[Community] summary of last week's (3/28/2007) call

[Owen Davis]

On Apr 5, 2007, at 2:01 PM, Bill Washburn wrote:

> Admittedly I'm rather new to the actual discussion of principles  
> and policies of Identity Commons and thus I must acknowledge I seem  
> to be out of step frequently and deeply with the points of seeming  
> ambiguity where someone will usually say in so many words, "We  
> already decided that."  Well, I think it's a foolish policy.
>
> If the only power or influence the Stewards Council has respecting  
> a recognized working group is removal, well obviously I am out of  
> alignment and ignorant of some elements of the overaching  
> philosophy of Identity Commons.  By my lights, the Stewards Council  
> having only the power of out and out removal of a working group is  
> tantamount to having nothing but the brute force of a sledgehammer  
> or a gun.  It is too blunt and so unsubtle as to be useless in the  
> day-to-day of work of normal life.

Hey, Bill,

I apologize for any confusion created:  my comments below are a bit  
contradictory wherein I gave a "+1" to the idea of limiting Stewards  
Council power to working group removal and then also suggest that  
removal should be a last resort after other approaches (such as  
decreasing reputation, fines or other disciplinary actions) fail.

Let me try again:  I think the Stewards Council's power should be  
limited to determining and enforcing the fair and equitable  
conditions for membership and good standing of working groups.  Part  
of enforcement is ensuring that working groups behave according to  
the conditions established by the Stewards Council and by taking  
actions to help them behave in the cases when they stray.

> For example:
>
> What if there were a high visibility and intrinsically worthwhile  
> working group recognized by Identity Commons that was: 1.   
> expending lots of IC resources (financial and otherwise), 2. was   
> highly active and 3. had members within the working group with a  
> relentless attitude of saying ugly, untrue, unfriendly and/or  
> unfounded (pick your favorite) things about other IC recognized  
> working groups.  Do you all really believe that the only thing the  
> Stewards Council should be able to do is vote them out or ignore them?

Nope.  There should be other actions short of removal.

But all of the actions should be spelled out ahead of time so that  
the consequences of acting out of bounds is well known.

Owen