From merope@Radix.Net Mon Jul 17 15:24:33 2000
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:24:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
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Taunting you a second time...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Saturday 15 July 2000--Sunday 16 July 2000--Monday 17 July 2000:
Betsy Mills, Maggie Stewart-Zimmerman, and Pam Reid second Joy's motion to
table Motion 00-21. Barbara Dore gives the motion to table number 00-21a
and calls for a vote. Thus far, five Board members have voted yes.
Ginger Cisewski raises a point of order concerning Motions 00-21 and
00-21a, noting that she called for the question on July 13th. She points
out that "A call for the question is non-debatable... On that basis, the
Motion to Table and subsequent vote on it are both improper under accepted
rules of Parliamentary procedure." Barbara notes that she "heard no
second to the calling of the previous question, which is one of the basic
requirements." [As we recall, Joy ruled the call out of order which may
have discouraged anyone from seconding it.] Barbara rules that the call
for the previous question fails for lack of a second and overrules the
point of order. She again calls for a vote "to begin at 8:00am CDT,
July 17th and to continue until 8:00am CDT, July 19th or until such time
as said motion has passed or failed, which ever comes first."
GingerC moves that "the USGenWeb Project's domains usgenweb.org,
usgenweb.net and usgenweb.com be immediately registered to reflect these
changes: Registrant: The USGenWeb Project; Administrative Contact: Holly
Timm; Billing Contact: Ginger Hayes." In support of this, she will
herself donate the necessary funds to make the changes and re-register the
domains "as a goodwill gesture and in a continuing effort to support the
membership of the USGenWeb Project to the best of my ability." Jim Powell
seconds this motion.
===
Closing the Barn Door After the Chickens are Gone: As it turns out, the
registration on the usgenweb.com domain [the one owned by Root$web
employee Dale Scheider] expired 6 days ago. [.org and .net both expire in
September.
===
"If voting could change anything it would be illegal."
---Unknown
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
-------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Wed Jul 19 11:51:44 2000
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 11:51:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
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To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>
Subject: Daily Board Show
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Giving away the store...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Monday 17 July 2000-Tuesday 18 July 2000:
Voting continues on Motion 00-21a [to table Motion 00-21]. Thus far 8
Board members have voted "yes". [Unless I miss my guess, this motion has
failed for a lack of a quorum. One of the voters was Barbara Dore, acting
NC]
Joe Zsedeny says his "personal feelings" on the recently introduced motion
to register the usgenweb.* domains in USGW's name are that it is
premature. He has heard that Dale Schneider [owner of usgenweb.com] "said
that he would turn the USGenWeb.com domain over to the Project when the
Project incorporated." Joe recommends ascertaining Dale's current
position on the disposition of the domain name and reminds the Board that
Tim Stowell is due back today [July 18]. Joe believes this issue "is too
important to rush into during the heat of an election. The Board has the
right and the duty to set it's own agenda for acting on any matter called
for in the Bylaws. And I for one will not yield to pressure from those who
clearly have another agenda in mind."
Ginger Cisewski says her agenda is that she cares about the project and
wishes to see it prosper for many years. She asks Joe "Why are you so
opposed to having the domain registrations changed to reflect that they
are owned by the USGenWeb Project?"
Joe asks GingerC if she is implying that USGW will not prosper if the
domain issue is not resolved "during the heat of [her] reelection." He
says he is not opposed to the USGW having ownership of the domains but it
is not clear to him that the USGW does have ownership. He says "There
needs to be some groundwork done then proceed with a motion. We have
plenty of time to do it right, so let's do it right."
GingerC points out the section of the bylaws regarding the domains and the
Board's responsibility for administering them and notes "The registration
on one domain has already expired, which makes this an URGENT matter, not
one you put off for some other day. Check with a legal expert about "doing
it right" and they will tell you the best insurance the USGenWeb Project
can have is for the Registrant to be "The USGenWeb Project."
Joe replies that "The project does not have ownership of the USGenWeb.com
domain, Dale "Doc" Schneider controls it...The other two, .net and .org
are as safe now as they were a year ago. This is politics on your part,
Virginia, pure and simple." He reminds her that the members of the
project are not the "official licensees" and claims "only individuals can
own the domains because the Project has no legal ownership of anything."
