Thanks for the feedback. I agree that this is a real challenge and could not be done with just one or two dedicated people. You would need a working Board of at least 5-6 dedicated people, you would also need an Executive Director (full time) and one other staff (part time at a minimum).
Web apps and social networks are a challenge. I am of the mind to use them both for their network effect and to recruit new members while simultaneously criticizing or pushing for improvements. If you only use tools that are ideologically perfect you limit your outreach and end up only preaching to the choir. Financial information should be as open as possible orgs that post their tax returns on their website are taking the first step a bit more information could be made public. Legally some information will need to be protected for privacy reasons. Why start as an org? 1) Tax reasons - it allows you to easily take donations and write off expenses 2) Someone needs to do the grunt work, making all decisions by committee is not effective. As far as start by "doing things", my org has quietly been doing things for the past 4 years with only volunteer labor. With Freedom for IP<http://freedomforip.org>, Sarah and I have been doing daily blogging, education and outreach at venues ranging from middle school classrooms to the Nonprofit Technology Conference to LinuxFest to Net^2 to International Delegations with lots of positive feedback. We are hoping that FC.org or someone else will form a national movement we could join, but most orgs seem to be busy enough getting their own work done. By contrast the Open Rights Group in the UK blows away SFFC in actualy making things happen because they have a solid support structure and people that coordinate the nuts and bolts details. On Sat, Sep 20, 2008 at 1:42 AM, Asheesh Laroia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > On Wed, 17 Sep 2008, Brian Rowe wrote: > > > What would you like to see as your ideal grassroots, general public, > > international FC org? > > Brian, I like your vision. In a sense, it's almost too inclusive - what a > huge amount of work this would be! You'd need lots of people or a few > mind-blowingly-efficient yet organized and friendly people to manage it. > That's not to dissuade - I would *love* to see this. > > > Major Activities: > > 1. Alliance building - willing to work with other orgs to coordinate > > campaigns > > 2. Political activism - campaigns where members can take action > > 3. Act as an umbrella organization that would help foster smaller > projects > > and provide assistance to fledgling FC related ideas > > 4. Outreach and education at middle schools, high schools, colleges, > > technology summits, conferences professional and academic > > 5. Direct media contact over current issues > > I think this is pretty great; the focus on outreach and smaller projects > would be great for any organization like this, and helps make the projects > a feasible size! > > > Policies: > > 1. Strongly recommend PD, BY or freedom defined licenses > > 2. the organization exclusively uses PD or BY for all publications > > 3. Strongly recommend Free Open Source Software on all platforms with a > > preference for Linux (or other open OS) > > 4. The organization should set an example in its own software choices > > 5. Promotion of data portability for Web applications > > 6. Promotion of open standards > > Sure. But there's always this sticky trade-off between promoting what is > Good and Just, and using evil slick tools (like proprietary hosted web > applications) to achieve short-term needs. Students for Free Culture is > not the one true shining example here, but I'd say we've done a fairly > good job of putting our actions where our mouths are. > > Again - not to say you can't, just something I hope you'll keep in mind > down the road, when someone offers you a slick hosted service for social > networking (call it "Facebook") - do you use it to speak out against it, > or just to speak out in favor or your organization? Do you ditch it > entirely, losing out on potential access to people? (Earlier, it was the > same story for patented codecs on YouTube - use YouTube and be a > sell-out, or don't use YouTube and miss out on audience.) > > Tough questions, but that's life in a non-free world trying to promote the > Free World! (-: > > > Governance: > > 1. NPO 501c3 or charitable org > > 2. Member driven (funded at least in part through memberships) > > 3. Board of directors which includes input from general members. Maybe 1 > or > > 2 elected or appointed position on the board that represent member > > perspectives. > > 4. Membership level of "Volunteer" where one can donate time instead of > > cash to become a member > > 5. Open investments - the community should be assured that all org > > investments are in places that are compatible with the mission > > 6. Publicly Open Board meetings for all matters except emergencies and > > personal decisions. > > Great. Presumably some financial matters may be closed, such as where > anonymous donors are involved. > > > Ideas to help start: > > Challenge pledge the way Open Rights Group (ORG) was founded > > Merging a few existing fledgling orgs under central leadership > > Whoa, who do you have in mind to get merged? > > > Things to avoid: > > 1. Direct Litigation - EFF and ACLU are doing well here and the cost is > very > > high. I would limit legal action to policy papers and *amici briefs* > > 2. PAC Money - We can't change the system through buying representatives. > > Great! > > > General comments: > > This outline is heavily influenced by my work on Freedom for IP and > WSBA's > > Access to Justice Committee. Please feel free to make any comments, > > suggestions or critisims. > > I just want to bring up another data point: Students for Free Culture > tried to "go legit" and incorporate and go 501(c)3; we finished the first > step three years ago, and then it expired, and then now we're still > working on both despite Board elections with officers promising to succeed > at both of those things. > > (BTW, the mission statement and web site always said I think: > "FreeCulture.org: a student movement for [something or other]".) > > I bring up the SFC example here because it takes some dedication and > persistence to achieve that "legit" status, and once you have it you're > going to start needing full-time people just to repeatedly be persistent > on those sorts of things. > > Debian, for example, has decided ages ago to stay an informal > organization. A separate entity, Software in the Public Interest, is an > umbrella Free Software non-profit that helps out Debian among many > projects, handling donations for example. > > To reach the kinds of goals you want, I would suggest starting by doing > things, and only after you show you can succeed as a bunch of excited > people repeatedly doing great stuff, then work on incorporating. > > More than a year ago, the Harvard conference was pratically overrun by > people I would then have termed "grown-ups" interested in Free Culture > issues. I remember chatting with Nelson and Gavin about what to do about > "Grown-Ups for Free Culture" or even with SFC alumni; there was some > discussion of it, but as far as I know no concrete, lasting steps came of > those movements. > > About one year ago, MJ Ray suggested freeculture.net be used to start an > "open social network" - I replied with enthusiasm and questions about next > steps <http://freeculture.org/pipermail/discuss/2007-October/001640.html> > and I don't think we have proceeded from that. > > The idea was revisited by Matt Agnello at > http://freeculture.org/pipermail/discuss/2008-May/002207.html not quite > half a year ago. > > So there is some interest. I think the real question is what would catch > people and make them participate. I think the way to address is to lead > by example; build something that people would be proud to be a part of, > and the rest will be natural. > > (I am very curious to hear stories of why people started their chapters, > and in fact, why people got involved in the original "Why War?"-related > Diebold memo distribution in 2003.) > > -- Asheesh. > > -- > The older I grow, the less important the comma becomes. Let the reader > catch his own breath. > -- Elizabeth Clarkson Zwart > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > -- Brian Rowe 3L Seattle University (206) 335-8577 (Cell) Access To Justice Technology Principles www.ATJWeb.org Freedom for IP www.FreedomforIP.org
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