Author Topic: Constitution and Terms of Service Changes  (Read 1334 times)

Jubal

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Constitution and Terms of Service Changes
« on: January 08, 2018, 12:38:05 AM »
ToS and Constitutional Amendments, January 2018

Dear friends,

This is just an announcement to let you know that Exilian's voting members have recently ratified two notable changes to how we're run as an organisation. These won't greatly affect your experience using the site, but they do more broadly affect how the site is run, your rights as a user, and what we'll be trying to do in future, so here's an overview of them:

Firstly, the Exilian Terms of Service have been amended. We've added a new section (section 11) which clarifies the copyright status of work posted on Exilian - specifically, so that we clearly ensure that creators retain complete control of their works when posted here. We do cover people's work within newsletters and may use screenshots or similar to promote both you and Exilian as a whole, and the new clause clarifies our implicit agreement to do that and allow us to support creators. We've made sure it's laid down in the Terms of Service that we can only use people's work for those strictly limited purposes and, more importantly, that creators can withdraw consent for any and all of those uses at any time. Unlike some larger and less member-driven communities, we're committed to ensuring that people keep control of their own work, and we're glad to have clarified that position properly in our Terms of Service.

Second, the Constitution of Exilian has changed. Our constitution is our founding document that lays out the community's democratic running procedures, our aims and objectives, and so on. We've adopted a changed official set of aims, bringing them up to date with Exilian's current activities. This includes a new duty to inform & inspire both members and the public, as our successful articles section is doing, and clarifying our remit to support creative projects whilst removing explicit enumeration of certain types of project in the constitution. The amendment also clears up some staff scrutiny procedures.

Please do ask any questions on these changes below this post. As Exilian's executive officer, I'm always happy to answer questions on any issues around our Terms of Service, Staffing, or Governance procedures, and I very much encourage anyone with a bit of spare time to jump in, get involved and help out!

Best wishes,

Jubal (Megadux)

The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...