From N6ST, 17-Jan-96, includes new part F, amendments:
DXPSN Conduct of Business
A. Purpose
The primary function of the DXPSN is to distribute DX and Contest announcements and information relating to DXing and contesting. Nodes in the network are coordinated and approved by the voting members and operate in accordance with the accepted guidelines of the organization. As in all Amateur radio operations, the primary purpose of the network will be superseded by any valid need to use the network for emergency purposes. Conversion of the network to emergency use will be at the direction of the voting Sysops present at the time of conversion to emergency use.
B. Officers of DXPSN
Officers
Officers shall be President, Vice-President and Secretary. The officers are elected at the first meeting that occurs after May 1. The term of office is one year. A person may hold an office for as many terms as properly elected by the voting membership. An officer may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of the voting members. Additional officers may be added or deleted by a simple majority vote of the voting membership at a meeting. If the intent is to remove an officer, but retain the office a two-thirds vote is required.
President
Duties and Responsibilities
The President will represent the DXPSN to outside organizations. The President is responsible for accomplishing the broad goals of the organization. The President will conduct all proceedings in accordance with Roberts Rules of Order. The President is responsible for calling and chairing meetings. The President is responsible for the agenda of the meeting and for seeing that the agenda is distributed to all parties who are invited to the meeting. The President is responsible for coordinating the various committees that from time to time may be created to make sure all are working for a common end to support the purpose of the DXPSN.
Vice President
Duties and Responsibilities
The Vice President is responsible for obtaining meeting locations and making any financial arrangements necessary to secure the meeting place. The VP is responsible for chairing meetings in the absence of the President. Other duties may be assigned to the VP by the President from time to time.
Secretary
Duties and Responsibilities
The Secretary is responsible for taking and distributing an accurate set of minutes of all official DXPSN meetings. The Secretary is responsible for external communications as directed by the President. The Secretary is responsible for validating and maintaining the list of voting members and officers, which shall be posted on the network.
C. Membership
Membership in the DXPSN is at two levels Voting members are those Sysops who operate serving nodes. Non-voting members are all others as shown in the following paragraphs. All members, voting and non-voting, may actively participate in any discussions at meetings. In addition, the presiding officer is a voting member for all issues except the removal of said presiding officer from office.
Nodes - Sysops
These are the voting members. They run serving nodes. A serving node is defined as one that has one or more user frequencies, in addition to one or more backbone frequencies.
Network nodes - Sysops
Network nodes are defined as those active nodes that exist to connect users to a serving node or to relay backbone information from serving node to serving node. This is a non-voting member.
Network Development - databases
This is a node attached to the system for the purpose of providing database information to other nodes, not directly to the user community. This is a non-voting member.
System Coordination Nodes
For the purpose of providing network support - no users connect to this node. This is a non-voting member.
Users
Individual users and representatives of any group of members are non-voting members.
D. Voting
A quorum for voting shall be 50% of the voting membership. There shall be no proxy ballots. Only members present at meetings may cast ballots, however members not present may submit written discussion which must be read to those in attendance before the vote is taken. This written discussion of an issue from a voting member not in attendance will not be considered a vote, only an opinion.
A non-meeting vote may be called by the President upon receipt of a request for a vote, by a simple majority of the voting members or on the President's initiative.
Removing and adding nodes
Nodes can be added by a majority vote of voting members. A vote normally will be called only after the technical committee has examined the proposed addition and has issued an opinion regarding the technical feasibility. Sysops operating nodes on the same frequencies that are likely to be materially affected by the addition must be advised of the proposed addition by the technical committee in advance of the call for a vote. The vote to add a new node need not take place at a meeting but can be done by any method selected by the President to assure all voting members have a reasonable opportunity to participate. Reasonable opportunity is defined as a period of at least two (2) weeks between the time a ballot is distributed and the final results are tallied and announced.Removal of any class of active node, other than at the request of the owner of said node, shall require a two-thirds vote in favor thereof, said vote is only allowed at a meeting scheduled with no less than sixty days advance notice.
Backbone changes
Backbone changes shall be agreed upon by the appropriate technical committee and the effected Sysops. "Effected Sysops" are those whose connection into the backbone would be affected by a change in the backbone. This includes frequency changes, baud rate changes and any other technical change that would require work on the part of the Sysop to remain connected to the network. A vote of the membership is not required to do a backbone change.
Expansion Issues
Expansion by the addition of a single node or group of nodes is covered in the section on addition of nodes. This paragraph covers the addition of a significant new geographic area not previously covered or connections to another PacketCluster system. A full-protocol connection to such systems requires a two-thirds vote while a limited protocol connection requires a simple majority vote. There must be a minimum of six voting Sysops to vote on any issue involving system expansion. The Technical Committee shall advise as to the capacity of the backbone to handle any additional traffic created by the connection. The Technical Committee is charged with proactively recommending changes to the system that will have a beneficial affect on system capacity and to improve the reliability of coverage in the geographic area the system is intended to cover.
Meetings
Meetings shall be held at least one each year. The President may call for additional meetings, if required, provided that a minimum of sixty days notice be given. Any Sysop may also call for a meeting to be held, providing that he obtain the written concurrence of a simple majority of the voting Sysops. Said meeting shall also require a minimum of sixty days notice. A quorum for holding a meeting shall be 50% of the voting membership.
E. Committees
Committees may be formed and dissolved by the President.
Technical Committee
This group is responsible for keeping the system, particularly the backbone, running. They shall do this by communicating system parameter changes to the Sysops (both serving node and network nodes) and by monitoring system overall performance on a regular basis and by any other reasonable means they may devise. This group may also recommend node frequency changes as well as backbone changes to maintain or enhance system capacity. The technical committee is responsible for investigating proposed system changes and additions for technical feasibility. At the end of an investigation the Technical Committee shall issue recommendations regarding changes to the Officers and Sysops.
User Interface - Information
UG Interface
The User's Group Interface is responsible, among other things, for transmitting Sysop funding requests to the User's Group, for reporting system and Sysop activity to the User's Group, for accounting for the use of User's Group funds, and for maintaining a data base of callsigns of users who log onto the network. The User's Group is an independent organization of users of the DXPSN.
F. Amendments
These rules governing the conduct of DXPSN business may be amended at any time by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Voting Members present at a duly called meeting at which a quorum exists, or by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all Voting Members by casting a non meeting vote as duly called by the President, provided that in either case a copy of the proposed amendment shall have been delivered to each Voting Member by mail at least two (2) weeks prior to the date of the meeting or the non-meeting vote.