Volume 3, Number 44 17 November 1986 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1/1. Copyright (C) 1986, by the International FidoNet Association. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact IFNA. SPECIAL IFNA BYLAWS ISSUE Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL Wow! Fast Service! Why is this FidoNews different? 2. ARTICLES Introduction, or "What did we want to accomplish?" "How does this affect me?" IFNA ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION DRAFT IFNA BY-LAWS DRAFT Recommendations to the Board of Directors What did we leave out? What if I don't like it? Special Thanks 3. COLUMNS Alternatives Alternate Method for Voting Why International? More proposed changes More Comments and Suggestions 4. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack Fidonews Page 2 17 Nov 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= In last week's issue I made some comment about how this week might be a special issue devoted to the proposed bylaws. Well, that issue hardly hit the phone lines before I was getting calls. At least five people called to tell me that that was WAY too soon, and that the bylaws committee could not possibly get everything together in time. But not Bob Hartman. He was (or I guess still is) the chairman of the Bylaws and Rules Committee, and he takes that VERY seriously. Oh, he called me alright, but all he wanted was to know what I would need for a special edition. He then moved heaven and earth (or at least several megabytes of data over phone lines) to get it ready. From what I hear, he drove everyone on the committee mercilessly to get all of the minority reports and such together for this issue. He also appears to have pleaded with several people who object to the proposed bylaws to write up some opposing viewpoints. I'd like to go even farther with this. If anybody out there has any comments at all about the proposed bylaws or anything else in this issue, send a message to 1/1 with a subject of "bylaws." I'll do another special issue in a few weeks giving all of the comments I've received. Any and all comments will be published. Many of you will notice that this isn't the normal method of publishing something in FidoNews. Usually you have to send us a text message by file attach, and it has to meet a few (hopefully easy to meet) format standards. You can still send comments that way, of course, but I'm going to make an exception for this. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to express your thoughts. After all, this whole dog and pony show is for YOUR benefit. It isn't worth a tinker's damn if it isn't what YOU want. So, without further ado, I now turn the rest of this issue over to Bob Hartman, chairman of the Bylaws and Rules Committee. ----------------------------------------------------------------- IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) Many of you may have noticed that this edition of FidoNews is much different than normal. You may also have asked yourself "Why is it different?" Well, the answer is that this issue is devoted to the IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee's recommendation to the Board of Directors. Now I can hear all of you asking "What the heck is he babbling about?" Let me try to explain: What is IFNA? IFNA stands for the International FidoNet Association. It is a corporation formed in August in St. Louis, Missouri with the purpose of taking some of the financial burden Fidonews Page 3 17 Nov 1986 off of the people that had been running the Fidonet network for so long (and not getting any reimbursement for a job well done). Ken Kaplan and Ben Baker had been running up large phone bills trying to help everyone that had questions about Fido or the network. They had also been taking many hours of their time to make sure that each week the nodelist got updated and was correct. This effort went largely unnoticed by most of us, but it was costing them large sums of time and money. They realized that they were having problems administering to the needs of almost 1000 nodes, and with the nodelist doubling each year they knew that there was no way they could keep up with the growth. They asked for contributions to help out, and created a corporation to collect the money. They then realized that this corporation could really help the public in many ways. If enough support was garnered, it would be possible to set up ways to distribute shareware programs, keep people informed about legislation that could effect telecommunications, generate mailings about Fido and the Fidonet network, insure Sysop's computers against damage, the list goes on and on. They decided that if the company was going to be doing all of that, then it had to be run by the membership. Well, that created a problem... In August, the Colorado Springs User Group (COSUG) sponsored what was called the Silicon Mountain Fido Sysop Conference. It was a gathering of Fido sysops from all over the world (or at least those that could get the time off and afford the tickets on short notice). One of the items that was to be discussed was the formation of IFNA. Since many of the sysops present had not heard anything about IFNA, there was obvious confusion. The rumor mill was pumping away. There were charges that Ken and Ben would simply pocket the money, others said it could never work, others complained that they were told they could vote, and then told that they had to pay $25 to vote. In the end I think that Ken and Ben were simply bewildered by it all - they wanted to help the average sysop, not rip him off! Anyway, thanks to Ezra Shapiro, things finally settled down a little bit. There was a meeting where it was decided that the Board of Directors would be Ken Kaplan, Ben Baker, and Thom Henderson. This Board would serve until January 1, 1987, and their charter was to come up with viable Articles of Incorporation, and By-Laws to run IFNA. This seemed to be the only possible solution at the time. About a week later I got a call from Ken Kaplan asking me to be the Chairman of the committee responsible for drafting the new By-Laws etc. If I knew then what would happen, I probably would have turned him down. Anyway, I had to come up with other people for the committee. Steve Jordan had left Colorado Springs with a very sour taste in his mouth and had written a quick and dirty set of bylaws, he was chosen by Ken to be the Co-Chairman of the committee. We then decided to try and find one representative from each Region in the nodelist. Furthermore, we decided that it would be impossible in the time before January 1 to worry about international representation - there was not enough time to get the people involved, and the Fidonews Page 4 17 Nov 1986 turnaround time and cost for sending mail was too great. This later turned out to be a bad decision for which I apologize to our friends from other countries - all I can say in my defense is that it seemed right at the time. Anyway, the call went out for volunteers... The first volunteers were Butch Walker, Ken Shackelford, and David Drexler. We still needed others to fill the rest of the regions. I had met Allen Miller, Oscar Barlow and Randy Bush while in Colorado, and asked them if they would represent their regions. All told me they would try to find someone else since they really didn't feel they would have the time. I pressured each of them by saying that if the committee was going to get anything done we had to start quickly - they all succumbed to the pressure. We still needed a few more people, so I finally asked Ed Rauh, now there were only a few spots left. Ken Kaplan volunteered to be his regional rep, and I told him no way - the membership would just not accept his being on the committee, so he finally gave me the name of Alex Hartley. Finally a day or two later Tom Marshall, a lawyer from NJ volunteered. We now had a large enough group to go on. We formed an Echomail conference for our use and looked at the issues. We read SYSOP and IFNA conferences every day. We were making progress, but it was too slow. We decided to have an in-person meeting... I made all the plans to have a meeting from Nov 6-9 in Nashua, NH. Ed Rauh, Tom Marshall, Randy Bush, Steve Jordan and myself were there for the committee. We also had several interested spectators including Ken Kaplan, Thom Henderson, Rob Barker, Bob Morris, and Bill Lyman. I should point out now that these people all paid their own way, and paid for food and lodging while there. They all obviously cared very much about this. Oscar Barlow, Alex Hartley, and Ken Shackelford could not attend because of prior commitments, but were in touch by telephone and netmail. They all had their inputs heard by the people that did attend. Anyway, we spent about 50 hours over the course of 3 days hammering out the details of what is contained in this edition of FidoNews. Read on and decide if we did a good job or not... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 5 17 Nov 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) Introduction, or "What did we want to accomplish?" Before getting right into the By-Laws and Articles of Association, let me tell you all how we came up with all of this stuff: First of all, we used two basic models for reference. The first model was that of the US Government. We wanted regional representation not based on population density (like the US Senate), and we also wanted to allow the densely populated areas to have more say in what happened since it would affect them more (like the US House of Representatives). Our second model was the American Radio Relay League which is a corporation very similar to IFNA. There were many parallels which could be drawn, and wherever possible we looked at what they had and adopted it for use by IFNA. Anyway, we sat in a hotel room in the Holiday Inn in Nashua for 3 days and brainstormed. We each had copies of the ARRL By-Laws and Articles of Association. We went through it point by point and tried to modify them to fit our situation. I think we were very successful. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 17 Nov 1986 IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) "How does this affect me?" It amazes me when I find out about sysops that have not heard of IFNA! This affects all of us more than you seem to realize. This corporation is going to be making decisions that will affect the way the network is run. Since each Fido sysop connects into the network, that implies it affects each sysop. What if you are a user? In that case this still affects you. IFNA is dedicated to bringing telecommunications to the public. If you are a user, then you are a member of the public. It is your duty to ask your sysop if he or she is supportive of IFNA. You should also try to find out the 'why' of their decision. Their choice might affect you in the long run. IFNA is also interested from feedback from users about how to make telecommunications more accessible. Give them your feedback about what you would like to see IFNA do for users. There is no reason why users cannot join IFNA. Associate memberships are for anyone that wants to join. It is not a voting membership, but it will get you all of the other services that IFNA has to offer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 7 17 Nov 1986 IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION Be it known that we, the suscribers, do hereby associate ourselves as a body politic and corporate pursuant to the statute laws of the State of Missouri regulating the formation and organization of corporations without capital stock and the following are our Articles of Association: Article 1 - The name of our corporation shall be the International FidoNet Association also known as "IFNA". The corporation commenced its corporate existence as the International FidoNet Association, when its Articles of Association were approved by the Secretary of the State of Missouri on August 13, 1986. The original Articles of Association were subscribed by Kenneth H. Kaplan, Sally R. Kaplan, and Mark S. Rubin. Article 2 - The period of duration of the corporation is perpetual. Article 3 - The address of its initial Registered Office in the State of Missouri is: 120 S. Central, Suite 1400, St. Louis, Missouri 63105 and the name of its initial Registered Agent at said address is: Mark S. Rubin. The mailing address is: PO Box 41143, St. Louis, Missouri 63141. Article 4 - The purposes for which our corporation is formed are the following: the promotion of interest in telecommunications and experimentation; the establishment of telecommunication networks to provide publicly accessable and publicly available electronic communications; the furtherance of the public welfare; the advancement of telecommunications art the fostering of education in the field of electronic communication; the promotion and conduct of research and development to further the development of electronic communication; the dissemination of technical, educational, and scientific information relating to electronic communication; the printing and publishing of documents, books, magazines, newspapers and pamphlets necessary or incidental to any of the above purposes. No part of the assets or income of our corporation shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable to the members, the officers, or any of them, or to other private persons except that our corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth herein. Article 5 - The affairs of the Corporation shall be governed by a Board consisting of Directors as defined in the By-Laws. Each Director shall be elected for terms of two years by the members eligible to vote. Half of the Directors shall be elected for terms beginning on even numbered years and half shall be elected for terms beginning on odd-numbered years. Election of Directors Fidonews Page 8 17 Nov 1986 shall be in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed in the By-Laws. The Board shall meet at least once annually at times and places as provided in the By-Laws. Special meetings of the Board shall be called by the Chair of the Board upon written request of at least one-half of the membership of the Board as then constituted. Article 6 - During the intervals between meetings of the Board of Directors, the affairs of the Corporation shall be administered by an Executive Committee consisting of the President, four Directors selected by the Board of Directors, and, without vote, the Vice President and Vice President - Technical Coordinator. The term of office for the Executive Committee members shall be for one year or until their successors are elected. The Executive Committee shall meet at the call of the President, but no less often than quarterly. The Executive Committee may in its discretion submit for determination or decision by members of the Board of Directors any proposal pending before the Executive Committee. When such submission is made, it shall be in precise terms embodying the text of the proposed resolution. Such action shall be binding upon the Executive Committee. Article 7 - A vacancy in the Board of Directors shall be deemed to occur upon the death, resignation, recall, move of permanent residence outside the consituency from which elected, or refusal to act of any director. Upon the occurrence of such vacancy, the Secretary shall proclaim it and thereafter the duties of the Director shall be assumed by the Alternate, and the Alternate shall hold the office of Director for the remainder of the term for which he was appointed Alternate. Should the office of Alternate be vacant, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the Board of Directors. The Alternate shall also serve as Director at any meeting of the Board of Directors which the Director is unable to attend. Article 8 - The officers of the Corporation shall be a President, a Vice President, Vice President - Technical Coordinator, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, who shall be elected by a majority of the Directors at the Annual Meeting. Article 9 - These articles may be amended by the three-fourths vote of all directors, or, provided due notice of the proposed amendment shall have been sent to each director at least thirty days in advance, by a two-thirds vote of all directors. Article 10 - The membership of IFNA shall consist members as defined in the By-Laws. The membership shall by appropriate By-Laws specify the requirements for membership and classes of membership provided, however, that the membership shall not terminate or reduce the rights of any member except for the lapse or termination of a condition now required as precedent to the exercise of such rights. