This is a draft. The terms are only proposals at this time, and we are interested in your opinion about how we can best operate this process. Please write to [email protected]
These terms include, by reference, the Post Open License, at https://postopen.org/documents/license and the Code of Conduct at https://postopen.org/documents/code-of-conduct.
These definitions apply to these terms, in order of preference:
git repository or make a "pull
request" using that repository.]
@").
The domain name portion must always be
"postopen.org" in ASCII.
This agreement is between You, all other parties to signatory to this agreement, and the Post Open Administration.
You attest, under penalty of perjury, fraud and other civil and criminal prosecution: that you are a real person with contractual capacity who is authorized to enter into this agreement for all entities defined as part of You or that you are more than one real person who collectively are authorized to enter into this agreement for all entities defined as part of You, that you do so only for lawful purposes compliant with the terms of this agreement, that you are not under influence of any party with intent to circumvent these terms and that you will remain free of such influence, and that you understand these terms and agree with them.
In the case that an entity entering into these terms does not have contractual capacity (for example: a legal minor or a person whose rights have been abridged through court order) You must be both a real person with contractual capacity who is responsible for that entity, and that entity.
You agree to all of these terms, including, but not limited to, all terms included by reference.
No less than annually, and monthly when sufficient funds exist to support that operation, the Post Open Administration will take the funds it collects, minus its operating costs and a reserve that the board decides to hold, and apportion those funds to Contributors, conveying payment to them in a national currency in compliance with the laws applicable to the Contributor and the Post Open Administration. No more than 50% of gross revenue may be allocated to reserve. The algorithm for Apportionment is still in development, and is expected to evolve. Your participation in this process, and payment when appropriate, is contingent upon Your agreement with, and continuing compliance with, these terms.
The Post Open Administration is not liable to pay any party or perform any other activity when such would be prohibited by laws applicable to the Post Open Administration or the other party, or there is a significant legal burden in navigating such laws. [Today such complications exist, for example the embargoes of the United States against Cuba, North Korea, and other nations. We might not take on the issue of paying developers in some of these nations immediately and we may never be able to pay some of them.]
All Beneficiaries except for 1) estates and successor of the creator of a Contribution or part of one, and 2) government-recognized charities; must be a party to this agreement in good standing in order to receive funds. This is because such estates and charities may be identified by others and may have a Post Open ID created for them, without their cooperation. Estates and charities may, at their option, enter into this agreement. All Beneficiaries must have a Post Open ID for purpose of identifying them for disposition of funds.
Where You are performing work-for-hire for another legal entity which is to be the Beneficiary paid funds related to your Contribution, or You wish funds related to your Contribution to go to any other Beneficiary, You must mark that portion of the Work in a form specified by the Post Open Administration with both your own Post Open ID and that of the Beneficiary, which will cause funds related to that Contribution to be apportioned to that Beneficiary. Post Open IDs for a Beneficiary are created using the web form at https://postopen.org/create_id . [Post Open IDs are in the form of postopen.org email addresses. Combined IDs specifying a Beneficiary include the Post Open ID without the "@postopen.org", portion, a "+" sign, and the Beneficiary Post Open ID. for example John.Hyphenated-O'[email protected]].
The Post Open Administration may, at its option, waive or negotiate fees temporarily as an incentive for a company to take a paid license, or when it believes that to do so might protect the licensee from bankruptcy or make it more likely that they would be able to pay our full licensing fee at a later date.
When the Post Open Administration is unable, with reasonable effort, to reach an entity or their successor for purposes of payment for a period of three years, the Post Open Administration will no longer be liable to pay that entity.
You must obtain a Post Open ID from the Post Open Administration and allow the Post Open Administration, its affiliates and contractors, and governments to investigate You for the purpose of positive identification of the entity issued the ID, and verification that You are free from influences that could cause You to compromise the security of software in the Post Open Collection and the operation of the Post Open Administration.
The Post Open Administration, optionally with use of its outside security contractors, may report your identification to governments for the purpose of maintaining security and chain-of-custody of software in the Post Open Collection and for reporting to courts, tax, anti-money-laundering, and other government authorities as is required of it.
You must only allow the use of a Post Open ID by the exact entity to which it was issued and no other, and only to accurately identify that entity. You must use a Post Open ID only for lawful purposes as directed by the Post Open Administration, and only those purposes which maintain the security and quality of software in the Post Open Collection, and the security of the Post Open Administration and users of software in the Post Open Collection.
The Post Open Administration may provide You with a cryptographic device or data to authenticate use of your Post Open ID. All such devices and data remain the property of the Post Open Administration even though You may be charged a fee for their delivery, use, or operation. You will comply with direction from the Post Open Administration on the storage, use, operation, and disposition of all such devices.
Where
You
are the sole, leading or central developer of a
Work,
You
must provide information on how to reach
You in the
CONTACT.txt file in the top-level directory of the
work. You must maintain the currency of this information as
You update the
Work.