He asks her why she wasn't concerned about when she first joined the Board
and suggests it might just be "politics" on her part. He notes that has
re-registered the usgenweb.com domain and asks her to explain to him
"Please explain how the USGenWeb Project can legally own the domains?"
GingerC forwards a message/grievance from Carole Hammett to the Board
regarding the recent attempt by Linda Lewis to register "USGenWeb
Archives" as a service/trademark with the U.S. Patent Office. [see below].
Carole requests that the Board do the following:
"(a) remove Linda Lewis as Coordinator of the USGenWeb Archives (aka
Digital Library, aka USGenWeb Project Archives); (b) rescind all of her
Archives FTP privileges and passwords; (c) declare her a member NOT in
good standing of the USGenWeb Project (d) notify her employer,
Rootsweb.com, Inc.; (e) notify the U. S. Trades and Patents Office; (f)
notify all other appropriate authorities/agencies; and (g) remove the
proposed Archives Amendment from the USGenWeb Project ballot."
She notes that "Failure of the USGenWeb Project Advisory Board to act
swiftly and promptly in this matter will "open the door" to use by anyone
of all service and trademarks of the USGenWeb Project, including all marks
currently assigned to the State Projects..." Carole also notes that "In
addition to several apparent violations of federal statutes, Linda's
application also VIOLATES the USGenWeb Project Bylaws, and is a TOTAL
BREACH OF TRUST."
===
Election News: Roger Swafford has released the following message to the
project membership:
"The EC began operations over the Memorial Day holiday. Almost immediately
discussion revolved around adopting a primary and an alternate means of
conducting the elections. The EC was advised on 5/28/00 that Rootsweb
would not be supporting the elections process this year. Numerous web
based voting sites were investigated including Votebot, however, according
to their own information pages their site is not a substitute for
elections software or other procedures. Discussions then covered either
creating and sending ballots via email or using an online form. When a
volunteer to create online forms (ballots) with server was obtained and
proposed, the EC accepted by unanimous consent. The present system is not
perfect, there have been mistakes which were corrected when discovered.
The voter ID's were automatically generated by computer software after all
voter lists had been either imported or hand-keyed. There are some errors,
some caused by the use of multiple addresses and/or last names, shortened
first names, some due to typos. Thus far, members have been very
cooperative in correcting these errors. Once a master list was created it
was then split for the regional races and the EC teams given a regional
list with addresses and voter #'s. Initially the NC ballot with amendments
was only being sent to one person to be validated against the server log.
Two EC members volunteered to assist by taking on even more work so now
all ballots are sent to three persons for verification and tabulation. As
Chairman, I have recommended that all voter ID's with votes be listed on a
web site as part of an EC final report, the due date for which is yet to
be determined, hopefully not later than 30 August."
So, basically there is _no_ guarantee that votes will be publically
verifiable, and if it does happen, it will be too late to prevent the new
Board from being seated, should there be discrepancies.
All Mine Corner: For those of you wrote offering to buy the recently
expired usgenweb.com domain on behalf of the project, sorry. Betsy Mills
has indicated that "The usgenweb.com domain has been paid for and the
check cashed." She also stresses "That domain belongs to Dale Schneider
and therefore the motion on the floor can not be passed as it is stated
now. The board can not change anything on the usgenweb.com domain."
[There you have it, right from the horse's mouth.]
In the meantime, Linda Lewis has registered the name "USGenWeb Archives"
as a trademark and service mark with the United States Patent and
Trademark Office. The original application was made in her own name on
May 1 2000 [as opposed to the USGenWeb Project's name]. According to the
online application information, the application status is "newly filed
apllciation, not yet assigned to an examining attorney". Registration
info is as follows:
Word Mark USGENWEB ARCHIVES
Goods and Services IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Free transcribed genealogy
data online
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 78006402
Filing Date May 1, 2000
Files ITU FILED AS ITU
Owner (APPLICANT) Lewis, Linda R. VOLUNTEER GROUP VIRGINIA 531 Queensway
Rd. Richmond VIRGINIA
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
Current status is:
Serial Number: 78006402
Registration Number: (NOT AVAILABLE)
Mark (words only): USGENWEB ARCHIVES
Current Status: Newly filed application, not yet assigned to an examining
attorney.
