(open for editing, but the Polish version is likely to override the English version)

Imc Toruń Decision Making Methods

( ImcTorunMetodaPodejmowanieDecyzji on docs )

General Principles:

• everyone can participate in decision making to the extent that s/he would be affected by that decision (cf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/parecon)
• the indymedia collective only exists as non-hierarchical cooperation between volunteers as long as consensus exists – nobody can be forced to do anything
• genuine communication and attempts at understanding are important components of decision making
  • Example
    • LGBT people or people active in KPH (Committee Against Homophobia) have more right to decide whether or not an article is offensive against LGBT people. This doesn’t exclude other people from the discussion, but we should seriously listen to people most affected by an article.

General method – proposals which are…

uncontroversial proposals

• uncontroversial proposal: rough consensus – proposal + discussion + corrections

moderately important proposals

• moderately important proposal – as for an important proposal, but the delays can be shorter

important proposal

• important proposal: ImcPlKonsensus
  • first there is the “proposal” phase in order to understand what is proposed
    • the proposal should be announced on the web page in the Indymedia Toruń theme and on the discussion list imc-pl-torun
    • the proposal should be proposed in a public, face-to-face meeting
  • the second phase is ,,discussion”
    • the minimal period for ,,discussion” for an important proposal is 10 days
  • when it seems that there is consensus, the “consensus test” can start
    • the minimal period for a “consensus test” for an important proposal is 7 days
    • the consensus test should be announced on the web page in the Indymedia Toruń theme and/or on the discussion list imc-pl-torun
    • the consensus test must be confirmed in a public face-to-face meeting
  • the more important a proposal is – e.g. concerning the equilibrium of power, the more important it is that the proposal is announced in various places

important urgent proposals

• important urgent proposal
  • a decision can be taken temporarily by trying to contact each other on the web page in the Indymedia Toruń theme and/or on the mailing list imc-pl-torun and/or on chat and/or in a public face-to-face meeting without waiting for a virtual discussion

concrete methods on the web page:

• principles for intervention by moderators (hiding, taking over, “replacing” and changing the parent message) and concrete methods (proposal + discussion + consensus test) are written in ImcTorunZasadyRedakcyjne
• moderation is automatically, publicly documented on the web page (link at the left-bottom of the front page)

choice of moderators:

• anyone living in or near Torun can become a moderator, provided that s/he:
  • accepts the principles written in indymedia documents:
    • decision making methods
    • editorial principles
    • principles of unity
    • criteria for participating in the indymedia network
  • publishes articles/comments under his/her own nick (not just as “guest”) for at least two months on the imc toruń web pages
  • participated at least a few times in face-to-face meetings
• for security reasons, we respect the moderators’ privacy regarding their “State-recognised identities” (unless they wish otherwise) – their electronic identity and knowing each other among local residents is enough for us to develop trust relationships
• a proposal to give moderator status to someone new is done on the web page in the Indymedia Toruń theme with a minimum of 10 days for general discussion and 7 days for the consensus test
  • the proposal must be accepted in a face-to-face meeting
  • people totally outside of the Toruń region can become moderators if the other conditions are fulfilled; the maximum proportion of people from outside the Toruń region is 10% (i.e. the minimum proportion of local moderators is 90%)

Tech decisions and the tech vs non-tech power balance

• Technical evolution of the web pages in general will be nearly identical to that of the free software package samizdat, discussed and decided publicly in the public discussion group samizdat-devel
• Techies are obliged to propose any important change likely to be controversial (outside of the moderators’ control) as an “important proposal” (see above), especially if this is an irreversible change, except in urgent cases.
• According to the decision making methods written above, the tech group must accept decisions made by the full collective
• As of early 2007, most of the “online” part of the tech group is the axxs collective, which can be found on irc and on the axxs-sysadmin mailing list