You must apply the
unaltered text of the Post Open License to Your Contribution, and are granted
permission to use the copyrighted text of the Post Open License to do
so. This should be placed in the file LICENSE.txt in
the top-level directory of the
Work.
Where portions of the Work are under a Combinable License, you must
clearly state that fact in the CONTACT.txt file.
You are granted permission to provide an unaltered copy of the Post Open License to any party for review of those terms before entering into them.
You must not alter or misrepresent the terms of the Post Open License, and legal translations must be approved by the Post Open Administration.
You must not place deliberate bugs, omissions, back-doors, improperly attributed works, technology for circumventing the Post Open License or work intended for any purpose which is unlawful or contrary to the direction of the Post Open Administration in your Contribution. You must access facilities of the Post Open Administration only for lawful purposes, only for those purposes which are compliant with direction of the Post Open Administration, and only for purposes which maintain the security and quality of the Post Open Collection, and the security of its users and the Post Open Administration. You acknowledge that the Post Open Administration and other entities may bring both civil and criminal prosecution for any action incompliant with this section.
You must cooperate with investigations when requested to do so by the Post Open Administration, including with investigators who are contractors to the Post Open Administration or agents of governments. You explicitly waive the right not to incriminate Yourself if such a right applies to You. The Post Open Administration may take action regarding the result of such investigations as appropriate to protect the integrity and security of the Post Open Collection, its users, and the Post Open Administration. [This is for the purpose of determining and mitigating abuses by Contributors such as back-doors, attempts to bias the Post Open apportionment process, and cooperating with government in civil or criminal prosecution.]
You must correctly
attribute each real person who has created a part of a Contribution, using a
Post Open ID,
and each entity involved in that creation if the real person is
unknown. If a person or entity does not have such an ID,
You must create one using
the web form at https://postopen.org/create_id/ Where a
contributor is unknown (because some Open Source projects
historically did not keep this information well), You must use a Post Open ID indicating
that status and record any supplemental information You have regarding the identify of
software creators in the CONTACT.txt file and, if
known, the entity employing the contributor at that time.
You represent that each Contribution is either entirely original to You or or identifies all other contributors to the best of your knowledge using a Post Open ID.
You must not include code generated by a Machine Learning Model (commonly referred to as AI) in a a Contribution, or use AI-assisted tools in creating a Contribution or bug reports. Where a Contribution contains content created in whole or part by a Machine Learning Model that was created before your entry into this agreement, You must attribute that portion of the work as so created and not qualified for apportionment using the appropriate Post Open ID. [The Post Open Administration believes that much AI-created content is not copyrightable, potentially copyright-infringing, and also is likely to include security and technical issues which may not be immediately obvious. We thus require your cooperation in avoiding future legal complications related to such works. We may, for example, have to attribute that portion of the work to another party who provided input, willingly or not, to the Machine Learning Model.]
Where a work is not Yours but may be legally included in the Post Open Collection by nature of being in the public domain, not subject to copyright, or being a work under a Combinable License, You must identify the source of that work and mark it with an appropriate Post Open ID for such works. Works not subject to copyright include (but are not restricted to) anything that is not a work of authorship by a human being, for example algorithm-generated code, and simple collections of facts without any significant effort of curation, for example a table of logarithms.
The Post Open Administration may offer service regarding your Contribution. The Post Open Administration will endeavor to preferentially contract You in rendering that service, but may modify this decision based upon availability, experience, quality, convenience, and other factors. Profit derived from service upon Your Contribution will be directed to the pool for Apportionment, not specifically to You. [Because we do not wish to provide an incentive for software that frequently requires service.]
The Post Open Administration may itself become the client for service in order to effect swift repairs and to maintain the quality of the Post Open Collection, for example when a security alert is raised regarding Your Contribution. The cost of this service may be deducted from Your Apportionment. [This is so that software that frequently requires service is a liability to the contributor, rather than an asset, and thus so that there is an incentive to produce high quality software.]
The Post Open Administration may enter into these terms with other parties on Your behalf, such that these terms are an agreement between all signators, and may bring civil and criminal prosecution against violations of these terms on Your behalf.
The Post Open Administration may bring civil and criminal prosecution against copyright infringement, moral rights, and breach of contract cases regarding your Contribution, represent You, settle or pursue a court award, and control the disposition of funds resulting from prosecution. These cases may be brought regarding the Post Open License or any Open Source license with which You have formerly or presently licensed a Contribution.
The Post Open Administration may bring civil and criminal prosecution against historical infringers of Your Contribution on Your behalf, including infringement that occurred before You made your Contribution. [In other words, we can sue parties that did not comply with your Open Source license.]