Date of Status: 2000-05-05
Filing Date: 2000-05-01
Registration Date: (DATE NOT AVAILABLE)
Law Office Assigned: TMEG Law Office 102
CURRENT APPLICANT(S)/OWNER(S) 1. Lewis, Linda R.
GOODS AND/OR SERVICES Free transcribed genealogy data online
PROSECUTION HISTORY (NOT AVAILABLE)
CONTACT INFORMATION Address: LINDA R. LEWIS 531 Queensway Rd. Richmond VA
[Note that the date on the "current status" is May 5; Linda may have
already been granted this trade/service mark]
This is kind of interesting. Should this trade/service mark be registered
with the USPTO and should Linda Lewis ever leave the Archives or be
removed from it, the USGW would have no rights to continue to use the
name. However, Her application may be of questionable legality. The
USGenWeb Project is an "unincorporated non-profit association", a specific
legal status recognized in many states. We have been assured numerous
times that the Archives are indeed part of this projecct, and USGenWeb has
used the name "USGenWeb Archives" to refer to them for four years, thus
probably establishing rights to the trademark. Note that Linda applied
for the trademark _personally_; it would be her property, not the property
of USGW, should it be granted. If this state of affairs distresses you,
contact the USPTO about it; they do welcome comments on pending
trade/service mark applications. [http://www.uspto.gov/web/info/index.html
for phone numbers]
[http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/tm.html, select TESS, enter "usgenweb
archives" in the search field for info about the application]
Sauce for the Goose Corner: Ron Eason, coordinator of the USGenWeb Census
Project, has filed a grievance with the Board regarding its apparent
double standard in issues involving the Archives. He notes in particular
the issue of copyrighted pages created by Sue Soden for the USGW CP which
the Archives is continuing to use without permission even though they have
been requested to stop. He also notes Linda's application for personal
ownership of the service/trademark "USGenWeb Archives" and the apparent
refusal of Maggie Stewart-Zimmerman to respond to communication from him
regarding Sue's pages, both of which have parallels to reasons cited for
delinking and removing the CP. Ron asks that the Board reconsider its
actions in regards to the CP, but requests that "if you should decide to
let stand your ruling, then I request that the same measure and standard
be held for the Archives Project and Linda Lewis and that the same actions
be taken against her and her Project. To do otherwise is contrary to what
is right and just."
Joke Of The Day Corner: In one of those fun twists that make life
humorous, Tim Pierce [the "Chief Hacking Officer" of Root$web] has
purchased an item at auction on Ebay. The seller is Billie McNamara's
mother; as some of you may remember, Billie was banned last year and can
neither send nor receive mail from Root$web accounts. Apparently, RW
considered Billie enough of a threat that it also banned several of her
family members, including her mother. So, you guessed it, attempts to
notify Tim of the shipping costs for his item are bounced and Billie has
needed to resort to using the non-RW mailing lists to find someone to
forward the information to Tim on her mother's behalf.
===
"The arts of power and its minions are the same in all countries and in
all ages. It marks its victim; denounces it; and excites the public odium
and the public hatred, to conceal its own abuses and encroachments."
---Jeff Cohen
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
-------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved
From merope@Radix.Net Thu Jul 20 07:56:37 2000
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 07:56:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
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Butter would't melt in its mouth...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Wednesday 19 July 2000-Thursday 20 July 2000:
Joe Zsedeny reports that Robert Maley has agreed to turn over the
usgenweb.ws domain to the project and notes "However, in the future there
are going to be many more suffixes. Because we cannot cover them all I
would suggest we at least consider trademarking our name so that it can't
be used for domains or any purposes but those we deem appropriate."
[Interesting. Mr. Maley conducts a business at that URL] . In a second
message, Joe adds that he should hav said that "this domain could be held
until trade marking is complete if it is decided to do it."
Ginger Cisewski posts information regarding the application for trademark
status for the "USGenWeb Archives, including the information that three
Board members signed the application [Barbara Dore, Joy Fisher, Maggie
Stewart Zimmerman. She moves "that The USGenWeb Advisory Board find Board
members Barbara Yancey Dore, Maggie Zimmerman and Joy Fisher, as well as
Archives Project Coordinator Linda Lewis not members in good standing in
the USGenWeb Project." Jim Powell seconds this motion in the hopes that
Barbara, Maggie and Joy "will explain themselves."
