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- BYLAWS
- OF
- ASP, INC.
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- Ratified by the membership on June 26, 1987; amended on October
- 29, 1987.
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- ARTICLE 1: Object of Corporation
-
- Section 1. This Corporation is created by its Members
- for the following purposes:
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- ASP, the Association of Shareware Professionals, was formed
- in April 1987 to strengthen the future of shareware (user
- supported software) as an alternative to commercial software. Its
- members, all of whom are programmers who subscribe to a code of
- ethics, are committed to the concept of shareware as a method of
- marketing.
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- ASP's primary goals are:
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- o To inform users about shareware programs and about
- shareware as a method of distributing and marketing software;
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- o To encourage broader distribution of shareware through
- user groups and disk dealers who agree to identify and explain
- the nature of shareware;
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- o To assist members in marketing their software;
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- o To provide a forum through which ASP members may communi-
- cate, share ideas, and learn from each other; and
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- o To foster a high degree of professionalism among share-
- ware authors by setting programming, marketing and support
- standards for ASP members to follow.
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- Section 2. The purpose of the Corporation may not be
- altered except as an amendment to these bylaws, which shall
- require a two-thirds majority vote at an annual or special
- meeting of the Membership.
-
- Section 3. The Corporation is not organized, nor shall
- it be operated, for pecuniary gain or profit, and it does not
- contemplate the distribution of gains, profits or dividends to
- its Members and is organized solely for non-profit purposes. The
- property, assets and profits and net income of the Corporation
- are irrevocably dedicated to the purposes set forth in Section 1
- hereof, and no part of its profits or income shall ever inure to
- the benefit of any Director, Officer or Member thereof or to the
- benefit of any private person.
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- ARTICLE 2: Membership
-
- Section 1. The Membership of the Corporation shall
- consist of those persons who have signed the Certificate of
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- Incorporation as incorporators together with all persons who are
- hereafter received in or elected to Membership as hereinafter
- provided.
-
- Section 2. The criteria for Membership in the Corpora-
- tion shall be:
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- (a) That the Member, in the judgment of the Board of
- Directors, is a shareware professional, as that term may be
- defined by the Board of Directors after consultation with the
- Membership.
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- (b) That the Member pay and remain current in the
- payment of dues, fees and assessments.
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- (c) That the Member agrees to abide by and continues
- to abide by the published standards of the Corporation for the
- development and distribution of shareware.
-
- Section 3. The criteria for Membership in the Corpora-
- tion may not be altered except as an amendment to these bylaws,
- which shall require a two-thirds majority vote at an annual or
- special meeting of the Membership. Promulgation or amendment of
- standards shall require a two-thirds majority vote at an annual
- or special meeting of the Membership.
-
- Section 4. A Member shall be dismissed from Membership
- upon the failure of the Member to meet any Membership criterion.
- It shall be the obligation and responsibility of each Member to
- advise the Board of Directors if the Member no longer qualifies
- as a Member. The procedure for dismissal shall be as follows.
- If the Board of Directors determines that there is reasonable
- cause to believe that the Member fails to meet any Membership
- criterion, it shall provide notice of such failure to the Member.
- The Member shall have 15 days from the date notice is given to
- respond to such notice. Following the Member's response, if any,
- the Board of Directors shall make a factual determination and
- shall take such action with regard to Membership as it, in its
- sole discretion, deems to be required.
-
- Section 5. A Member may resign from Membership at any
- time and shall be required to do so if such Member is not able to
- or does not wish to comply with Membership requirements.
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- Section 6. The Board of Directors may establish a
- Membership committee to which it may delegate any responsibility
- which the Board of Directors may have regarding Membership. A
- Member may appeal to the full Board from any adverse decision of
- the Membership committee.
-
- Section 7. Dues, fees and assessments shall be estab-
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- lished, and may be modified from time to time, by majority vote
- of the Membership at any meeting.
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- Article 3: Government
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- Section 1. The general management of the affairs of the
- Corporation shall be vested in the Board of Directors, who shall
- be elected as provided in the bylaws. A Member of the Board of
- Directors must be a Member of the Corporation.
-
- Section 2. There shall be six (6) Members of the Board
- of Directors.
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- Section 3. The term of office of each Member of the
- Board of Directors shall be two (2) years commencing on January 1
- following the date of election.
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- Section 4. Members of the Board of Directors shall be
- eligible for reelection.
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- Article 4: Meetings of Members
-
- Section 1. Continuous meetings of the Members of the
- Corporation shall take place on an electronic forum such as
- Compuserve or such other forum as may be selected by the Board of
- Directors after consultation with the Membership. Wherever in
- these bylaws the Board of Directors is required to consult with
- the Membership, it shall be sufficient if the Board consults with
- the Membership electronically in such continuous meeting. No
- votes may be taken at such continuous meetings, other than
- unofficial votes for the Board to obtain the sense of the
- Membership and other than votes under the provisions for special
- meetings set forth below.
