[p2p-research] On Alex Rollin stated intentions to expel me from the P2P Foundation board

[Samuel Rose]

Michel,

You have my support on this. If someone wants to push you out of P2P
Foundation, then I will work with you where and how you see fit in a
way that continues to allow me to collaborate with you on this work. I
support whatever you decide to do.

On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 3:33 PM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear friends,
>
> Though my critique of Alex has been harsh, I have explained why I thought
> that was necessary, I have always made the disctinction between his
> contributions, and the fact that I was opposed to him imposing new
> technological directions for our wiki without process and taking into
> account the opinion of its main contributor.
>
> Alex of course retorts that all his propositions are viewable (some of them
> indeed are, many changes are not), but they are of such a volume that it is
> not possible to process by the communty, nor by myself. The result is a
> rapid escalation of changes, most of them beneficial, but some of them
> greatly complicating the editorial work, which I oppose. I never said this
> before, but I'd like to reveal now that from the very first day, Alex
> actually stated that he did not intend to ask for my permission or opinion
> on any matter, which is actually fine, as long as I have the same freedom,
> which I have not if technological changes are imposed.faceted_search_ui_search_page
>
> Because of my double evaluation, which recognizes alex's key contributions
> and importance, I even yesterday proposed to James Burke in a Skype
> conversation to reserve a place for Alex in the new board, pending our
> decision on which process we would use to make the choices. Because we do
> not have a membership, the idea was to propose a list of names, publish it
> on the list, and wait for reactions, in order to reach a consensus. Since we
> are seriously considering building a membership organisation, at some point
> in the next few years, probably this will happen through elections.
>
> This for the context, why the urgency.
>
> Alex has sent me a private letter, which I'm not suppose to divulge, and I
> will not, but it also contains a threat.
>
> Namely the following: "You can bet I will vote you off the board as soon as
> I get a chance, but in the mean time you would do very well to keep this
> kind of thing under wraps."
>
> Cleary Alex is not happy with the public discussion, hence the threat of:
> "be quiet or else" and at the same time, I'm unwilling to keep it under
> wraps, he knows that, we knew that, so the next step is already declared.
> This is valuable information.
>
> But I do think that his threat and position as a overt enemy in the
> organisation I have created with James, is not acceptable. I talked about a
> hostile IPO before, and perhaps nobody else saw this or felt this in quite
> the same way as I did, and of course, the primary issue was the imposition
> of a new policy and direction that I did not approve of.
>
> This is different, and a step in the escalation in which Alex declares
> himself an enemy.
>
> I do not think this is acceptable. Therefore, it is a matter of principle
> for me that Alex Rollin will NOT sit on the board, and I'm reinforced not
> only in the belief that there should be a fork, but now that this fork
> should be OUTSIDE of the P2P Foundation.
>
> Thanks for sharing your perspectives.
>
> My position is clear: it is not workable to have a declared enemy, opposed
> to the very organisation I have founded and tried to create.
>
> Once again, the P2P Foundation is pluralist, and strives for peer governance
> and democracy, but I do believe there is a justifiable boundary when
> sometimes declares an open civil war.
>
> Building the P2P Foundation is both a personal project and a collective
> project, where hopefully the collective can transcend the personal at some
> point, and obviously, I have my own limits. Nevertheless, I believe my
> personal contribution has been necessary and important, and that the
> continued growth of our work should be based on trust. We are not yet at a
> stage where factions vie for dominance, and perhaps never should.
>
> What I'm now asking is indeed trust. I have made an evaluation of Alex
> Rollin, I have tried first to privately convey my unhappiness at imposed
> policy stages, then made the issue public in face of any progress, but
> making a careful difference between the attempt to moderate the
> technological changes, and Alex' otherwise positive contributions.
>
> Alex however, is playing a different game, and clearly states his intention
> to expel me and to see support for this. It seems to me that this is a time
> of choosing, and I hope my friends and P2P Foundation supporters will
> support my continued efforts, and that since Alex finds my presence
> unacceptable, should found his own, using freely of course, all the material
> that has been collected so far, which is a commons for all to use.
>
> Michel Bauwens
>
> --
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>
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>
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>
> Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
>
>
>
>
>



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Sam Rose
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