[cabfpub] Updated draft of Code of Conduct for review

Thu Apr 27 03:39:25 UTC 2017

Hello all,

I’m not able to attend the meeting on Thursday, but wanted to provide this updated draft of the Code of Conduct for review.  Changed language is in red bold.  If you have questions or comments, please let Tarah and me know.  If there’s a comment I didn’t include, it wasn’t intentional, I probably just missed it amongst the sea of emails.  Thanks for all your suggestions!

Virginia

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DRAFT 4/26/17
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CAB Forum Code of Conduct (the “Code")

The CAB Forum (the “Forum") is comprised of a global group of professionals with differences in language, skills, expertise, experience, and backgrounds.  To maintain a professional and productive environment, it is necessary for Members of the Forum to follow the letter and spirit of this Code.  This Code applies to all official Forum activities, such as meetings, teleconferences, mailing lists, conferences, and other functions.  The Forum is committed to maintaining a professional and respectful environment.

All Member representatives are expected to behave in a collegial and professional manner in accordance with this Code. Members will familiarize their representatives with this Code, require them to behave accordingly, and agree to suspend, remove or replace a Member representative who violates the Code, as appropriate. 

I.  Conduct.  The Forum is committed to providing a friendly, safe, and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, personal appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, nationality, or other similar characteristic.  The Forum recognizes and appreciates that its participants have diverse languages, backgrounds, experience, and expertise, and expects that all participants will be treated with respect by all other participants.

(a)  In connection with official Forum activities, all Forum participants shall:
Be polite, kind, and courteous to other participants, refraining from disparaging remarks on the perceived intelligence or ability of others.
Treat fellow Forum participants with respect, professionalism, courtesy, and reasonableness.  
Respect that people have differences of opinion, and that there is seldom unanimous agreement on a single “correct" answer.  Be willing to compromise and agree to disagree.  

(b)  Refrain from conduct such as:  
Threatening violence towards any person.  
Discriminating against anyone on the basis of personal characteristics or group membership.
Harassing or bullying anyone verbally, physically, or sexually.
Directly insulting or demeaning another person.
Touching another person in a physically inappropriate way. 
Deliberately intimidating, stalking or following (online or in person) another person.
Inappropriately disrupting official Forum events, including meetings, talks, and presentations.
Spamming, trolling, flaming, baiting, and other attention-stealing behavior.
Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.

(c)  Inform the Chair, Vice Chair, and/or a Working Group Chair immediately if participants feel they have been or are being harassed or made uncomfortable by a Forum member. Intimidation, personal attacks, and retaliation of any kind will not be tolerated. 

(d)  Promote the rules of this Code and take action to bring discussions back to into compliance with the Code whenever violations are observed. 

II.  Moderation.  These are the policies for upholding the Code.

(a)  Any Forum participant may report, in good faith, a perceived violation of the Code to the Forum Chair or Vice Chair, or to a Working Group Chair (each, a “Code Liaison”).  One or more Code Liaison(s) will work with the reported Forum participant to determine whether a violation of the Code has occurred and, if so, how to resolve it.  Resolution may also include appropriate executives from the Forum participant’s Member company, as appropriate.  If the reported Forum participant, Member executives, and the Code Liaison(s) are unable to resolve the issue, any of the foregoing may request the assistance of a reasonably acceptable independent third party (such as an Interested Party or WebTrust) to assist with the resolution.   

(b)  Don't just aim to be technically unimpeachable, try to be your best self. In particular, avoid engaging in offensive or sensitive personal discussions (versus ideological discussions), particularly if they're off-topic; this all too often leads to unnecessary arguments, hurt feelings, and damaged trust; worse, it can drive people away from the Forum entirely.

(c) If someone takes issue with something you said or did, resist the urge to be defensive. Just stop doing what it was they complained about.  Consider apologizing, as appropriate.  Even if you feel you were misinterpreted or unfairly accused, chances are good there was something you could've communicated better -  remember that it's your responsibility to clearly communicate your message to your fellow participants. Everyone wants to get along and we are all here first and foremost because we want to talk about standards and everything that involves. You will find that people will be eager to assume good intent and forgive as long as you earn their trust.

(d)  Depending on the severity, violations of the Code on the part of a Member representative may ultimately result in the representative being asked to leave a meeting, be removed from a mailing list, be suspended from some or all Forum activities, or the Member may be asked to remove the representative from further involvement with the Forum and/or replace such representative with another qualified individual from Member’s organization. 

Adapted from the WHATWG Code of Conduct [link], with reference to the W3C Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct [link], and the Citizen Code of Conduct [link].

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END OF DRAFT
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Best regards,

Virginia Fournier
Senior Standards Counsel
 Apple Inc.
☏ 669-227-9595
✉︎ vmf at apple.com <mailto:vmf at apple.com>

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