FAQ
1. Under what circumstances will someone be pro-actively prevented from participating in a community?
Community leaders must believe that every participant does not and will not engage in any form of criminal behavior, including assault, hate speech (as defined by the legal system), and so on; and further, that they do not and will not sabotage the community or its members. Individual communities are free to define additional qualification criteria (relevant to the professional goals of the community), which, if not met, might result in someone being pro-actively denied participation.
2. What types of violations will be reported publicly?
Depending on the circumstances, any violation that results in removal of a member may be reported publicly, including personally identifiable information (e.g. name, Twitter handle, etc.). If an arbiter does not believe a violation warrants removal, no information on the violation will be reported publicly.
3. Does FCOP impose an ideology onto members?
FCOP imposes no ideology onto members and has no requirements for the beliefs, values, attitudes, religions, or politics of members. FCOP is not a moral system or code of ethics, but merely a set of terms and conditions that the leaders of a community require individuals to agree to in exchange for granting them the ability to participate in the community. FCOP's set of ground rules enable a diverse group of professionals to work toward common goals, even and especially when they do not share the same ideology.
4. Why does FCOP not arbitrate behavior in other communities?
Other communities may be regulated by other terms and conditions that more or less strict than FCOP. People's behavior in these other communities does not necessarily reflect how they will act in an FCOP community, because the terms and conditions are different.
FCOP is also designed to avoid incentivizing digging into the personal life of members (including, potentially, accessing their private identities and personal accounts) and using that information to dox and smear them for purposes of hurting their participation inside an FCOP community. Because FCOP does not consider behavior in other communities, there is no incentive for anyone to engage in this type of behavior, which helps protect the careers of members.
Although FCOP communities will not arbitrate behavior in other communities, community leaders will never allow anyone to participate unless they believe that person does not and will not engage in any kind of criminal behavior (including assault, threats, etc). In some cases, community leaders may enact precautions if they believe a new member might not uphold FCOP.
5. Why does FCOP allow people to opt-out of active participation requirements?
FCOP treats members as adults who are fully capable of making informed decisions for themselves. If a group of members wishes to engage in a heated religious debate, for example, or if a married couple wishes to display affection for each other, then so long as there is explicit consent from all affected members, and, of course, the behavior is lawful, FCOP does not prohibit the interaction.
6. Does FCOP prohibit sharing personal details about other members?
FCOP only prohibits sharing personal details about identified members, and only if the sharing is unauthorized, the personal details were learned during active participation, and the personal details were not already known to the public. For example, if during active participation, you tell someone where you live, then by default, the person may not share your address with others unless your address is already known by the public or you give the member explicit permission to share it.
7. Can third-parties report incidents?
FCOP allows third-parties to report incidents, but unlike first-party reports, third-party reports may be dismissed without investigation. For example, if the first-party has no issue with an incident (e.g. a married couple expressing affection for each other), a third-party report of the incident may not be investigated.
8. Why is there a 15 day window of limitations on active participation violations?
FCOP imposes a window of limitations because people's memories fade with time, and because tracking down and locating witnesses becomes increasingly difficult, subject to biases, and prone to errors. Further, an unbounded window of limitations imposes unbounded cost on the leaders of a community, who in many cases (e.g. OSS projects, non-profits) are volunteering their time.
9. What are the possible outcomes of arbitration?
After hearing both sides of the story and examining all of the evidence, an arbiter may decide on one of two possible outcomes. The arbiter may reject a report, which is an indication the behavior did not violate any of the terms and conditions of FCOP. Alternately, the arbiter may accept the report, indicating the behavior was a violation of FCOP. The arbiter may then impose a consequence on the violator. Depending on the context and the severity of the violation, this could be anything from asking the violator to apologize, to asking the violator to undergo counseling or training, or even, in malicious, repeated, or severe violations, banning the violator from the community for up to five years.
10. What is the purpose of the pledge to disclosure?
FCOP provides a right to disclosure to help make the decisions of leadership and arbitration as open and transparent as possible without violating the privacy of any aggrieved members.
If someone is prevented from participating in an FCOP community or banned for a violation, then they may request an explanation from leadership. Community leaders are then obligated to provide a written disclosure, which does not identify the aggrieved, but which summarizes the rationale.
For example, a written disclosure might state, "This member was banned for repeatedly and willfully breaking the anti-harassment clause of FCOP. There were two witnesses who confirmed the aggrieved's account of the most recent incident. The appointed arbiter consisted of Mary Jane and John Smith.".
The member has the further right to publish the disclosure, allowing people to examine for themselves the rationale that resulted in the decision, and helping to keep community leaders accountable for their decisions.
11. What is the purpose of the pledge to unbiased arbitration?
FCOP tries to make reasonable efforts to ensure that arbitration is not biased by pre-existing friendships between the arbiter and the accused, by grudges between the arbiter and the aggrieved, or by any other relationships or pre-commitments that might unfairly affect the outcome of arbitration.
12. What are some examples of things which are and are not considered to be insulting?
Insulting includes all insults and making derogatory comments about people's personal attributes, such as their size, appearance, age, sexual-orientation, body mods, political affiliation, religious views and so on. Insulting does not include objective, measurable statements such as, "People with high grip strength can more easily open jars whose lids are stuck."
13. What happens if someone is assaulted inside a community?
FCOP does not overlap with or supersede local jurisdiction. If anyone breaks any law, you should immediately report them to the appropriate legal authorities. Community leaders may assist in the reporting process, but FCOP itself is only intended to cover and apply to legal behavior.
14. What are the ways in which FCOP can be customized?
FCOP can be customized by imposing additional or overriding existing terms and conditions. FCOP can also be customized by specifying a set of guidelines for arbitration that help members understand the directives that arbiters will utilize when trying to resolve incidents.
15. Does FCOP engage in tone policing?
FCOP does not require any particular tone be used in communication. Rather, FCOP relies on the No harassment clause to deal with undesired communication tones. If someone is not being addressed in a tone they wish to be addressed in, they have the option to prevent others from interacting with them.