-
- Section 2. Annual meetings of the Members of the
- Corporation shall be held once each year on a date to be fixed by
- the Board of Directors not later than ninety days after the 1st
- day of January of each year. Final and official notice of the
- time and place of the annual meeting shall be provided to each
- Member not less than ten nor more than fifty days prior thereto
- and shall specify the matters to be discussed and voted upon at
- such special meeting. No business may come before a special
- meeting which is not so specified. Members may be present at an
- annual meeting in person or by written or electronic proxy. The
- Board of Directors may establish a procedure to permit Members
- who are not physically present to participate in the annual
- meeting by electronic means.
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- Section 3. Special meetings of the Members of the
- Corporation may be called from time to time by the Board of
- Directors, or by at least 10% of the Membership acting in
- concert, or by at least 15 Members acting in concert. Members
- shall be deemed to have acted in concert for purposes of the
- preceding sentence if they have provided written notice to the
- Secretary of the request for a special meeting, such request to
- specify the matters to be addressed at such meeting. Notice of
- the time and place of a special meeting shall be provided to each
- Member not less than three nor more than twenty-one days prior
- thereto and shall specify the matters to be discussed and voted
- upon at such special meeting. No business may come before a
- special meeting which is not so specified. Special meetings
- shall be conducted electronically and shall be chaired by the
- President of the Corporation pursuant to the procedure set forth
- in Article 5.
-
- Section 4. At any meeting of the Members, each Member
- shall have one vote, except that Members of the Board of Direc-
- tors shall not have the right to vote on matters concerning the
- exercise of their functions.
-
- Section 5. At all meetings, a quorum shall consist of
- those persons who have cast their votes at such meeting.
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- Section 6. Action at any meeting of Members may be taken
- by a simple majority vote of a quorum, except as to any require-
- ments for a super-majority vote specifically set forth in these
- bylaws.
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- Section 7. Members who are unable to attend an annual
- meeting may send in a written or electronic proxy to the Secre-
- tary on the matters on the agenda, appointing the Board of
- Directors to cast votes for such Member in a manner specified in
- such proxy.
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- Section 8. The President shall chair all meetings. In
- the absence of the Prsident, the chair shall pass to the remain-
- ing Officers of the Corporation, in the order they are named in
- Article 7. The meetings shall be governed by Roberts Rules of
- Order, Revised (1979 edition) except where, in the opinion of the
- chair, a limitation or enhancement of electronic conferencing
- makes certain of those rules either unworkable or unnecessary.
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- Section 9. Any resolution which is defeated at any
- meeting may not be reintroduced or placed on the agenda for any
- meeting within six (6) months following defeat of such resolu-
- tion.
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- Article 5: Procedure for Special Meetings
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- Section 1. Special meetings shall take place on a
- continuing daily basis via computer telecommunications on a
- bulletin board system ("BBS") chosen by the Board of Directors.
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- Section 2. Only the Chairman of the Board of Directors
- or the President may call for an end of discussion and for a vote
- on a proposal and such call shall constitute the beginning of the
- "voting period".
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- Section 3. Each Member shall have one vote, except that
- Members of the Board of Directors shall not have the right to
- vote on matters concerning the exercise of their functions.
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- Section 4. A proposal shall be open for voting until
- either accepted or rejected by a simple majority of a quorum of
- the Membership or until the voting period has expired, except as
- to any requirements for a super-majority vote specifically set
- forth in these bylaws.
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- Section 5. The voting period shall be a minimum of 48
- hours. If less than one-third of the Membership has voted within
- such period, then the voting period shall be extended until one-
- third of the Membership has voted or 168 hours have elapsed from
- the beginning of the voting period, whichever comes first.
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- Section 6. A proposal shall be accepted or rejected
- based on a simple majority of the votes of the quorum, except as
- to any requirements for a super-majority vote specifically set
- forth in these bylaws.
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- Section 7. In lieu of voting on the BBS, a Member may
- send in a written vote to the Secretary and it shall be counted
- if received during the voting period.
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- Section 8. Should the BBS which is normally used for
- meetings be unavailable to the general Membership for 6 or more
- continuous hours during the voting period, the voting period
- shall be extended for an additional 24 hours.
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- Article 6: Election of Directors and Officers
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- Section 1. The Directors of the Corporation shall be
- elected at a special meeting which shall be called by the
- Secretary of the Corporation not later than September 1 of each
- year. The term of office shall be as set forth in Article 3,
- Section 3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, at the first election
- of the Board of Directorys by the Membership, the three Directors
- with the greatest number of votes shall serve for a period com-
- mencing with the date of election and ending with the third Janu-
- ary 1 following election, and the three Directors with the least
- number of votes shall serve for a period commencing with the
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- date of election and ending with the second January 1 following
- election.
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- Section 2. The Members of the Board of Directors shall
- elect a Chairman of the Board of Directors at any meeting of the
- Board. The duties of the Chairman shall be to chair all meetings
- of the Board of Directors and to provide guidance and leadership
- for the Corporation and its Membership.
