SPI Membership Policy

THE SPI MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE RESOLVES THAT

1. Anyone is eligible to apply for membership in Software in the Public Intest, Inc.

2. These memberships shall never expire.

3. The application for organizations is handled exclusively through email.

   1. Such application precludes the capability of becoming an associated project.
   2. Such application is temporarily suspended until further notice.

4. The application for individuals as Non Contributing Membership (NCM) is handled through SPI's website.

   1. For a NCM membership, member must confirm their email.
   2. Conceding will be automatic.
   3. Data is handled according to SPI's Privacy Policy.
   4. Members can withdraw their NCM status at any time.
   5. Data deletion is requested to the membership committee by the confirmed email.

5. Only individuals whom have been granted the NCM standing may request the CM status

   1. Each individual may only have one application.
   2. Contributing Membership may expire.
   3. Expired CM status may be restored through the portal.
   4. Data deletion is only requested after the membership is terminated. Some data may be kept for legal purposes.

6. Contributing Status is only granted when the email of the application and the email from the contribution is a perfect match, or when it is possible to prove beyond question that both emails belong to the same person.

7. The applicant is responsible for providing all evidence to SPI Membership Committe.

8. Contributing Members are those who contribute to the ecossystem as a whole. As such, the committee considers the substance of the member to the community, not of their individual contributions.

   1. Even grammar corrections can make someone eligible, when they're done consistently, preserving the software grammar correcteness (for example).
   2. Likewise, someone who fixed a large issue and never did anything else aren't really contributing to the ecossystem as a whole (also for example). They are thus not considered active, and the contribution, even if significant to the project, is not considered significant to the community.

9. Someone who no longer actively contributes to the ecossystem can still be eligible for CM standing, when all their contributions remain significant to the free software community.

10. The committee provides the CM standing to any elected director or appointed project liaison, by virtue of their duties and contributions to the community through SPI.

11. While the committee may expedite applications from members of affiliated projects, it's not required to be a member of an affiliated project.

12. The committee typically reviews application within 30 (thirty) days.

    1. Applications which do not provide sufficient information may be kept without reply, as rejecting the application would prevent the NCM from submitting a new application.
    2. Applicants whom have not received a reply and believe to have provided sufficient information may inquire to the SPI Board email about the status of their application.

13. The committee acts according to its chart.

14. General guidelines are published in SPI website.

15. The Membership Committee members are Application Managers.

16. Application Managers whom have been inactive for two years or more should be sent to the Board for removal from the committee.

17. If there are less than four active Application Managers, the SPI President may submit to the Board a proposal to add the officers to assume the Membership Committee duties provisorily, until replacements can be appointed.

18. The President, by Bylaws article eight, has the duty of ensuring the membership committee is properly staffed and operating.

19. Any CM may be part of the Membership Committee. When a director joins the Membership Committee and decide to leave SPI Board, they must notify if they wish to remain in the committee.