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the Board of Directors from expelling a member upon good cause shown and after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Fidonews Page 9 17 Nov 1986 Article 11 - No person shall be eligible for the office of Director, Alternate, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or Vice President - Technical Coordinator, who is not eligible in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations of the United States prevailing at the time of his election and throughout his term of office. Article 12 - Upon the dissolution of our corporation, the Board of Directors shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all of the liabilities of our corporation, dispose of all of the assets of our corporation exclusively for the purposes of our corporation in such manner, or to such organization or organizations organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purposes as shall at the time qualify as an exempt organization or organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law), as the Board of Directors shall determine. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a court of competent jurisdiction of the county in which the principle office of our coporation is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 10 17 Nov 1986 IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) BY-LAWS FOR INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION DEFINITIONS: The following terms have meanings as follows for all purposes of these By-Laws and Articles of Association: IFNA: International FidoNet Association. IFNA NETWORK: The current set of systems which have been certified as FidoNet compatible and conform to policies established by the Board of Directors. IFNA NODELIST: The list of nodes active in the IFNA NETWORK, prepared by the IFNA Vice President - Technical Coordinator. PUBLIC ACCESS: A system that has a telephone number published in the IFNA Nodelist, and in addition provides services to the public. ANNUAL MEETING: A yearly meeting of all members of IFNA with the expressed purpose of conducting business requiring the membership to vote. The Vice President, in conjuntion with the Membership Services Committee, shall arrange for and coordinate all activities leading up to and the conduct of this meeting. ENDORSED: A physical, hand-written, verifiable signature of a member or such equivalent as shall be specified by the Board of Directors. BALLOT: A paper listing of all candidates for office and issues requiring a vote, or such equivalent as shall be specified by the Board of Directors. ALTERNATE: A member of IFNA who is designated by a director. The responsibilities of the ALTERNATE include, but are not limited to acting as a replacement for the director in any instance of the director's absence. CHAIR: The person elected by the members of the Board of Directors, or a committee, to be responsible for the overall conduct of meetings of the body that elected the CHAIR. BY-LAWS: 1. The following membership categories are established: (a) Regular Member. To be eligible, an applicant: must be the system operator in good standing of a PUBLIC ACCESS node; must have paid any dues required; is entitled to one vote. Fidonews Page 11 17 Nov 1986 (b) Associate Member. Any person who is not eligible to be a Regular Member, but who is interested in electronic communications, is eligible to be an Associate Member by paying required dues. Associate Members have all of the rights of a Regular Member except the right to vote. (c) Commercial Member. Any entity using the IFNA NETWORK for the conduct of any business is eligible to be a Commercial Member by paying required dues. Any Commercial Member also satisfying the requirements to be a Regular Member shall be entitled to vote. (d) Honorary Member. The Board of Directors may award Honorary Member status to any entity. Honorary Members have all of the rights of a Regular Member except the right to vote. (e) Life Member. Any member may become a Life Member by paying the required dues. 2. Applications for membership shall be submitted to the Secretary. In the case of any applicant whose character, reputation or conduct might make him an undesirable member, the Secretary shall refer the application to the Executive Committee for review; in all other cases, the Secretary shall have the authority to grant membership. 3. The Secretary shall notify members of the expiration of their membership not less than thirty days prior to expiration. In determining membership status, memberships renewed within thirty days of expiration shall be regarded as continuous. 4. Dues shall be set by the Board of Directors, and be payable in advance. For members outside the United States, the Executive Committee shall assess such additional costs as may be required for destinations outside the United States. 5. Every member of the Board of Directors shall: serve and continue in office until his successor shall have been elected; serve on at least one standing committee. 6. All officers and directors shall serve without compensation in any form. 7. No person shall be an officer or director unless they qualify under all applicable statutes. 8. The members of the Board of Directors shall be one director from each of the several voting divisions of IFNA (Divisional Directors) and an equivalent number of directors elected from the membership (At-large Directors). At the first meeting of the Board of Directors they will elect a CHAIR who shall preside over all meetings of the Board. 10. The directors shall keep themselves informed as to conditions and activities of their constituents and as to the Fidonews Page 12 17 Nov 1986 needs and desires of the members therein in order that they may faithfully and intelligently represent the true interests of such members. All directors shall attend all meetings of the Board. At least sixty days prior to each annual meeting of the Board of Directors each Divisional Director shall file with the Secretary a written report on the status of the affairs of IFNA in that division, together with a statement of their recommendations as to any actions required for the effective administration of the objectives and affairs of IFNA. 11. On any date not later than noon of the 120th day prior to the ANNUAL MEETING, nomination petitions ENDORSED by ten or more voting members and naming a member as a candidate for director, may be filed with the Secretary. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall solicit such petitions at least 180 days prior to the ANNUAL MEETING in FidoNews in each election year by a notice that will show the name of the incumbents. 12. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall delete the name of any nominee who may be ineligible for election and the name of any who may withdraw by written communication. The remaining names shall be listed on a ballot, in alphabetical order. If there be but one eligible nominee, the Nominations and Elections Committee shall declare him elected without balloting by the membership. If there be more than one eligible nominee, then at least 45 days prior to the ANNUAL MEETING the Secretary shall send by mail to every voting member, and publish in FidoNews, a ballot listing the candidates for director. The ballot shall contain a copy of the current voting rules. 13. Mail BALLOTS, to be counted, shall reach the Secretary not later than the start of the ANNUAL MEETING. 14. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall arrange to have a certified public accountant receive and collate all mail BALLOTS received prior to the ANNUAL MEETING, and to be responsible for the receipt, tabulation and verification of all BALLOTS cast before the close of voting. The certified public accountant shall present and certify the results of the balloting. 15. A director position shall be declared vacant by the Board of Directors if: there be no eligible nominee for that director position; a director is no longer able or willing to fulfill the responsibilities of that position and has not appointed an ALTERNATE. 16. All vacant director positions will be filled by appointment of the Board of Directors for the remainder of the term. 17. Each director shall designate in writing within 30 days after the election an eligible ALTERNATE. Failure to comply shall cause the ALTERNATE position to be declared vacant by the Board of Directors. 18. A director shall be elected in each even-numbered year for Fidonews Page 13 17 Nov 1986 each even-numbered division and an equal number of At-large directors and in each odd-numbered year for the remaining director positions. The term of each director shall be for two years. The terms of all directors shall begin as soon as the results of the election are declared official by the Secretary. 19. A recall petition shall be presented to the Secretary not later than 180 days prior to the end of his term. A valid petition shall contain the signatures of not less than 10 percent of the number of voting members represented by that director. Upon certification by the Executive Committee that the petition is valid, the Secretary shall prepare a ballot asking the single question, "Shall the Director be recalled, yes or no". These ballots shall be mailed to all voting members represented by that director accompanied by the current voting rules. If a majority of the votes cast are for recall, then the office of director shall be declared vacant. No director shall be subject to more than one recall during a single term of office. 20. The annual meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held at a location near the place of business designated in the Articles of Association on the third Friday of February of each year. The places of additional meetings shall be designated by the Chair of the Board and notified by the Secretary. The times and places of the meetings may be changed provided that specific provision is made by (1) majority vote of the directors at the preceding meeting or (2) majority vote of the directors by mail initiated by the Executive Committee or on petition of at least five directors, such mail vote to be taken at least 45 days prior to the date proposed for the meeting. 21. Special meetings of the Board of Directors may consider or act upon only those matters which are set out in the request. The call for any such meeting shall specify the matters to be considered. 22. A majority of the members of the Board of Directors or of any committee shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Board or Committee. 23. Prior to any meeting of the Board of Directors, the Secretary, upon consideration of the reports of the officers and directors, shall establish an agenda for the meeting. Proposals for amendment of the agenda or for the deletion or addition of items shall be the first order of business. 24. On questions of order and procedure not otherwise determined by these By-Laws the provisions of the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall prevail. 25. The following voting divisions are established: Division 2 Europe, Africa Division 10 CA NV Division 11 IL IN KY MI OH WI - USA and Fidonews Page 14 17 Nov 1986 ON PQ PEI NS NB NF - Canada Division 12 HI Asia, Australia, Antartica Division 13 DE DC MD NJ NY PA VA Division 14 IA KS MN MO NB ND SD Division 15 AZ CO NM UT WY Division 16 CT ME MA NH RI VT Division 17 AK ID MT OR WA - USA and BC ALB SSK - Canada Division 18 AL FL GA MS NC SC TN Division 19 AR LA OK TX, South America, Mexico, Central America 26. The President shall, subject to instruction from the Board of Directors and with the assistance of the Vice President, represent IFNA in its relationships with the public and the various governments, governmental agencies and officials with which IFNA may be concerned and shall be the official spokesperson of IFNA in regard to all matters of IFNA policy. 27. In the absence or disability of the President, the Vice-President shall assume the duties of the President. 28. The Secretary shall: record the proceedings of all meetings of the Board and of the Executive Committee; promptly furnish copies of the minutes of these meetings to all officers and members of the Board; publish such minutes in FidoNews; be responsible for the maintenance of the corporate status of IFNA and the filing of all reports and certificates which may be required of IFNA under the corporation laws of the State of Missouri; be the archivist of IFNA; maintain the corporate membership and voting records of IFNA; performs other duties as described in applicable By-Laws. To the extent that may from time to time be required by law, he shall act as agent for the service of process but only while present in the State of Missouri and he is not authorized to accept serrvice of process elsewhere. 29. The Treasurer shall: be the recipient of all monies of IFNA and shall deposit the same in the name of IFNA in a depository specified by the Board of Directors; sign checks drawn by the President in payment of obligations known by him to be proper and authorized; make a report at the annual session of the Board of Directors and attend meetings of the Board; furnish bond satisfactory to the Board, the expense of such bond to be borne by IFNA; be ex-officio a member of the Administration and Finance Committee provided for in By-Law 32; make quarterly financial statements to the Adminstration and Finance Committee; on consultation with and subject to the general supervision of the Administration and Finance Committee, invest and reinvest the surplus funds of IFNA in any bonds or stocks or other securities as would be selected by a trustee with the care of a prudent investor. 30. The Vice President - Technical Coordinator shall: be responsible for maintenance and distribution of the master NODELIST; creation and distribution of the weekly update file for the master NODELIST; ensuring the smooth operation of the Fidonews Page 15 17 Nov 1986 IFNA NETWORK as prescribed by the Board of Directors; serve as a member of the Technical Standards Committee. STANDING COMMITTEES: 31. The following standing committees are established: a. Administration and Finance b. Executive Committee c. Nominations and Elections d. By-Laws and Rules e. Technical Standards f. Publications g. International Affairs h. Membership Services Each standing committee shall include among its members at least one director. Additionally, the Treasurer shall serve as a member of the Administration and Finance Committee. Appointments of all standing committee members shall be made by the President at the Annual Meeting and shall be for a term of one year. The Chair of the Board shall designate the chair of each committee. Standing committees shall make written reports at least 30 days prior to each regular meeting of the Board of Directors. Standing committees may originate studies in their fields and may generate recommendations to the Board on their own initiative. 