All parties whom the Post Open Administration approaches to potentially prosecute for copyright infringement, moral rights, or breach of contract that would have been resolved by a paid Post Open License at the time of infringement or breach will be given at least one chance to resolve their case at minimum cost via the Remediation Process before prosecution, by becoming a paid licensee from that date onward. The Post Open Administration is not obligated to make any such offer once prosecution has begun.
The Post Open Administration may, at its option, require disgorgement of wrongful income, punitive damages, and other legal strategies in prosecution and as part of the Remediation Process and prosecution, or not, at its option. The Post Open Administration may, for example, offer forgiveness of past infringement if an entity elects to join as a paid licensee before legal action, and if a company fails to do that, pursue them with a lawsuit including disgorgement and punitive damages. The Post Open Administration may change whether or not it requires disgorgement, punitive damages, and other legal strategies per case, and over time.
In the event that You are notified that the Post Open Administration is prosecuting a case on your behalf and You can not present evidence of already being in negotiation with the party being prosecuted at the time of notification, You must not separately negotiate with a party being prosecuted. [This is so that all Contributors present a unified front to infringers and so that we can prosecute any copyright, moral rights, or contract cases regarding the entire Post Open Collection, rather than a single work.]
The Post Open Administration and its associates such as law firms and anti-software-patent organizations may represent you, or otherwise arrange for your representation, in any case brought against the Post Open Administration or Contributors of the Post Open Collection. [These terms are so that the Contributors present a united front in any case and possible counter-suit (for example, to terminate the Post Open License of a patent aggressor).]
Annual salary and bonuses for executives of the Post Open Administration must be limited to 1.5 times the highest value specified in the most recent rate-of-pay adjustment for the United States Senior Executive Service, which is defined in 5 U.S.C. 5382, or its equivalent in their national currency. These rate adjustments are published as orders in the United States Federal Register, and also by the United States Office of Personnel Management, for example see the 2024 data at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2024/ES.pdf
Executive compensation may also include director and officer liability insurance, health insurance for the employee and their family, travel medical and evacuation insurance, a road motor vehicle and operating and maintenance expenses for that vehicle, and relocation expenses decided by the Post Open Administration. and not to exceed 1/3 of annual salary per year and per relocation.
Members of the Board of Directors are intended to be working Contributors of works in the Post Open Collection, and are thus to be compensated as part-time employees. Salary and bonuses for directors must be limited to 1/4 of the salary and bonus specified for executive compensation.
Directors compensation may also include director and officer liability insurance and travel medical and evacuation insurance.
All other employees are to be compensated at a rate no greater than one competitive with their employment market for their qualification (including their specialties, education, experience, capabilities, and other assets such as reputation) in their location, and may receive any of the benefits stated for executives, as decided by the Post Open Administration.
All employees as well as volunteers may be compensated for travel and lodging expenses at a modest rate: flights are to be coach class and may include a premium seating enhancement, or are to be reimbursed at the equivalent rate for coach with premium seating enhancement at the time of booking if a higher class is chosen. Employees must responsibly book travel in advance, when possible, when that will cause a cost savings, potentially with some form of trip cancellation coverage.
The executive board shall be composed of no less than two and no more than 5 Voting Members, and alternates who will serve if another director becomes unable to serve. Directors must not otherwise be employees of the Post Open Administration The President may decide ties of the executive board vote if necessary.
As of 2025, Post Open has a board which is appointed. Post Open will begin to elect board members in the year following when it reaches 1000 Voting Members, and as a scheduled election annually thereafter.
Online discussion lists shall be established for campaign by candidates for nomination, open to all Voting Members, and for campaign of nominated candidates, with a channel in which candidates only can write, and one in which all Voting Members may write.
Voting Members are required to vote their own interest exclusively, not that of their employer. Employers must not pressure or compel any Voting Member for the purpose of influencing their vote.
Candidates may be nominated using electronic registration of no less than 1% of Voting Members. Election will be by an online ranked-choice voting system.
During the first three years of this election, 1/3 (rounding down) of appointed board members will be selected to be termed out shortly after the election. This selection must be by random sortition, with the result announced 6 months before the election. Termed-out seats will be replaced by election, possibly with the same people.
Candidates who receive too few votes to be elected will serve as board alternates Subsequent to the first three years, director seats will be opened for election as directors end their terms. Board alternates will take on director seats when a director is unable to serve, in order of their vote totals and their willingness to serve. Board directors serve a term of three years and may be re-elected.
Once the conditions are fulfilled for directors to be elected, the executive board shall select the president for a two-year term, and will choose to re-elect or replace the president at the end of that term or if the president is no longer able to serve.
If the Post Open Administration is disbanded or becomes unresponsive to all contact (not just Your contact) for a period of greater than one year, You are released from all agreements with the Post Open Administration and all copyrightable works owned by the Post Open Administration revert to the GNU Lesser General Public License 3.0 .
Revision of these terms is covered under the terms for revision of the Post Open License, included by reference.