Barbara Dore claims that she did not know "one way or the other" that she
was listed on the application [although she, Maggie, Joy and Linda all
apparently signed it]. She says "If I recall when the possible registering
was discussed there were several that agreed it needing doing and offered
to help. Linda has not ask me for any funds as of yet nor had it been
mentioned between us again until last night." She also notes that she is
not a contributor to the Archives and joined the Archives Census Project
in January or February.
Ginger Hayes asked Barbara, Joy, and Maggie if "their names were listed
with or without their consent." In a separate message, she notes "The
silence around here seems to speaking volumes."
Pam asks GingerC and Jim whether they intend to "to rectify an injustice
by giving a similar injustice back" and notes that if they really believe
that Ron Eason did no wrong in incorporating the Census Project then they
"obviously should not find Linda, Maggie, Barbara and Joy in the wrong."
She says that the only way they can justify the motion to declare them not
in good standing "is to admit that the action severing the Census Project
was the right thing to do." [Actually, finding people not "in good
standing" and severing relations with an entire project and its members
are not equivalent.]
Jim replies that "This Project is going from bad to worse at the moment"
and if Pam really believes that the new motion evens things out, she
should make a suitable motion to that effect and find a second, and then
he will withdraw his second from GingerC's motion. He notes "For the
record, I want the truth. I do not support finding them not in good
standing at this time. In fact there has been more than enough division
lately." He further requests that anyone who might support him for NC
"drop all criticism of this Project and any members of this Project until
after the election is finalized. Let the chips fall where they may. If
anyone steals away with the Project, Domains or Word Marks in the
meantime, we will do our best to recover." He asks Barbara, Joy, and
Maggie to bring the service mark idea to the Board so that they can work
as a team.
Tim Stowell declares Motion 00-21a [motion to table Motion 00-21] failed.
Pam Reid notes that the bylaws call for 9 members to constitute a quorum
but thinks "since we are down a Board Memeber (Census Project), wouldn't
eight members then constitute a quorom?" She notes that Motion 00-21a
would pass if that were the case.
Tim Stowell calls for a vote on Motion 00-21: "I move that henceforth in
all instances where an Advisory Board motion has been made and seconded,
and is followed by at least two independent calls for the question: (1)
that voting can proceed, with or without discussion, with or without a
numbered motion and with or without the approval of the National
Coordinator; (2) that said motion shall be automatically approved should
it receive the number of aye votes necessary under the Bylaws; and (3)
that the only exception shall be when the Bylaws call for a 48-hour
membership notice period."
Tim gives GingerC's motion to reregister the domains number 00-22 and
opens the floor for discussion. ["I MOVE: "That the USGenWeb Project's
domains usgenweb.org, usgenweb.net and usgenweb.com be immediately
registered to reflect these changes: Registrant: The USGenWeb Project
Administrative Contact: Holly Timm Billing Contact: Ginger Hayes"]
===
Conspiracy of Thieves Corner: In a message to her Archivists, Linda Lewis
says:
"As some of you already know, I've registered "USGenWeb Archives" with the
U.S. trademark office. This was done to protect the Archives...There are
three other USGenWeb volunteers on the application, but I will not reveal
their names at this time to protect them from flaming...They were added in
case something were to happen to me. Please note that *my* name is on the
application, not Rootsweb, not MyFamily. I think, legally, I am the only
one that could have done it. Also note that I did not incorporate, but
only registered for a trademark. There are several reasons I made this
decision, one being that I suspected someone else might do it, knowing the
tactics used by some volunteers....If anyone looks at the last four years,
they will see that I've never done anything wrong, and anything I have
done was to protect the USGenWeb Archives and the data contained within
for researchers...I apologize for not bringing this before you prior to
the filing, but under the circumstances, and the time it takes to finalize
the application, I felt it was best. This does not change the goal or
purpose of the USGenWeb Archives, nor does it change any of the guidelines
or promises we've made to submitters and researchers."