32. The Administration and Finance Committee: Reviews IFNA management performance and effectiveness, including IFNA finances, on a continuing basis. On an annual basis, reviews the operating budget prepared by the Treasurer for the coming year and, after approval, forwards to the Board of Directors for ratification at least 30 days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. Reviews intermediate and long term budgetary projections as prepared by the Treasurer and makes appropriate recommendations to the Board of Directors. Makes recommendations to the Board in connection with audit and tax matters, and acts as a Board audit committee. Is reponsible to the presentation of an annual financial report which shall be presented to the Board and the Membership. Makes recommendations to the Board and the President in areas of staff management, procedures and renumeration. Acts as advisor to and supervisor of the Treasurer in regard to the investment of IFNA's funds. 33. The Membership Services Committee performs studies and makes recommendations to the Board, and acts as advisor to the President, with regard to services provided to individual members, other than publications and including, but not limited to the ANNUAL MEETING. 34. The Publications Committee performs studies and makes recommendations to the Board, and acts as advisor to the President, with regard to IFNA's publications, including FidoNews. Fidonews Page 16 17 Nov 1986 35. The Nomination and Elections Committee shall be responsible for: finding and qualifying candidates; reviewing voting procedures and recommending modifications as necessary; performs other duties as described in applicable By-Laws. 36. The By-Laws and Rules Committee shall be responsible for review and any suggestion of changes to these by-laws. 37. The Technical Standards Committee shall be responsible for: a. Providing a rigorous definition of FidoNet and all FidoNet protocols sufficient to implement a compatible electronic mail system. b. Providing IFNA the means to determine whether a system is compatible with FidoNet. This will allow IFNA to list compatible systems so Sysops may decide which system to install. c. Producing and enhancing standards for: 1. Data Transmitted 2. Connection 3. Protocols 4. Nodelist 5. Routing 38. The International Affairs Committee shall monitor the conduct of international liaison by IFNA staff. They shall initiate recommendations for IFNA representation at international meetings. They shall encourage the growth and strengthening of IFNA, its member societies and telecommunications worldwide. They shall coordinate and monitor planning and strategy for improving international telecommunications. 39. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for: Monitoring progress of the Board actions and recommendations in order to see that they are expeditiously accomplished. Monitoring expenditures for legal assistance. Providing assistance to the staff and general counsel in connection with Board recommendations for petitions to the Federal Communications Commission and other governmental agencies. Evaluating for the Board proposed rules and regulatory changes. 40. There shall be an official publication maintained by IFNA, in the form of a weekly journal, the name of which shall be FidoNews. A copy of this journal shall be available each week to every member of IFNA in good standing. The general management of this journal shall be in the hands of the President. The policy of the journal shall be determined by the Board of Directors. 41. Without changing their import, the Secretary may from time to time, on notice to the members of the Board of Directors, renumber these By-Laws so as to serve the purpose of ready reference. References in these By-Laws to Articles shall be corrected, when necessary, by the Secretary to conform to the Fidonews Page 17 17 Nov 1986 renumbered Articles. Fido and FidoNet are trademarks of Fido Software. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 18 17 Nov 1986 IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) The IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee hereby recommends the following to the current Board of Directors: A. That the articles, bylaws, report, and minutes of these meetings, are submitted to the Board of Directors and made public to the membership of the network. B. That upon submission of this report to the Board of Directors that they be open for discussion, comment, criticism, or proposed amendment for a period of time to be delimited by the Board of Directors. C. That the committee recommends to the Board of Directors that it, by whatever means determined to be fair, submit the Articles and By-laws, as reported by this committee, to a vote by those nodes listed in NODELIST.311 (as per the policy document in effect Aug 13, 1986 when IFNA was incorparted in the State of Missouri). The final talley to be made public. D. That, when final, Articles of Association and By-laws be formally adopted by the Board of Directors of IFNA as the interim rules of business conduct until such time as any of them are ratified, ammended, or replaced in accordance of such. E. That anyone who paid or pays any monies intended for use by IFNA, prior to formal adoption of these bylaws, be given fair consideration. F. That the By-laws and Rules Committee strongly recommends that the Board of Directors prepare and make available to the public a pro forma budget accounting for all funds received and disbursed by IFNA; that it also prepare and make available to the public a projection of expenses that may be incurred by IFNA in the implementation of some or all of the bylaws and suggestions concerning policy as contained in the report. G. That any act of this committee not covered by an entry in the minutes or in a formal motion adopted be construed as if it had been formally proposed and adopted. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 19 17 Nov 1986 IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) What did we leave out? Several things were deliberately left out of the By-Laws. These include: How much dues will be for each class of membership? How does the Board of Directors operate? What about re-imbursement for expenses? All of these things are going to be controlled by the Board of Directors in various policy documents. They will be called things like DUES.POL, BOARD.POL, BUDGET.POL, etc. These documents have not yet been completed, but I can say the following: The dues for Regular Membership will be $25 per year. Anyone paying the $25 before January 1, 1987 will receive a charter membership good until December 31, 1987. As for re-imbursement of expenses, that is currently not feasible since IFNA doesn't have the money to cover expenses other than those required to answer the mail, give phone support to people that request it, and implement the voting and other procedures required by the by-laws. We deliberately did not mention it since it is entirely possible that it could be included in a future budget. We DID mention that the Board and Officers would not be paid for their services (as opposed to expenses)! I am sorry that we cannot say more about the other policy documents, but as they become available they will be placed in FidoNews and posted in various Echomail conferences. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 20 17 Nov 1986 IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) What if I don't like it? That is a very valid question, and is the whole purpose behind publishing these documents well in advance of the January 1 deadline. There are a number of ways to complain about things you don't like: 1. Enter a message into the IFNA Echomail conference. This reaches the largest number of people, but has the disadvantage of being slow, and echomail has been known to get lost. 2. Send a message to 132/101 telling me what you don't like. Please be very specific, and if possible create a file of the complaint so that I can incorporate it easily into future documents. If you request an acknowledgement of receipt, I will be happy to oblige. 3. Place a submission to FidoNews. Unfortunately, this method can be even slower than method number 1. 4. Do all of the above! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 21 17 Nov 1986 IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) Special Thanks On behalf of all of the members of the IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee, I would like to extend thanks to the following people: 1. First and foremost would be the friends and relatives of each committee member. We put in a lot of work on this, and it took a lot of our time. It meant a lot and I would like to thank all of the friends and relatives who were so understanding during it all. 2. The staff at the Nashua Holiday Inn. These people were wonderful. Each day we would basically trash two hotel rooms (littering them with bottles, cans, cigarettes, and munchie bags), and each morning they would come back and make it spotless. I would also like to thank the dining room staff since they put up with us taking 2 hour breakfasts while paying for nothing more than some toast and coffee. 3. The people in the Fidonet community that helped us out by making constructive comments and supporting what we were trying to accomplish. Thanks from all of us! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 22 17 Nov 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) Alternatives As we all know, there are always alternative methods for doing things. This section of FidoNews (COLUMNS) is devoted to the alternative methods that have been discussed. It is important that you as a reader inform us as to which method you prefer in each case. If we don't hear anything, then we have to assume that the 'default' method outlined in the original documents is what you prefer. Anyway, on to the alternatives... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 23 17 Nov 1986 Steve Jordan (102/1301) Alternate Method for Voting: Present Proposal: That all members can vote by sending in a proxy into a neutral party, presumably a CPA firm prior to the annual meeting. At the annual meeting, any member could withdraw his proxy and vote directly. Any properly registered proxies could be voted by the person holding that proxy. Those votes would be tallied and ... PRO: It is backward compatible with Policy2. It allows members to go to the meeting and meet the candidates and select the candidate there. My proposal: We mail out a ballot to all members with the right to vote. Those members can select the candidate and mail back the ballot with maybe a two envelop method. PRO: 1. It is simpler. There is no problems with re voting. 2. It is more secure. There are no ballots sitting in an office for 60 days. The ballots do not have to be moved to the meeting. 3. It is consistent with our structure. In most ownership organizations, the meeting is to elect officers. Members may have 10,000 votes (shares). They may and can meet with the board one and one. There can be five major stockholders and five members of the board. In membership organization, there is no capital stock. There is no power plays. The ballots are cast by mail. In fact, I know of no organization other that small local ones that elect officers at a national meeting. 4. It frees up the national meeting to discuss new ideas, directions, and issues. I can see 1 full day of three being politics. I would prefer 3 full days of business. 5. It is cheaper. The proxy method requires the CPA type to certify that the ballots made it there, that the proxies are correct. He must supervise the recall of proxies. The CPA cannot be a "free friend." He should be hired or else a the president or board will be charged with conflict of interest or favoritism. Cheaper, easier, more professional, more secure, and more time efficient. CON: not compatible with Policy2. Since Policy2 was ignored at COSUG I feel that is not a major problem. CONCULSION: My method would make the annual meeting an enjoyable, educational, and fun event. Outsiders and insiders do not want to travel thousands of miles to see COSUG. I want the annual meeting to be a highlight. I want to be proud of that meeting. You must ask yourself, "Do I want another COSUG Fidonews Page 24 17 Nov 1986 Saturday with the world looking on??" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 25 17 Nov 1986 Ed Rauh (141/215) Why International? The international aspect of the IFNA may have some very serious legal ramifications, especially for boards in Europe - and on this basis I feel that we should limit IFNA membership to North American nodes, at least until the following points are clarified for us by IFNA's legal counsel: (1) Criminal aspects of the European nodes: We publish a list of European Fido boards each week. Because of the very restrictive laws of some European nations (Germany in particular), the sysops of those boards are limited to operating CCITT protocol modems, which do not communicate well with the vast majority of modems in use in North America. In an effort to facilitate communications with us on this side of the water, some sysops operate an illegal modem during our NMH. This is noted in the nodelist, a freely distributed document, in the comments area of those nodes' entries. In other words, we are publishing a list of criminals in Europe, and the best hours to catch them at it! Other aspects of Fido operation (such as operating in Send-Only mode in Canada) may also have legal ramifications for non-US Fido sysops. I am not an expert in International Law; other examples of such limitations on Fido operations may exist in other countries. (2) Ramifications to the IFNA: While those sysops in Europe have their necks on the line, we, the (potential) North American members of IFNA, also are at risk, as is IFNA as a whole. To some extent we are guilty of violations of International Law, and to inciting criminal activity outside of North America, a violation that the FCC might take action on. This action could range from a slap of the hand, to formal injunctions against IFNA-sponsored communications outside of the U.S./Canada, or, under a very extreme interpretation of the applicable laws, to prosecution of IFNA officers and directors, in particular, the International Technical Coordinator. At this point I have listed the drawbacks of some of the international aspects of IFNA. It is reasonable to ask what should be done about it. My proposal is very simple: PROPOSED: That Regular membership in the IFNA be limited to those countries in which operation of FidoNet-compatible software is within the bounds of that nation's laws. PROPOSED: That members of IFNA, for countries where operation of FidoNet compatible software may have legal ramifications, form their own National FidoNet Associations, which may apply for IFNA Region/Division status by: Fidonews Page 26 17 Nov 1986 1. Informing the International Technical Coordinator of the restrictions on FidoNet operations in the applicable nation; 2. Proposing a set of By-Laws for that Association's members which would allow them to legally operate FidoNet-compatible software within their country, to which all their members have willingly subscribed. I feel that some of our European members may wish to examine their advertising of their communications capabilities very carefully, and that IFNA may wish to examine the legal aspects of some of the listings in the nodelist. After consulting with my attorney, it is not clear that the Nodelist is in violation of the law; someone with more knowledge of that aspect of the law (or with more money to throw to their attorney than I am willing to feed to mine) should examine these issues. Respectfully submitted, Ed Rauh, Sysop 141/215 IFNA By-laws and Rules Committee P.S. I'm already wearing the Nomex suit - flame away! