Code of Conduct

All member representatives (individuals participating in any Consortium activities on the part of a member) are expected to behave in a collegial and professional fashion in accordance with this Code of Conduct. As part of the Consortium Membership Agreement, members agree to familiarize their representatives with this Code of Conduct, require them to behave accordingly, and agree to remove or replace a member representative who violates the Code of Conduct if the Consortium so requests.

  1. Representatives of Consortium members agree to behave in a collegial and professional fashion when engaged in Consortium Activities, in accordance with the Membership Agreement and this Code of Conduct Behavior prejudicial to the free and easy exchange of ideas and discourse, such as "flaming" on discussion forums or overbearing attitudes on mailing lists and in meetings, is considered inappropriate and unprofessional.
  2. Representatives of Consortium Members appointed to serve as Chairs or Co-Chairs of Consortium Committees are expected to actively conduct the business of their committees in a fair and impartial fashion and to ensure that their organization supports their work in chairing the committee.
  3. Representatives of Consortium members are welcome to discuss or present the Consortium and its activities at external events or activities such as discussion forums, but shall not imply or suggest that they speak officially for the Consortium.
  4. Representatives of Consortium members shall abide by the Consortium Intellectual Property Rights Policy with respect to proprietary and confidential information of their members in the course of Consortium activities.
  5. Representatives of Consortium members shall not disclose in-progress work or activities of the Consortium which are deemed private to the Consortium and its participants. In-progress work or activities that are covered by this clause include, but are not limited to, draft meeting minutes, draft position papers, draft questionnaires, and draft announcements. Consortium members often participate in directly related work taking place within standards organizations such as the IETF, W3C, or OASIS and these activities remain subject to the intellectual property rules and disclosure rules of the relevant standards bodies.
  6. Violations of the Code of Conduct on the part of an individual may ultimately result in the individual being asked to leave a meeting, be suspended from some or all Consortium activities, or the Member asked to remove the individual from further involvement with the Consortium.