[kFW] Legalise Kendra Initiative!...

[Daniel Harris <daniel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi there All,

After discussions with various people it's becoming clear that Kendra 
Initiative should have some kind of legal structure behind it. First we'll 
go through some reasons and then list some options. I'm sure there's more 
to add for both so please suggest away...

1. Reasons...

- Need to provide security against liability for those people representing kI.

- Need to comply with data protection laws.

- It's not easy for large companies/organisations (such as the DTI) to deal 
with kI if it doesn't have a legal status.

- Protect "Kendra" name from the trolls that live under the bridge! ;-)

2. Options...

- Ask large companies/organisations what kind of legal entity they can deal 
with.

- Could set kI up as an educational charity. Contact charities commission 
for more info.

- A charity would be run by committee where the committee is elected by the 
participants and then the elected committee selected the 'officers' of the 
organisation. Then there's the question of what size the committee should 
be and what officers are required. A committee of eleven has been suggested 
with 4 officers (president/vice-president/secretary/treasurer).

- Could set kI up as a not for profit company limited by guarantee. 
Suggestions on company registered offices location (so far): America, 
England, Netherlands and Switzerland.

- Should look at how IETF and W3C are structured. Seems like these 
organisations are quite flexible and it would be good to see if we can keep 
kI loose. The last thing we want is to get bogged down in bureaucracy.

- Have a sunset clause that means everything winds up when the mission has 
been completed. Hhhmmmm...

- I like the idea that there's no restriction to participation. And no fees 
are required to take part. That's one of the main reasons that so many 
people are getting involved and listing them selves on the website.

Comments please...

Thanks especially to Andi Freeman, Julie McCann, David Greggains and 
Richard Trebilcook for helping to get these thoughts down on paper.

Cheers Daniel

Come to Kendra's cross-vendor edge-server content delivery network trial
Daniel Harris daniel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx   Kendra Initiative www.kendra.org.uk
Thanks to www.atlantic-e.com for hosting services and sponsoring my time