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 27 17 Nov 1986 Mike Hamilton AKA Mikey (103/501) More proposed changes [Editor note - the editor being Bob Hartman this week: Mikey sent this stuff to me as comments interspersed in the original documents which he received from me. I extracted the phrases he commented on, along with the comments and converted them to FidoNews format. No further editing was done.] The following changes were for the By-Laws: ALTERNATE: A member of IFNA who is designated by a director. The responsibilities of the ALTERNATE include, but are not limited to acting as a replacement for the director in any instance of the director's absence. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ comment the alternate is to be elected in the same manner as both of the directors. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (a) Regular Member. To be eligible, an applicant: must be the system operator in good standing of a PUBLIC ACCESS node; must have paid any dues required; is entitled to one vote. +++comment++++++++++ -> remove --> in good standing (e) Life Member. Any member may become a Life Member by paying the required dues. comment==========eliminate life member 2. Applications for membership shall be submitted to the Secretary. In the case of any applicant whose character, reputation or conduct might make him an undesirable member, the Secretary shall refer the application to the Executive Committee for review; in all other cases, the Secretary shall have the authority to grant membership. COMMENT --> better definition of acceptable reasons for refusing, as listed, reasons are too loose 4. Dues shall be set by the Board of Directors, and be payable in advance. For members outside the United States, the Executive Committee shall assess such additional costs as may be required for destinations outside the United States. Fidonews Page 28 17 Nov 1986 +++++++++++++++++++ comment and be approved by the members. -------------suggest vote for range of numbers $0 $5 $10 $25 more _________ majority would be the dues 8. The members of the Board of Directors shall be one director from each of the several voting divisions of IFNA (Divisional Directors) and an equivalent number of directors elected from the membership (At-large Directors). At the first meeting of the Board of Directors they will elect a CHAIR who shall preside over all meetings of the Board. =======--> comment 2 directors and 1 alternate ELECTED from each voting division. 12. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall delete the name of any nominee who may be ineligible for election and the name of any who may withdraw by written communication. The remaining names shall be listed on a ballot, in alphabetical order. If there be but one eligible nominee, the Nominations and Elections Committee shall declare him elected without balloting by the membership. If there be more than one eligible nominee, then at least 45 days prior to the ANNUAL MEETING the Secretary shall send by mail to every voting member, and publish in FidoNews, a ballot listing the candidates for director. The ballot shall contain a copy of the current voting rules. ---> define criteria for deletion from list. 14. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall arrange to have a certified public accountant receive and collate all mail BALLOTS received prior to the ANNUAL MEETING, and to be responsible for the receipt, tabulation and verification of all BALLOTS cast before the close of voting. The certified public accountant shall present and certify the results of the balloting. comment -->>> add CPA to not be compensated for this duty. Fidonews Page 29 17 Nov 1986 16. All vacant director positions will be filled by appointment of the Board of Directors for the remainder of the term. +++++++++++++++comment by someone from the same division. 17. Each director shall designate in writing within 30 days after the election an eligible ALTERNATE. Failure to comply shall cause the ALTERNATE position to be declared vacant by the Board of Directors. --->>> eliminate entirely since they are to be elected 18. A director shall be elected in each even-numbered year for each even-numbered division and an equal number of At-large directors and in each odd-numbered year for the remaining director positions. The term of each director shall be for two years. The terms of all directors shall begin as soon as the results of the election are declared official by the Secretary. --->>> Initial term for even numbered regions is 1 year. 20. The annual meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held at a location near the place of business designated in the Articles of Association on the third Friday of February of each year. The places of additional meetings shall be designated by the Chair of the Board and notified by the Secretary. The times and places of the meetings may be changed provided that specific provision is made by (1) majority vote of the directors at the preceding meeting or (2) majority vote of the directors by mail initiated by the Executive Committee or on petition of at least five directors, such mail vote to be taken at least 45 days prior to the date proposed for the meeting. ======comment hold meeting at/during annual conference, less financial burden for attendees. need for meeting to be voted upon by directors 25. The following voting divisions are established: Division 2 Europe, Africa Division 10 CA NV Division 11 IL IN KY MI OH WI - USA and ON PQ PEI NS NB NF - Canada Division 12 HI Asia, Australia, Antartica Division 13 DE DC MD NJ NY PA VA Fidonews Page 30 17 Nov 1986 Division 14 IA KS MN MO NB ND SD Division 15 AZ CO NM UT WY Division 16 CT ME MA NH RI VT Division 17 AK ID MT OR WA - USA and BC ALB SSK - Canada Division 18 AL FL GA MS NC SC TN Division 19 AR LA OK TX, South America, Mexico, Central America ==>> comment we need to double the number of divisions to insure adequate representation of the members. upon doubling, cut directors down to 1 and alternate from each division. 