.

• All documents and media released by the Society shall be under a Creative Commons By Attribution License.

• More than one Creative Commons License may be used on document or media.