Following the publication of the inclusion of the three Board members in
the application for service mark status, Carole Hammett has revised her
currently pending grievance to include the following: "1. Removal of
Barbara "Rootslady" Dore, Maggie Zimmerman and Joy Fisher from the
USGenWeb Project Advisory Board 2. Declare Barbara "Rootslady" Dore,
Maggie Zimmerman and Joy Fisher members NOT in good standing of the
USGenWeb Project 3. Removal of Maggie Zimmerman as Coordinator of the
"Archives Census Project" and Joy Fisher as Assistant Coordinator of both
the USGenWeb Archives Project and the USGenWeb Archives." She reminds
the Board that parties named in grievances are precluded from
participating in their resolution due to conflict of interest.
Freebies Corner: from now until July 31, Ancestry.com is offering free
memberships. You can signup at:
http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/freepromo.asp?sourcecode=A11AF
===
"Since the very beginning of this project there has been those hollering
"conspiracy this" and "conspiracy that". Conspiracy is like beauty, it is
in the eye of the beholder, and you must take those that holler
"conspiracy" and analyze to see if they are the ones that might benefit
from causing chaos in the project."
---Bridgett Smith Edwards Schneider, USGENWEB-ALL, 19 July 2000
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
-------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Fri Jul 21 19:07:45 2000
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 19:07:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>
Subject: Daily Board Show
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As seen on TV...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Thursday 20 July 2000:
Ginger Hayes notes that "If it was wrong for the CP to incorporate using
the USGW name 3 months ago then it is still wrong today, and Ms. Lewis'
actions, with or without the consent and aid of 3 members of this board,
are also wrong. If the 3 members of this body had full knowledge of these
actions then they are also wrong." She suggests that the "double
standard" employeed by the Board is inappropriate and that policy
decisions should be made based on "what is done" rather than "*who* is
doing it."
Pam Reid reiterates that she does not understand how Jim Powell and Ginger
Cisewski "could make and support this motion, given their adamant
objections to The Census Project Actions." She says her comments "dealt
with that issue - not at to whether anyone was right or wrong, but that
the act of giving similar treatment to Linda, Maggie, Joy and Barbara for
something they so adamantly opposed for Census seems, to say the least ,
unjustifiable."
GingerC notes that if she had intended to enact a "similar injustic" she
would have moved to remove the entire Archives Project. She notes that
although Ron Eason was wrong to incorporate the Census Project as a
for-profit incorporation, he did dissolve the corporation immediately and
apologized. She points out out, that "The AB did wrong by ousting the
entire Census Project for an action of Ron's, done without their
knowledge or consent, The AB did wrong by not waiting the 48 hour period
specified in the bylaws." GingerC notes that the big difference between
the CP incorporation and the "USGenWeb Archives" trademark application is
that "this time it involves 3 current Board members and all 4 people are
in leadership positions of one type or another in this Project. There is
also the fact that the PTO may see this as a conspiracy to commit fraud
since all 4 people were well aware that the USGenWeb Project had the name
"USGenWeb Archives" in use in 1996, and therefore had ownership." She
suggests that a just outcome would ensue if the Board did the following:
" 1. Publicly censure Ron Eason for his singular actions 2. Reinstate the
Census Project and restore their voting rights for this election 3. Find
Barbara, Joy Maggie and Linda not in good standing in the USGenWeb
Project"
Barbara Dore suggests the Board read the following website:
http://floridalawfirm.com/iplaw/ip-intro.html
Barbara notes that it did not bother Jim and GingerC that USGenNet, Inc.
"Funny thing, it didn't and doesn't seem to bother you one little bit that
USGenNet, Inc. has chosen to use the name USGenWeb on a non-approved logo
and effectively changed the name of our organization." [she gives the
example at http://www.usgennet.org/usgenweb.html, but it is not clear what
she means by changing the name of USGW]. She asks them if they now "see
things differently" and whether they "are now ready to fully
support a cease and desist motion against USGEnWeb, Inc., possibly laying
the groundwork for any necessary legal action to prevent further
misrepresentation?" [again, not clear what she is talking about here.
USGenWeb, Inc. has been dissolved] She also asks them if they are "also
ready to declare Fred Smoot & Carole Hammett as members not in good
standing?" [There has been a directed effort in the last few days to
direct attention away from Linda Lewis's action to some supposed
similarity between the names of the USGenWeb Project and United States
Genealogy Network, Inc.]