26. The President shall, subject to instruction from the Board of Directors and with the assistance of the Vice President, represent IFNA in its relationships with the public and the various governments, governmental agencies and officials with which IFNA may be concerned and shall be the official spokesperson of IFNA in regard to all matters of IFNA policy. =============comment - add - --->>> and the executive committee 29. The Treasurer shall: be the recipient of all monies of IFNA and shall deposit the same in the name of IFNA in a depository specified by the Board of Directors; sign checks drawn by the President in payment of obligations known by him to be proper and authorized;... ==========comment change him to the administrative and finance committee 31. The following standing committees are established:... Each standing committee shall include among its members at least one director. Additionally, the Treasurer shall serve as a member of the Administration and Finance Committee. Appointments of all standing committee members shall be made by the President at the Annual Meeting and shall be for a term of one year. ===============comment scratch president replace with board of directors 34. The Publications Committee performs studies and makes recommendations to the Board, and acts as advisor to the President, with regard to IFNA's publications, including FidoNews. ==============comment Fidonews Page 31 17 Nov 1986 the editorial content and general content should be under the direct supervision of the pubs committee 35. The Nomination and Elections Committee shall be responsible for: finding and qualifying candidates; reviewing voting procedures and recommending modifications as necessary; performs other duties as described in applicable By-Laws. ===========> comment remove - finding and 37. The Technical Standards Committee shall be responsible for: a. Providing a rigorous definition of FidoNet and all FidoNet protocols sufficient to implement a compatible electronic mail system. ======comment - add - protocols to be freely available at no cost 40. There shall be an official publication maintained by IFNA, in the form of a weekly journal, the name of which shall be FidoNews. A copy of this journal shall be available each week to every member of IFNA in good standing. The general management of this journal shall be in the hands of the President. The policy of the journal shall be determined by the Board of Directors. ======comment - remove - president - replace with pubs committee --->>>>> additional paragraph added to say no member of the board of directors or officer of the association or anyone in their employ shall participate in any activity such as publishing documents for sale by ifna, be the sole control of any of ifna's documents or publications or programs or participate in any activity that could be construed to be conflict of interest. no one who has a commercial interest in items recommended, proposed, or offered by ifna shall be eligible for any of the positions outlined in this document. -------------- ==>> comment on voting first item for vote should be ifna yes or no with instructions to vote for all items regardless of yes/no ifna vote. Fidonews Page 32 17 Nov 1986 also voting should be done to 2 places (1 could be electronic) to insure fairness and accuracy of voting. -------------- ==>> comment disciplinary procedures are lacking for all levels of membership, including officers, directors , etc... -------------- Now Mikey's suggestions for changes to the Articles of Association: Article 9 - These articles may be amended by the three-fourths vote of all directors, or, provided due notice of the proposed amendment shall have been sent to each director at least thirty days in advance, by a two-thirds vote of all directors. =====>> add - and after members have had ample opportunity to review and comment on amenments. Article 11 - No person shall be eligible for the office of Director, Alternate, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or Vice President - Technical Coordinator, who is not eligible in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations of the United States prevailing at the time of his election and throughout his term of office. ===> change - United States - to - State of Missouri By adding these comments and suggestions I in no way mean to imply that I approve of this document or go along with the wording be it as origional or as changed. I give no one my permission to in any way use my name to imply that I do approve or have approved of these writings. Mike Hamilton AKA Mikey [Ed: That completes the changes the Mikey suggested. I don't understand his last comment since he was asked to make suggestions for changes that would make the document acceptable to him.] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 33 17 Nov 1986 Neal Curtin (138/14) More Comments and Suggestions Just a few comments on the By-Laws: 1. Page 1, item 1a. Really question the PUBLIC ACCESS in here. It seems to be dis-enfranchising the private nodes who do contribute to the net. I think it would be better to have all nodes in the St. Louis Nodelist eligible. Minor, but perturbing. 2. page 4, item 29. Reference to By-Law 36. Should be 32. Typo. [Ed: Thanks, this has been fixed in this version] 3. Page 5, item 37c.1. Data Transmitted. Should read Data Transmission Format. Don't want to have the standards committee responsible for content, just format. 4. Page 1, item 4. Dues should be labled as payable in US currency. In case of overseas nodes, should be payed to regional coordinator, who would forward to IFNA in US funds. (They also would get a 15-20% better excahnge rate than we would.) 5. Page 1, item 7. Opinion, comment, and hope to head off flames from other sources. Need some words here so that people who have a financial or or propriatary interest in IFNA, Fido, Seadog, and other software or hardware in use in the net be excluded from being an officer. This should only apply to commercial(underlined) items that are for sale. This would eliminate only people who are making money off the net, such as Tom and Thom, but not Bob as his is available for public use. It is a small distinction, but could cause some serious flames. End Comments, start observations.. It is a good start. The main problem is that you started with 10 people, ended up with less, and still took too long. With 20 + on the BOD, even less will be accomplished in a longer time. Can not think of a way to limit it more fairly than you guys have done, but even large Coporations have smaller boards. One from each net would be good but again too large. One from each region would be better with out the at large members. That way, when we go to zones, we could include them or substitute them for the regions. Neal Curtin ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 34 17 Nov 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 22 Nov 1986 Net 109 sysops meeting. Contact Kurt Reisler at 109/0 for details. 23 Nov 1986 Twenty-third anniversary of Doctor Who. 3 Dec 1986 Start of the Electronic Mail Association conference in Washigton, D.C. 7 Dec 1986 The Next Occasional MetroNet Sysop Meeting. Contact Gee Wong at 107/312 for details. 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 35 17 Nov 1986 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm) Charter Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications.** Name _________________________________ Date ________ Address ______________________________ City & State _________________________ Country_______________________________ Phone (Voice) ________________________ Net/Node Number ______________________ Board Name____________________________ Phone (Data) _________________________ Baud Rate Supported___________________ Board Restrictions____________________ Special Interests_____________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Is there some area where you would be willing to help out in FidoNet?_______ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to: International FidoNet Association P. O. Box 41143 St Louis, Missouri 63141, USA Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to insure the future of FidoNet. ** Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization in formation and BYLAWS are presently being prepared by an International Rules Committee. Membership requirements and fees are subject to approval of this Committee. An IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the BYLAWS Committee. We welcome your input on this Conference. -----------------------------------------------------------------