Public discussion paper on labour protection and anti discrimination coverage to non US resident volunteers in US based 501(c)(6) & 501(c)(3) organisations

Open Research
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In pursuit of Objective IV of the Foundation, this Call for Open Research is to observe and document case studies covering USA based public 501(c)(6) & 501(c)(3) organisations, which maintain open source infrastructure and their contravention with several local jurisdictions based labour and anti discrimination laws.

This open research should cover regulatory jurisdictions - India, and 27 member states in European Union, in which the Foundation is legally based.

Example Case Study: Apache Software Foundation(ASF)

Call for Open Research to document a public discussion paper using but not limited to following public resources:

a. Public Mailing List and Board Reports of Projects incubated and maintained by ASF

b. Director Appointment Reports of ASF

c. Whether legal bodies are incorporated or fiscal hosts exists in accordance to local business laws in these jurisdictions.

d. Direct Interview with the Data Protection Authority of at least two of the 27 member states of EU - Germany, Denmark and Republic of India.

e. Interface with the Ministry of Labour & Employment, India.

f. Interface with USA Department of Labor.

g. Interface with EU National authorities & labour law.

ASF is a non for profit volunteer driven organisation, which recruits volunteers in different countries.

The goal of this open research is to establish whether or not, anti discrimination and labour protection coverage applies to non US based nationals, who volunteer to a US based 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(6) organisations.

A statutory legal body is governed by the business authority of a local country.
Volunteers contribute to the projects over several Internet based mailing lists, residing across the planet.

Public Notice: This is in continuation to Foundation’s observation on governance of ASF’s project Apache Fineract, which operates in a highly regulated BFSI industry with each economy having highly specific data privacy, labour protection and anti discrimination laws.

Read more about ASF’s legal structure on their public website.

Read Open Research Guidelines:

https://docs.muellnersfoundation.info

Read about National authorities & labour law, EU

Notice: Timelines for open source release of Public Discussion paper to be updated.

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Relevant Literature: Source: ASF Public Website

Read Statement of Intent and clarification of IP when BOTH INDIVIDUALS and ORGANISATIONS collaborate with ASF:

a. STATEMENT OF INTENT:

  • The overriding goal is to remain a universal donor. While PMCs will be expected to balance developers’ and licensees’ needs, in questions relating to third party licensing matters, the Legal Affairs Committee will focus mostly on ensuring that the entire rage of the needs of licensees, ranging from the most risk adverse corporations to the most activist members of the Free Software Movement, are met.
  • The ASF is all about voluntary contributions, and intends to obey the constraints expressed by the copyright holder when redistributing their work.
  • All decisions will be made and posted publicly.
  • As much as humanly possible, everything will be by consensus of the Legal Affairs Committee, though possibly via Lazy Consensus. If there ever is a time that consensus can’t be reached, the decision will fall to the Chair who will keep the board informed on any such issues.
  • PMCs will be encouraged to provide specific questions. Questions of the form listed above will take priority over “here’s a problem, solve it for me” types of open ended questions.
  • A key part of the third party licensing policy will be the establishment and policing of specific policies for NOTICE, LICENSE, and README files.

b. Read conditions for EXPORTING an Apache open source licensed products OUTSIDE USA:

*ASF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity, based in accordance with business laws of one of the member state of U.N i.e United States of America and registered in one of the more than 50 states of U.S.A - Delaware

All of our products are developed via online collaboration in public forums and distributed from a central server within the U.S*. Therefore, U.S. export laws and regulations apply to our distributions and remain in force as products and technology are re-exported to different parties and places around the world.

c. Read IP clarification agreements and more on how ASF (legal body) clarifies individual or organisations IP contributions:

CONTRIBUTOR LICENSE AGREEMENTS

d. Read how ASF local chapters are organised e.g social media platforms or physical events in non USA jurisdictions:

https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/COMDEV/Process+to+establish+an+ALC+Chapter

e. Read ASF’s Board Minutes on DEI: