RFL By-laws

Version 1.07, adopted December 18, 2006

1. To Promote safety at every level of the sport of robotic combat.
2. To Promote the sport of robotic combat and help build its audience.
3. To Provide consistency between events.
4. To Support event organizers and builders.

2.RFL Membership: RFL Memberships are made up of Organizations (Member Organizations, referred to as MOs). There are five types of members :

1. Provisional Members: A new MO voted in by the general membership. These MOs have a voice but no vote.
2. General Members: These members have a vote in all RFL issues.

2.2a Associate Member: Associate Members are organizations sponsored by a General Member for the purpose of holding league sanctioned events. The sponsoring General Member vouches for the conduct of the Associate Member event. Associate Members' events are subject to the same rules and requirements as General Members' events. Associate members do not receive a vote and cannot participate directly in discussions - the General Member is the representative for the Associate Member(s) whom the General Member sponsors.

3. Dormant Members: MOs that may have placed their operations on hold. These members have no vote and may or may not be a part of discussions as decided by the Commissioner or a majority vote.
4. Suspended Members: MOs facing possible punitive action pending a decision on a disputed action. These members have a vote and may be a part of discussions.

3. A MO has a single representative who places the MO's official vote. The MO may have supporting staff or members that also participate in discussions at the discretion of the rest of the membership or Commissioner. The MO is accountable for the actions of all people seen to be members or staff of their organization.

4. Any robotic combat event organizer or event organizing body that adheres to the RFL rules and guidelines is eligible to become a general member of the RFL.

5. Potential MOs must be sponsored by a current RFL voting member. Member sponsors are responsible for gathering information on the potential member and relaying it to the general membership for their review. In agreement with the RFL Commissioner, a membership vote is then called requiring a 2/3 majority within the voting period of 10 days.

6. Newly voted members are Provisional (non-voting) MOs.

7. To become a full member:

1. A provisional MO must hold an event in a public venue* within one year of their initial vote under RFL guidelines.
2. The event must be witnessed and or documented in a way satisfactory to the Sponsor and Commissioner. With their recommendation (and providing there are no member objections) the provisional member becomes a full member. If there are objections that cannot be resolved through discussion, a vote may be requested by the Provisional member which requires 2/3 majority within the voting period of 10 days.

8. A MO's status may be changed to Dormant at the request of that member or if they have not held an event in a public venue* within the last 12 months of membership. To qualify, the event must be organized and hosted (or co-hosted) directly by the member; events held by associate members sponsored by the voting member do not count.  RFL Membership may be terminated or suspended through member resignation or a 2/3-majority vote by the membership.

*A Public Venue is defined as property, or venue open and easily accessible to the general public not zoned as residential.

9. The Commissioner may suspend a member for a serious infraction, (flaunting the by-laws, acting against an RFL decision, etc.) The Commissioner's suspension of a member must be upheld by a 2/3-majority vote within 7 days or the suspension will be automatically lifted. The Commissioner may exercise this right on only one member at a time.

10. Sale of Events: an MO may elect to sell their event, e.g. the event name and associated intellectual property, while that event is a member of the league.  In the event of such a sale or transfer the membership status of the event shall be transferred according to the following provisions:

1. If the new owner is already an RFL member and keeps the acquired event as a separate and distinct entity then RFL membership is transferred with the event and there is no change in membership status. If the transferred event was a general member, the new owner or owner’s designee casts the event’s vote.

2. If the new owner is already an RFL member and merges the acquired event with another event, the transferred event ceases to exist as as separate entity within the league and no longer has a vote.

3. If the new owner is NOT a member of the league but wishes to become a member, the transferred event becomes a "Provisional" member.

11. Governing Method

1. Any changes or additions to these bylaws requires a valid simple-majority vote by the membership within a voting period of 10 days.

2. Officers

1.  The RFL will elect a slate of officers once per calendar year on or about the 15th of October. Officer’s terms are one year and begin on November 1st at midnight. Only voting members may make nominations. Nominations will begin on or about Sept 1st. Nominations will be closed and the voting will begin on or about the 1st of October. Voting will be closed on or about October 15th and the new officers will be announced at that time. The phrase “On or about” is understood to mean the first business day inclusively after the named date. All dates will be listed at least one week prior to the opening of nominations. Officers do not need to be voting members to serve, but serving as an officer does not, in itself, furnish a vote.

2. Commissioner

1. The Commissioner is the general RFL spokesman (or can designate a spokesman on their behalf).

2. The Commissioner calls general votes and performs all duties as outlined in these bylaws.

3. The Commissioner may appoint committees or people to work on certain tasks.

3. Lieutenant Commissioner

1. The Lieutenant Commissioner's duties are to act in place of the  Commissioner person when he or she is absent or incapacitated.

4. Secretary

1. The Secretary’s duties are to maintain a record of the actions authorized by the League and notify the members of meetings and other activities.

6. Treasurer

1. The Treasurer’s duties are to receive and deposit all monies received by the League, to be the League’s contact with the bank(s) selected by the League for the League’s accounts, to disburse funds to cover expenses as authorized by the members, to maintain the financial records of the League, and to prepare the League’s quarterly and annual financial statements and any other necessary financial data and reports.

3. Voting

1. For a vote to be valid, a quorum of 50% of the general membership must be either present or vote by proxy, email or forum.

2. Vote percentages are tallied based on the members voting on the issue. (Non-voters and abstaining votes do not count in the yes vs. no percentage)

3. Simple majority decides all votes unless otherwise noted.

4. All votes must have a voting period set by the Commissioner or the member calling the vote not to exceed 14 days.

5. Any vote which does not get votes from 50% of the membership within the voting period may be extended at the Commissioner's discretion or held for a re-vote in the future.

6. Votes, discussions and meetings may be held in person, by phone, or email and/or forums on the Internet.

7. Small issues may be decided upon by the Commissioner on behalf of the RFL and should be reported as necessary to the membership.  Any member has the right to lodge an objection to a Commissioner decision and call for a majority vote to override the decision.

8. General votes may also be called by any member with a second supporting the call to vote.

12. General

1. All RFL events must be held under RFL Building Guidelines and all events must make their results easily available and free to the rest of the RFL membership. (Some event results may need to be held from the public however if its for TV or other later release, all RFL members should honor this.)

2. Any RFL member may make event-specific changes to the RFL guidelines in the interest of safety, parity, insurance requirements, fire marshal requests, etc. as required to hold their event. These changes should not undermine the spirit of the RFL standard rules and must be reported to the membership and when possible published in advance.

3. RFL Building Guidelines or other event related guideline changes should be accumulated and voted on at least once per year. The vote should take place in the last quarter of the calendar year (ideally after the last event of that year.) Specific rules may be modified or changed by vote at any time during the year as necessary.

4. RFL MO's are required to update their rules with new versions no later than 30 days after those revisions are voted on and released.

5. All RFL Members (and their supporting members or staff as seen to be a part of their organization) should conduct themselves professionally and courteously to other RFL members and the public at large.

6. Conflict Management: All disputes that cannot be worked out directly between two RFL MO's should be brought to the Commissioner first. If there is still no resolution each party to the conflict should present their case to the RFL membership for a vote. Conflicts between MO's should never be made public.

7. RFL MOs are required to disclose any conflicts, overlaps, discussions, negotiations or situations that may cause competition to another MO or event. These conflicts should be disclosed to the conflicting member first, if the conflict cannot be resolved please refer to 'Conflict Management'.

8. No RFL member should use the RFL brand, logo, or image that in any way conflicts with any contracts held by the RFL or in any way that is perceived by the RFL membership as damaging the RFL's reputation and/or interests.