TLDA, Inc. Membership Guidelines and Regulations

(This document does not supercede the By-Laws, but expounds upon them as determined by the Membership Committee by rights extended them under the By-Laws.)

Membership in this organization shall be open to all who meet the criteria prescribed by these Bylaws established by the Board of Directors. At this time, there are no dues or fees. (Though this up to the prerogative of the Board at any time to institute such.)

There are three types of continuing membership in the TLDA, Inc.

- Full Membership - TLD holders that meet all requirements stated in these guidelines and regulations. Full Members are voting members.

- Provisional Status - TLD holders that do not meet all technical requirements for their TLD(s), but have complied with all other requirements for membership are granted “provisional status” and are given 120 days in which to correct technical deficiencies and appeal for Full Membership. During this period, Provisional Status members are accorded Full Member voting rights. If the 120 days pass without successful appeal for Full Membership, the member will be classified as an Associate Member until such time as a successful appeal is made and Full Membership is granted.

- Associate Membership - TLD holders that do not meet all requirements for Full Membership. Associate Members are non-voting members, but with all other rights, responsibilities and privileges.

-Sponsoring Membership - Non-TLD holders who support the TLDA's mission and goals.  Sponsoring Members are non-voting members.

Membership may be applied for at http://www.TLDAINC.org/application or by completing an application available from applications@tldainc.org. Once applied for, membership will be approved or denied by the TLDA Membership Committee. The Membership Committee shall have the non-exclusive and discretionary authority to determine whether an applicant is deemed to satisfy the membership criteria.

In short, membership is available to TLD holders who can prove the right to assign or delegate rights, cancel or delegate authority for an operational TLD.  The holder must be a legally recognized entity such as, but not limited to, a partnership, trust, corporation, natural person, government, cooperative. The TLD must also meet certain criteria of activity and stability. They must be operational and have a functioning registry.  This can be demonstrated by providing two nameservers showing valid SOA records for the TLD and at least 3 functional SLDs registered under the TLD.  It is highly recommended that there be more than a single point of failure. In other words, it is best that the TLD be represented by servers on different backbones of the internet so that no single major outage would cause the demise of the TLD. A new TLDA member must fulfill the first requirement (operational) for initial membership but will have 120 days to provide the registry, SLD requirements and dual points of failure. SLDs must also show at least two nameservers that answer authoritatively for the SLDs.  For the 120-day period, that entity will be granted a provisional membership.

A TLD holder may have only one membership regardless of the number of TLDs held by that entity. If a single entity owns or controls more than 5% of the voting rights of one or more other entities that, in turn, hold one or more TLDs, only one membership may be held by that entity or group of entities. 

In order to exercise a vote in any official TLDA activities, a member must provide a copy of a government issued Identification card, passport or letter with picture of the member. Failing to do so does not negate membership, but does withhold voting privileges.

A voting TLD holder may designate another entity to represent them for the purpose membership in the TLDA, however no entity may represent more than one TLD holder for voting purposes. 

From time to time, and on an individual and ad hoc basis, the Membership Committee may hear petitions from potential members for exceptions, or requests for waivers to the specifics of particular membership criteria.  The Membership Committee shall review each such petition or request for waiver and rule based on the particular circumstances surrounding that petition.

A Member may resign their membership in the TLDA by email or other traditionally acceptable notification to the Membership Committee stating the date and time of resignation, with or without reason. Upon verification of such intent by a member to resign their membership, the Membership Committee shall certify and tender the resignation thereby nullifying any membership, associated benefits, or obligations by the former member to the TLDA.

Membership shall be terminated on the effective date upon which a member ceases to satisfy the membership criteria herein, as determined by the Membership Committee, by notice of both email message to the member's email address of record and also copied to the members@TLDAinc.org mailing list, or other appropriate acceptable notification, if evidence is found to negate the eligibility requirements consistent with the provisions contained in the bylaws herein.

Decisions by the Membership Committee leading to loss of membership in the TLDA may be appealed with clear supporting evidence to any member of the Board of Directors who may then ask for contrary evidence from the Membership Committee and submit both bodies of evidence to the full Board of Directors for a vote. The decisions of the Board of Directors will be final in such matters.

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