Application for "At-Large Structure" (ALS) Designation
CLUE - The Canadian Association for Open Source

Contact Information

1. Organization's Name: CLUE - The Canadian Association for Open Source (We are incorporated as a non-profit as the "Canadian Linux Users' Exchange" but last year changed to the functional name as indicated)
2. Organization's email address: info@xxxxxx
3. Organization's phone number (include country/city codes): +1 416 979 9449
4. Organization's address (location and postal address, if different):
   22 Herzberg Gardens
   North York, ON
   M3J 3P4
   Canada
5. Organization's website (URL) (if available): http://www.cluecan.ca (http://www.linux.ca also works)
6. Organization's contact for ALS application (email, phone, address):
   Evan Leibovitch
   Executive Director
   22 Herzberg Gardens
   North York, ON
   M3J 3P4
   Canada
   Email: evan@xxxxxx
   Phone: +1 416 418 0574

Description

1. Is your organization constituted so that participation by individual Internet users who are citizens or residents of countries within the Geographic Region in which your organization is based will predominate in your organization's operation?
   CLUE is a Canadian organization, our specific published mission is to "promote the use and development of free, open source software, by providing a public voice to the community of its Canadian users, developers and supporters. CLUE will enhance this community's ability to share resources, define standards, and promote its values within Canadian society."
2. Describe your organization's constituents/membership (number, citizenship/location, defining characteristic - e.g. profession for professional societies):
   In late 2005 CLUE became a membership-based organization, to represent its community in the development of Canadian and international policy. We presently have approximately 1,800 people who make active use of CLUE services, and have a specific mandate to expand.
3. Explain the eligibility requirements (if any) for your organization's constituents/membership (if you provide a written application for admission as a member, you may attach a copy):
   Application to join CLUE is open and done online: the process for doing this is described at http://www.cluecan.ca/user/register
4. In what language/s does your organization conduct its business?
   Our current language of operation is English. A small but growing amount of our communications is occurring in French and we hope to grow our French-language component. We are taking steps to make our website bilingual.
5. Provide support for the statement that your organization is self-supporting (by answering "yes" you confirm that it will not rely on ICANN for funding):
   I can confirm that CLUE is self-supporting and will not rely on ICANN for funding.
6. Describe your organization's structure (e.g. governing and decision-making bodies and processes):
   Our structure (bylaws) are available online at http://www.cluecan.ca/bylaws
7. Does your organization commit to supporting its individual constituents'/membership's informed participation in ICANN?
   CLUE is committed to increasing its members' awareness of our operations and has taken multiple steps to encourage involvement in our decision-making process.
8. Describe how your organization keeps its constituents/membership informed about, and enables them to participate in, decisions regarding issues of interest:
   Our website is the primary form of communications between members, however we also use email mailing lists and real-time IRC chat areas.
9. Does your organization post on the Internet publicly-accessible, current information about your organization's goals, structure, description of constituent group(s)/membership, working mechanisms, leadership, and contact(s) (if this information currently is available, provide URLs)?
   Our website contains information on CLUE's structure, mission and issues.
10. Provide information on your organization's leadership (leaders' names, positions, emails):
    Other directors of CLUE are:
    
    • Matthew Rice
    • Ron Harwood
    • Bill Traynor

Objectives

1. What is your organization's primary goal or mission (please attach any mission or policy statement for your organization, if in writing, or provide a URL, if posted):
   The Vision of CLUE is to nurture a Canadian Information Technology environment which promotes collaborative innovation as well as open standards and the rights of consumers.

   The Mission of CLUE is to promote the use and development of free, open source software, by providing a public voice to the community of its Canadian users, developers and supporters. CLUE will enhance this community's ability to share resources, define standards, and promote its values within Canadian society.

   Both these statements are available on the CLUE website.

2. What ICANN-related issues currently are of interest to your organization's constituents/membership:
   Our issues at this time related to ICANN centre on the internationalization of domain names, as well as the continuing application of open standards. Other issues, such as kiting of domains, are not of primary interest to CLUE's mandate though they are of great interest to our membership.
3. If formed, will your organization commit to assisting the Regional At-Large Organization (RALO) for the region in which your organization is based in performing its function?
   We will assist in the operation of a RALO if an appropriate one is formed.

Signature

Evan Leibovitch
Executive Director
CLUE