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Potential R Consortium help with terms of use and other documents #89

Open wlandau opened 1 day ago

wlandau commented 1 day ago

We are currently drafting a Terms of Use document (c.f. https://github.com/r-multiverse/r-multiverse.github.io/pull/25), and I believe we need other protections such as Acceptable Use (c.f. https://github.com/r-multiverse/help/issues/88). I know I already mentioned this in passing, and others may disagree, but I am concerned about our lack of formal legal training.

It would be great to borrow a legal expert, ideally from the R Consortium or Linux Foundation, to help us protect ourselves against foreseeable risks. An expert could review our Terms of Use document, Acceptable Use document (TBD), etc., and make sure they are legally sound. In addition, they could help us anticipate other risks we have not yet discussed (e.g. do we need to account for potential sabotage or espionage by a hostile government?) and make sure the appropriate protections are in place. More generally, if there were a way to officially be under the legal auspices of the R Consortium, that would go a long way.

I mentioned this in today's Repositories WG meeting, and the R Consortium leadership in attendance were eager to help. Executive director Terry Christiani invited us to present at a board meeting, either the one on October 23 (approaching fast) or December 3 (more feasible). She requested that in the meantime, we iron out the specific details of what we would request in the meeting.

Sound okay? @shikokuchuo, @jeroen, @maelle? Any specifics you would like to add here?

shikokuchuo commented 3 hours ago

I think it's great to use these resources if they're available!

You're right to point out that none of us have formal legal training. Quite frankly any additional pairs of eyes on the documents is useful. If a lawyer is reviewing then even more valuable, as they'll know what to look for.

The legal docs that will need reviewing are the 1. Terms of Use, 2. Acceptable Use Policy (to be drafted), and 3. Code of Conduct, with the 4. Governance Document.

I should emphasize though that whilst useful, we shouldn't count on this to mitigate any actual legal risk. The responsibility isn't shifted to a third party. It would be a different matter if we have a signed engagement with a law firm and they have issued a legal opinion / official document addressed to us.

If R-multiverse were to be run by the R Consortium rather than by us (the RMC), then that should afford an additional layer of legal protection as well.