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- Section 3. If a vacancy occurs among the Board of
- Directors, the Secretary of the Corporation shall call a special
- meeting for the purpose of filling the vacancy.
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- Section 4. Following the election of Directors, the
- Directors shall elect from the Members a President, a Vice-
- President, a Secretary and a Treasurer, who shall serve at the
- pleasure of the Board of Directors.
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- Section 5. If a vacancy occurs among the Officers, the
- vacancy shall be filled by the the Board.
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- Article 7: Duties of Officers
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- Section 1. The President shall preside at all meetings
- of the Corporation and shall have the right to vote at such
- meetings. In the case of a tie the President shall have the
- power to cast two votes to break the tie. The President and the
- Secretary shall sign the record of meetings and shall act as the
- chief executive Officer of the Corporation. The President may
- establish committees and shall appoint chairmen of such commit-
- tees. The President shall act as chief executive Officer of the
- Corporation, coordinate the activities of the Officers and the
- committees and shall provide guidance and leadership in the day-
- to-day operation and functioning of the Corporation.
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- Section 2. In the absence of the President, the Vice-
- President shall perform the President's duties.
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- Section 3. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all
- meetings of the Members and of the Board of Directors, shall keep
- a register of the Members, and shall provide notices of meetings
- of the Members.
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- Section 4. The Treasurer shall keep accurate books of
- account, prepare and present periodic operating statements and
- balance sheets to the Board of Directors, and deposit and
- withdraw funds of the Corporation under the direction of the
- Board of Directors.
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- Article 8: Duties and Powers of the Board of Directors
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- Section 1. The Board of Directors shall have general
- charge and management of the affairs, funds and property of the
- Corporation. They shall have full power and it shall be their
- duty to carry out the purposes of the Corporation according to
- its charter and bylaws; to determine whether the conduct of any
- Member is detrimental to the welfare of the Corporation and to
- fix the penalty for such misconduct or any violation of the
- charter or bylaws; to employ personnel for the carriying out of
- the Corporation's objectives; and to make the rules for the
- conduct of the Members.
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- Section 2. Any action required or permitted to be taken
- by the Board of Directors may be taken without a meeting if all
- Members of the Board consent in writing to the adoption of a
- resolution authorizing the action.
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- Section 3. Meetings of the Board may be called and
- governed in such manner as the Board may from time to time
- determine.
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- Section 4. All action of the Board shall be taken by
- majority vote of a quorum. A quorum of the Board shall consist
- of four Members of the Board.
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- Article 9: Indemnification; Insurance
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- Section 1. The Corporation shall indemnify and hold
- harmless from all costs and expenses (including reasonable
- attorneys fees) of any person who was or is an elected or
- appointed Officer or director of the Corporation and is threa-
- tened to be or has been made a party to an action, claim, or
- other proceeding arising out of such person's performance,
- purported performance, or failure to perform, any duties on
- behalf of the Corporation. Such indemnification shall not extend
- to liabilities arising out of a person's gross negligence,
- misfeasance or willful misconduct.
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- Section 2. The Board of Directors is authorized to
- obtain Directors and Officers liability insurance to shield such
- persons from liability for all costs, expenses and attorneys fees
- arising out of the conduct of their duties as Directors and
- Officers, except for liabilities arising out of their gross
- negligence, misfeasance or willful misconduct.
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- Article 10: Dissolution
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- Section 1. The Corporation can be dissolved only upon a
- two-thirds majority vote of a quorum present at any meeting. On
- dissolution or winding up of the Corporation its assets remaining
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- after the payment of, or provision for the payment of, all debts
- and liabilities shall be distributed to a non-profit fund,
- foundation or Corporation which is organized and operated
- exclusively for educational or charitable purposes and which has
- established its tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the
- Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as the same may be amended from
- time to time. If the Corporation holds any assets outside the
- state of its inCorporation they shall be disposed of in such
- manner as may be necessary by a decree of a court of competent
- jurisdiction in accordance with the laws of such jurisdiction
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- Article 11: Notices and Communications
-
- Section 1. All notices or communications required or
- permitted hereunder may be mailed through the United States Post
- Office or by electronic means to their last known addresses as
- shown in the records of the Corporation, and proof of such
- mailing by return receipt or electronic acknowledgment shall
- constitute presumptive evidence of such mailing thereof.
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- Article 12: Amendments
-
- Section 1. These bylaws may be amended only by a two-
- thirds majority vote of a quorum present in person or by proxy at
- an annual or special meeting of the Corporation, provided that
- notice of the purport of any proposed amendment has been stated
- in the call for the meeting. The Secretary shall be required to
- provide notice of any such amendment if any Member so requests at
- least five days prior to the mailing of notices.
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- Article 13: Fiscal Year
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- Section 1. The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be
- as determined by the Board of Directors.
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