On 8/21/07, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
Sometimes I wish that people who responded to this kind of question did not take a tone suitable to crushing a rebellion.
Certain issues are belt dealt with by the Foundation, and others are best dealt with with by the separate communities. Whenever either goes too far into the other's territory problems can arise. Because there are assets and revenues involved there is a need for a corporate legal structure that can manage the budget, and establish general policies about what it will support. If it begins to micromanage the projects, if it fails to provide them with the latitude needed to manage their own affairs, if it accedes to the demands of some community members to make decisions for the communities it will destroy those communities thereby leaving itself in command of a single gigantic project without a soul.
In a sense the Foundation needs to remain a specialized internet service provider. The communities need to develop their own policies through the activities of their own members, and nothing requires any two communities to have identical policy sets. Co-ordination and co-operation between communities is nevertheless to be encouraged. If a community is overrun by rampant anality it's up to that community to pull itself out of the pile that builds up below that anus. The Foundation can adopt a policy that it will not condone any illegal activity within the communities, but it should avoid being the one that searches out such activity or unilaterally determining that an illegal activity has taken place. It must, however, act on specific complaints in compliance with the procedural requirements set forth in law in such a way as will allow both the complainer and the apparent offender their full rights.
The relationships are more complex than what can be expressed in a simplistic statement about one having the right to override the other. As anyone resident in a country with a federal system will know the relationship between a central government and the governments of its components is a rich source for conflicting opinions.
Thank you.
-Kat