[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] clarifying the TC conflict of interest rule

[Anton Khirnov]

Hi all,
it seems the discussion died down, so I intend to start the vote on
Monday (2024-03-04).

The vote description will be as follows:

  There is disagreement about the appropriateness and interpretation of
  the following sentence in Technical Committee rules
  (doc/community.texi):

    > If the disagreement involves a member of the TC, that member
    > should recuse themselves from the decision.

  (see thread starting from [1] for more details)

  How should this sentence be changed? Rank the options below in your
  order of preference.

  [1] https://lists.ffmpeg.org//pipermail/ffmpeg-devel/2024-February/321792.html
      Message-Id <170841737762.27417.14992162535824834057 at lain.khirnov.net>

The options I see proposed so far are:

* <left as is>

* <removed without replacement>

* Each TC member must vote on such decision according to what is, in
  their view, best for the project. If a TC member feels they are
  affected by a conflict of interest with regards to the case, they
  should announce it and recuse themselves from the TC discussion and
  vote. A conflict of interest is presumed to occur when a TC member has
  a personal interest (e.g. financial) in a specific outcome of the
  case.

* Any member of the TC who had a strong opinion on the question raised
  before it was raised should recuse themselves.

  In particular, must recuse themselves any member of the TC who:
  - participated in the discussion (on the ML, on IRC or elsewhere) in a
    specific direction (minor comments and questions being acceptable);
  - has a personal interest in the outcome;
  - is, was recently or soon will be employed by an entity having a
    personal interest in the outcome or has any kind of hierarchical
    relationship with such entity.
  Failure to do so would result, upon discovery, into the exclusion of
  all FFmpeg governance bodies, including the general assembly, for a
  duration of no less than five years.

  Additionally, any member of the general assembly can recuse any member
  of the TC without having to provide a reason.

  If the application of these rules result in all members of the TC
  recused or if the remaining members do not feel comfortable being too
  few, that means the project is in a crisis of trust that needs to be
  resolved by the general assembly.

If you wish to propose another option (or I missed one in this thread),
please let me know ASAP.

Cheers,
-- 
Anton Khirnov