Barbara also suggests the Board look "at one of the latest look-a-likes"
[http://www.usaroots.com/] and asks them to note the used of the terms
"US GenWeb" and "US Archives". [Babs must be losing it. This site looks
_nothing_ like USGW. It has prominent links to both the USGenWeb and to
the Archives, although it misnames the Archives. So what? Is she actually
suggesting that it is wrong for other online genealogy sites to link to
us or that its some kind of violation of our service mark?]
Barbara notes that her previous message was not intended for BOARD-L and
apologizes [hmmm...wonder who it _was_ meant for?]
Barbara asks a series of questions and answers about the recent service
mark application by herself and the others. She notes that according to
the USPTO an application for a service mark "must be filed in the name of
the owner of the mark; usually an individual, corporation or partnership.
The owner of a mark controls the nature and quality of the goods or
services identified by the mark." She asks: "Does anyone or any other
entity or project have the right to use the name "USGenWeb Archives"
Project or the associated logos other than the project located at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ ?? Does the NC control the nature and
quality of the goods and services identified with the name USGenWeb
Archives Project?? Does the Advisory Board control the nature and quality
of the goods and services identified with the name USGenWeb Archives
Project?? Is Linda Lewis Coordinator of the USGenWeb Archives Project??
Has there ever been anyone other than Linda Lewis who was Coordinator of
the USGenWeb Archives Project and might therefore have a right to claim
"first-use"?? Did Linda Lewis have permission to use the "USGenWeb" part
in the naming of the project she started?" [She conveniently doesn't
answer any of these questions, however]
Teri Pettit says she will try to get an amended motion posted "today"
[Thursday]. She asks if they can hold off on voting on the amended motion
until August, since she will be unavailable until then. [apparently she
did not get an amended version posted; none has come over the list.]
Joy Fisher finds it interesting "interesting that these board members wait
until someone is gone to propose a motion to drum then out of the group."
[No such motion has been made. The motion to find the four not in good
standing would have no material outcome other than making them ineligible
to run for office.]
Teri says she has no problem with Linda Lewis trademarking "USGenWeb
Archives", as she is sure she is doing it on behalf of "the USGenWeb
Archives as a sub-project of The USGenWeb Project." She also notes that
"The fact that several Board members are also listed on the application
should be taken as an indication that Linda recognizes that the USGenWeb
Archives is part of the USGenWeb Project, rather than being assumed to
show some kind of nefarious collusion." [Except that is not why Linda says
they are there]. She does think "that this indicates a somewhat of a
double-standard in the same Board members getting so upset about Ron very
briefly incorporating The USGenWeb Census Project." Teri says "It is my
opinion that EVERY Special Project and EVERY State Project has the full
right to trademark or incorporate their sub-project without asking the
permission of the Advisory Board or anybody outside of their
sub-project...I'm simply in favor of the right of ALL sub-projects,
whether State, Special or Local, to run their own affairs, with the
national level assisting them in voluntary joint operations, not telling
them what they can or can't do, beyond a very minimal set of rules
necessary to maintain project identity. And those rules are already in the
Bylaws, none of which prohibits subprojects from incorporating or from
registering the names of their subprojects as trademarks."
Teri says she did not receive a voter ID either [Gloria Mayfield did no]
and notes that since she will not be able to read her mail until July 31,
she very well may not be able to vote. She notes "It doesn't seem fair to
stretch the voter id notification so close to the end of the voting
period. It's summer, when lots of people take vacations of two weeks or
more. Getting your id less than two weeks before the polls close may
prevent a lot of people from being able to vote."
Teri also asks for a longer voting period for Motion 00-21a, since several
Board members are away. She notes "The voting period should be flexible,
depending on circumstances such as how many members are available, how
active the ongoing discussion is, whether there is substantial desire for
more time, whether delaying a vote would have a material difference on the
effect of the motion (such as when the motion concerns an action with a
specific deadline), how close the vote is running (if the members not
voting could not change the outcome, then there is no reason not to close
the voting as soon as a quorum is reached), etc."
Richard Howland votes "yes" on Motion 00-21a.
