By-laws

The name of this organization shall be Software in the Public Interest, Inc.
The organization shall have a seal which shall be in the following form: [Seal not present on electronic copy, only on paper original ]
The organization may at its pleasure by a vote of the membership body change its name.
The following are the purposes for which this organization has been organized:
Nothing herein shall authorize the corporation to operate or maintain a nursery school, elementary school or secondary school. Nothing herein shall authorize the corporation to operate or maintain an institute of higher learning or to grant degrees.
In furtherance of its corporate purposes, the corporation shall have all the general powers enumerated in Section 202 of the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law, together with the power to solicit grants and contributions for the corporate purposes.
Nothing herein shall authorize this corporation, directly or indirectly, to engage in or include among its purposes, any of the activities mentioned in the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law, Section 404(b)-(v).
Membership in this organization shall be open to all who meet the approval of the membership committee. Members have the right and responsibility of overseeing the board members, officers, and committees and ensuring that they operate in accordance with the goals and principles of the organization. All board members, officers, and committees are ultimately responsible to the membership, and should act in accordance with its wishes.
Contributing and non-contributing memberships are available within this organization. Members agree to support the principles and help further the goals of this organization. All membership applications and renewals will be reviewed by the Membership Committee. Applicants must meet the criteria set forth in the charter of the Membership Committee.
Members may be individuals or organizations.
Members wishing to leave the organization may do so at any time by notifying the membership committee in writing of their desire for the membership to be terminated.
Contributing memberships are open to persons and organizations who have made significant contributions to the free software community, as determined by the membership committee.
The membership committee and its charter will make reasonable and fair procedures for these determinations, including for acquiring necessary information such as lists of projects a prospective member has participated in or testimonials, and for regularly reviewing the status of contributing members.
If a contributing membership is not renewed, the member's status will be downgraded to a non-contributing member.
Board members, by virtue of their office, are automatically granted the status of contributing members.
To become a non contributing member, the applicant must apply for a non-contributing membership. This membership will not expire.
To become a contributing member at a later time, non-contributing members must follow the application process for contributing members.
The annual board meeting of this organization shall be electronically held on the first day of July, each and every year except if such day be a legal holiday then and in that event the Board of Directors shall fix the day but it shall not be more than two weeks from the date fixed by these by-laws. The Secretary shall cause to be mailed (electronically or otherwise) to every board member in good standing at his or her address as it appears in the membership roll book of this organization a notice telling the time and place of such annual meeting.
Regular meetings of the board of this organization shall be held quarterly.
The presence of not less than two-thirds of the board members shall constitute a quorum and shall be necessary to conduct the business of this organization, but a lesser number may adjourn the meeting for a period of not more than two weeks from the date scheduled by these by-laws and the Secretary shall cause a notice of this scheduled meeting to be sent to all those members who were not present at the meeting originally called. A quorum as hereinbefore set forth shall be required at any adjourned meeting.
Special meetings of the board of this organization may be called by the President when he deems it in the best interest of the organization or by two members of the board. Notices of such meeting shall be mailed to all members at their addresses as they appear in the membership roll book at least two weeks but not more than 30 days before the scheduled date set for such special meeting. Such notice shall state the reasons that such meeting has been called and the business to be conducted.
At the request of one-third members of the organization the President shall cause a special meeting to be called but such request must be made in writing at least thirty (30) days before the requested scheduled date. No other business but that specified in the notice may be transacted at such special meeting without the unanimous consent of all present at such meeting.
Any contributing member of SPI is eligible to vote. Non contributing members of SPI may not vote. Each voting member shall have exactly one vote. Ballots concerning election or removal of officers shall be secret ballots.
The quorum for a vote by the membership shall be set at 35% of eligible voters. All votes (unless otherwise stated) are approved by a simple majority (50%) of voters being in favor of the issue in question.
At any regular or special meeting if a majority so requires, any question may be voted upon in the manner and style deemed appropriate by the secretary of the organization or chairman of the meeting.
All votes by the membership shall be cast in the manner specified by the Secretary. The default method of voting shall be by cryptographically signed email ballots.
Any proposal submitted to the secretary with N or more number of seconds shall be put before the membership for a vote within 30 days. N is defined as fol