<div dir="ltr">2008/9/13 "Christoph Schäfer" <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:christoph-schaefer@gmx.de">christoph-schaefer@gmx.de</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="Ih2E3d">> > Louis, yes, I agree, although I think we need to remove voting rights or<br>
> > similar.<br>
><br>
> Absolutely. We don't want a company to take over or to have simply the<br>
> possibility to take over.<br>
<br>
</div>This is close to impossible with the current setup, as a company would have to stack the association with individual employees as members, and then the charter still says that a member that is acting against the goals and interests of the association can be excluded. Plus, the managing committee has to decide on each application for membership. We could set up an application form that requires disclosure of any connection to a company that may want to harm the project. Potential members would to have to sign a declaration that they will disclose any such connection during their membership etc. We have a lot of latitude here.<br>
<br>
Speaking of an application form, I think we should create one in German (required), English and French. Other languages may be desireable, but I doubt a German court would accept a Chinese, Russian or whatever version. The tax office already complained that the GPL is written in English, even though German courts accepted the English version of the GPL as valid. But we shouldn't take the risk of accepting a form that neither we nor a court understand. In the worst case we would have to pay for an offical translation. I will prepare a German and an English draft for the founding meeting, so that we can vote upon. French would probably be OK, as French is an official administrative language in the EU. This way, we had a set of forms for the first year of our existence. The general meeting could then decide to create a new one next year.<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>
><br>
> Another tought is the Status are one thing and they define the "frame" of<br>
> the association. The Rules can be more specific, enter into details, and<br>
</div>> ca= n<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d">> address such issues as the membership, for instance. I see that more or<br>
</div>> les= s<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d">> like the Law and the Regulations. I understand that changing the Status is<br>
> always possible but we have to refer to the legal authority, while the<br>
</div>> Rule= s<br>
<div class="Ih2E3d">> can be discussed and defined among the members.<br>
<br>
</div>Exactly. For instance, the statutes and articles don't describe the voting procedure for the general meeting, so this can be decided during the meeting. Also, the scale of fees is an external document, not a part of the charter. In its current form the charter contains the absolute minimum to satisfy the requirements of German civil law and to get the association working -- thanks to the many useful hints from court employees.</blockquote>
<div><br>All this seems just perfect!<br><br>Thanks for putting this together!<br><br>Louis <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<div class="Ih2E3d"><br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Christoph<br>
</div></blockquote></div></div>