The International Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email

International CAUCE

Constitution and Articles of Association

Name

1. The organisation constituted by this document shall be known as “The International Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email” (herein “the association”).
2. The association shall also be known by the names “International CAUCE” and “iCAUCE”.

Objectives

3. The objectives of the association are to:
   1. Promote the establishment of “opt-in” as a standard requirement for the delivery of electronic mail that:
      1. Advertises products or services for sale, whether directly or indirectly; or
      2. Is sent in large quantities;
   2. To promote the establishment of regulatory regimes worldwide that further these objectives;
   3. To provide support to volunteers who seek to further these goals in individual nations or international political unions;
   4. To promote the establishment of independent member organisations that will further these objectives.

Membership

4. There shall be two classes of membership in the association:
   1. Ordinary membership; and
   2. Associate membership.

Ordinary Membership

5. Ordinary members shall be organisations that:
   1. Are active in an eligible region;
   2. Seek, as an independent organisation, to further the same objectives as the association in their region; and
   3. Have been admitted as ordinary members by or under this constitution.
6. There shall be no more than one ordinary member for any one eligible region
7. Eligible regions shall include:
   1. Nations; and
   2. Unions of nations, where laws made by the union are binding on member nations in that union, without being ratified by the executive of each member nation.
8. The ordinary membership shall consist, at the time of the constitution of the association, of the following organisations:
   1. The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE), member organisation for the nation of the United States of America;
   2. The European Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (EuroCAUCE), member organisation for the union of nations of the European Union;
   3. The Coalition Against Unsolicited Bulk Email, Australia (CAUBE.AU), member organisation for the nation of Australia;
   4. The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, India (CAUCE India), member organisation for the nation of India; and
   5. The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, Canada (CAUCE Canada), member organisation for the nation of Canada.
9. Where the board of the association, by a simple majority, is satisfied that an organisation:
   1. Is capable of acting effectively as an independent entity; and
   2. Will continue to act to further the objectives of the association;

   the board may, with the consent of that organisation, admit that organisation to ordinary membership of the association.

10. Where the board has established a committee of persons to represent the interests of an organisation in an eligible region for which no ordinary member currently exists, and the board is satisfied that the committee is capable of forming an independent member organisation, the board may, by simple majority and with the consent of the members of that committee, constitute the committee as an independent organisation suitable for admission to ordinary membership.
11. Ordinary membership of the association may not be terminated except by the decision of a two thirds majority of the then current ordinary members of the association.

Associate Membership

12. Associate members shall be organisations that:
    1. Have purposes and goals aligned with those of the association; and
    2. Have been admitted as associate members under this constitution.
13. Where the board of the association, by a simple majority, is satisfied that an organisation has purposes and goals aligned with those of the association, the board may, with the consent of that organisation, admit that organisation to ordinary membership of the association.
14. Where the board of the association, by a simple majority, is satisfied that an associate member no longer has purposes and goals aligned with those of the association, or that it is no longer in the interests of the association to have the organisation as an associate member, the board may terminate that associate membership.

The Board of the Association

15. The management of the association shall be vested in a board of not less than three natural persons, who shall be known as the directors of the association.
16. At the time of the constitution of the association, the board shall be appointed by a simple majority of the ordinary members granted such membership by this constitution.
17. The board shall, by simple majority, appoint an executive director from within the board.
18. The board may, from time to time and by simple majority:
    1. appoint new directors to the board; and
    2. dismiss a director from the board.
19. The executive director may accept the resignation of any member of the board.
20. Where the number of directors falls below the minimum specified in this constitution, such additional members as are necessary to satisfy the minimum requirement shall be appointed by the ordinary members, by simple majority.
21. The ordinary members of the association may, by simple majority, dismiss the entire board of the association.

Modifying the Constitution of the Association

22. The constitution of the association may be modified only by a decision of a two-thirds majority of the ordinary members.

Powers and Duties of the Board of the Association

23. The board of the association shall have the power to do anything for or on behalf of the association, except where this constitution otherwise provides.
24. The board shall have duties to:
    1. Maintain a web site containing:
       1. Information about the association and its activities and committees; and
       2. Original documents used for lobbying and educational activities, to be made available to the regional committees for customisation.
    2. Establish committees of volunteers to represent the interests of the association in eligible regions;
    3. Provide such support to the regional committees so established as is reasonable in the circumstances;
    4. Provide mailing list facilities for the committees so established; and
    5. Encourage the establishment of independent organisations suitable for admission as ordinary members.

Copyright © 2002 The International Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email