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Governance of the Veres One Network

All technologies have a socio-political aspect which, if ignored, can have negative repercussions on the Network and society. With this in mind, the governance around the Veres One Network is designed to carefully balance the needs of all participants while ensuring the long-term viability of the Network for decades to come.

There are five critical parties that help govern the Veres One Network: the Veres One Community Group, the Board of Governors, Advisory Committees, the Nodes (aka Network participants), and the Maintainer.

The Veres One Community Group drives development through a multistakeholder consensus driven process. The Board of Governors accept or reject Community Group decisions based on whether the decisions are in line with the Veres One Project's mission.

The Board of Governors have their powers checked by the Maintainer and the Network participants. The Maintainer has its powers checked by the Board of Governors and the Network participants. Implementation of new features that affect the Network require the implicit approval of the Network participants, and the explicit approval of both the Board of Governors and the Maintainer, making it extremely difficult for any party to make permanent decisions in a unilateral fashion.

All parties are held accountable by legal agreements.

Decision Making Process

The Veres One Project's decision making process is a simple three step procedure:

  1. Introduction: All proposals are introduced in the Veres One Community Group. A proposal may be made either on the mailing list or any public community group teleconference where the transcript of the proposal is sent to the mailing list.
  2. Consideration: Proposals are debated in the Veres One Community Group until consensus has been achieved. Members of the Advisory Council and Board of Governors may provide input on a proposal during this time. An individual may determine whether or not consensus has been achieved by asking for "+1" replies of support or "-1" replies of opposition to the proposal. The proposer should attempt to resolve any "-1" replies as those may result in the Board of Governors determining that consensus has not been achieved.
  3. Ratification: Once consensus has been achieved, the proposal is sent to the Veres One Board of Governors for an official vote of approval. The Board of Governors is expected to review the proposal to ensure consensus has been achieved and then pass the proposal unless it endangers the Veres One Mission. The final decision is determined by a simple majority vote.

Community Group

The Veres One Community Group, housed at the W3C, directs the development and management of the Veres One Blockchain.

Community Group decisions are made by consensus and sent to the Board of Governors for review and voting. Consensus is not meant to mean unanimity but "general agreement with very few principled objections". Members of the Board of Governors vote to accept or reject Community Group decisions based on whether consensus has been achieved and whether the proposal supports the Veres One Mission. Meetings are open to the public and transcripts are made available through the Veres One website. Anyone can join the Veres One Community Group.

Advisory Council

The Advisory Council is comprised of area experts that advise the Veres One Community Group and the Board of Governors on technical, legal, and community matters.

Unlike the Board of Governors, the Advisory Council, does not have decision making authority and therefore may have business activities that utilize the Veres One Blockchain. They are a part of the Veres One Community Group and may support or oppose a proposal in that capacity.

Board of Governors

The Board of Governors is responsible for ensuring the stability of the socio-political and economic operation of the Veres One Network and for safeguarding the Mission of the Veres One Foundation.

Decisions made by the Community Group must be approved by the Board of Governors to take effect. If Community Group proposals are accepted by the Board they are sent to Veres One Foundation staff to be implemented. If proposals are rejected, Board members who reject proposals reply to the community group with a justification for the rejection. In extreme cases, if a Board member acts against the Veres One Mission, a proposal may be presented to replace the Board member.

Board members may participate as Community Group members by engaging in proposal deliberation and supporting or opposing proposals during the Consideration phase. Board members can effectively wear two hats, one as a Community Group member with a more personal opinion on specific issues and the other as a member of the Board of Governors, who acts to protect the Mission of the Veres One Project. A member of the Board of Governors can speak to the negatives of a specific proposal while voting to pass said proposal if it has consensus and does not undermine the Mission of the Veres One Foundation.

Nodes: Checks and Balances

People and organizations run Nodes which are compliant with the open standards implemented by the Veres One Software. The software itself has checks and balances built in, such as Proof of Work or Accelerator throttling to limit Denial of Service attacks, so that no single Node may operate in a way that is disruptively harmful to the Network.

Similarly, Nodes provide checks and balances against the Board of Governors and the Maintainer by refusing to run software that does not take their needs and preferences into account. The Nodes may fork the network if they decide to run software with a different purpose in mind.

Maintainer: Checks and Balances

The Maintainer is responsible for ensuring that the Veres One Software operates according to the needs and preferences of the Network participants and the Board of Governors.

Nodes provide checks and balances against the Maintainer by refusing to run software that does not take their needs into account.

The Board of Governors provide checks and balances against the Maintainer by being empowered to terminate the Maintainer's contract and hire a replacement.

Veres One Community Group: Checks and Balances

The W3C Veres One Community Group directs the development and management of the Veres One Blockchain. Meetings are open to the public and minutes are made available in a public github repository. Anyone can join the Community Group here.

Participants include representatives of non-profit organizations interested in privacy and self-administered identity management as well as for-profit entities such as Accelerators who utilize the Veres One Blockchain to provide services to customers.

Community Group decisions are made by consensus and sent to the Board of Governors for review and voting. The Board of Governors will vote to accept or reject Community Group decisions based on their compliance with the Veres One Mission.

Board of Governors: Checks and Balances

The Board of Governors is responsible for ensuring the stability of the socio-political and economic operation of the Veres One Network.

Decisions made by the community group must be approved by the Board of Governors to take effect.

Nodes provide checks and balances against the Board of Governors by refusing to run software that does not take their needs into account.

The Maintainer provides checks and balances against the Board of Governors by refusing to implement mandates in software that undermine the needs and preferences of the Network participants or that would be otherwise disruptively harmful to the Network.