Pam Reid notes that she's never seen an apology from Ron Eason for
incorporating the Census Project, but she doesn't think this issue is
really about "Ron's apologies or lack thereof." She thinks it would be
improper for her to move to reinstate the Census Project and notes "I
don't believe that the wrong "evens" things out and actually, don't find
them comparable" and suggests that someone who does should make the
motion. She thinks the situations are not comparable because: "When the
Census Project incorporated the name, they precluded anyone else from
incorporating the name, right? Did they clearly have the right to the
name?...it was certainly debatable who the "real" Census Project was.
There was another Census Project that was as viable by that time, and they
had a potential claim to the name. And the Board had not ruled as to which
was the legitimate Census Project. Now, when Linda trademarks the Archives
name, she has precluded any other group from using it. Is there another
viable group that has a possible claim to the USGenWeb Archives name?"
She thinks it would be a "grave mistake" to find Linda, Barbara, Joy and
Maggie to be not in good standing.
Pam also notes she considers this to be a "similar injustice" not "the
same injustice" [comparing removing the CP to declaring the four to be not
in good standing]. She says "These Project leaders and Board reps cannot
function if they are declared "not in good standing." Pam notes that the
Board voted to waive the 48 hour period, which may not have been a good
idea, but it did not violate the bylaws [actually, the Board voted to
waive their _own_ traditional 48 hour discussion period, not the 48 hour
period required in the bylaws for member comment]. Pam agrees with
GingerC that the two issues are dissimilar and she believes "Linda did
nothing wrong because she was trying to protect the USGenWeb Archives from
possible identity theft." [Which was what Ron was trying to do by
incorporating the CP] Pam also says she considers reinstating the Census
Project and restoring its members' voting rights to be an injustice and
reiterates that she doesn't think Linda, Barbara, Maggie and Joy did
anything wrong.
===
Election News: Roger Swafford, Chair of the Election Committee, has
announced "The voter IDs have been issued, anyone who may have missed or
haven't received one please send a message to your EC area rep...Please
provide the following information; Full name E-mail addresse(s) if more
than one is used. The name and URL of the sites and/or projects that
qualify for voting. The length of service with USGenWeb if recently
starting with the project a date would help."
Closed Discussion Corner: Rita Maggard, dominatrix of the
USGENWEB-DISCUSS mailing list, has closed it to anyone who is not a member
of the USGenWeb Project. On Wednesday, she informed the list that "This
list was set up for members of the USGenWeb Project to discuss project
business and happenings in a respectful, polite manner. It is NOT not
discussing other organizations. By the same token, it is NOT for other
organization's members to discuss the USGenWeb Project. This list is now
CLOSED to all but current members of the USGenWeb Project." She
instructed all list members to send her email including their names, email
addresses, the URLs to their USGenWeb pages; anyone who failed to do so
was unsubbed at 6:00 pm EST yesterday.
===
"You are officially on the record for your opinion."
---Linda Lewis, USGENWEB-ALL, 20 Jul 2000
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
-------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Sun Jul 23 17:57:01 2000
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 17:57:00 -0400 (EDT)
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To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>
Subject: Daily Board Show
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Livin' la vida loca...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Saturday 22 July 2000:
Tim Stowell declares Motion 00-21 failed. Once again, not a single Board
member cast a vote of any type.
===
Trust In Us Corner: Tim Stowell has posted the following message to the
State Coordinator's list:
"Please inform your CCs that they may vote with confidence that their
ballots are secret. According to the EC - the script tallys the vote and
then the committee members verify it. The verification process makes sure
that the vote tallied for x ID goes to y member."
Our NC has an interesting idea of "secret". The ballots are still being
mailed to individual members of the the EC with names and email addresses
attached. The nine people on the EC will know how each member voted.
Leigh Compton, ALGW State Coordinator and owner of the server on which
the ballots reside has full access to all voter logs, including
indentifying information. Can we trust those 10 people to keep our votes
confidential?
We've heard that the EC is more than a little worried about a large influx
of votes at the last minute. Apparently, a fairly small proportion of
voters have cast their ballots. At least 6 SCs have openly told their
CCs not to vote until the serious problems with the election process have
been addressed [witness Tim's not-very-reassuring missive above]. Since
the votes will be hand-counted, a big pile of votes at, say, 15 to
midnight on July 31 would seriously impact the vote tallying and
announcement of the winners.
===
Today's quote was sent in by a reader:
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry
about the answers."
---Thomas Pynchon
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
-------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.