Our Legal Stature

This is the heart of all Project Trooper matters.

Version 1 Effective from April 10, 2024; at 7:02 PM IST.

1. Introduction

   1. Once you start using the Project’s services, you automatically accept the Governing Guidelines. This legal stature is between you and the non-profit non-governmental organisation “Project Troopers”.

   2. Henceforth, in this document, "the Project", the "Hub", the "Knowledge Hub", the "TKH", will refer to the Troopers Knowledge Hub and/or Project Troopers.

   3. Any changes made to the rules and regulations in this document must be approved by a majority of the directors and the CIC before they take effect. The Boards and the ArbCom reserves the right to modify and update our Governing Guidelines at any given point of time; with exceptions noted.

   4. The viewers and collaborators automatically accept to minor changes by continuing to use our services. If major changes are made, then the users will be intimated beforehand.

   5. We do use services provided by other third-parties (henceforth referred to as “Other Companies”), and their individual terms will automatically be binding and applicable to all collaborators and users of this Knowledge Hub.

   6. The Project is not responsible for any issues between the Other Companies and end-users.

   7. We have decided to host our governing guidelines on the same service as we host our hub for simple and easy access.

   8. Henceforth each header will be declared a section and every law under the section (if it does not have multiple sub-sections) will be a clause, which can contain multiple sub-clauses. Each sub-clause can have a statement under it.

2. Legality and Jurisdiction

   1. The Hub is a non-profit collection of documents, software, and ideas maintained by collaborators. It is not affiliated with any company or institution.

   2. The Indian Constitution and Tamil Nadu state laws apply to the Hub.

   3. The Project is a self-governing entity without official ties to any government, UN, school, or institution. Members join voluntarily for academic collaboration.

   4. The Hub does not offer special treatment based on institutional affiliations and is not subject to institutional rules except those mandated by the government.

   5. Permissions granted to sub-groups apply to the Hub, and vice versa.

   6. The Hub is accountable only to its members and governments under Indian law, not to any institution. It accepts members regardless of their affiliations.

   7. The Hub is responsible for its actions, and only its members (or past members) can be held accountable for Hub-related matters.

   8. If you aim to lodge a case against us ‘with’ or ‘without’ reading terms, we deem it illegal if it is against us for a reason that is included in our Terms as is.

3. Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy:

   1. Usage of Copyrighted Materials:

      1. We may use copyrighted materials for educational purposes under the Indian Copyright Act, 1951 and its amendments.

      2. The hub also serves as a recommendation and archiving service for materials by other publishers, explicitly credited in the hosting service's Credits section. It is, and will remain, the duty of the collaborators, to add to the archives any material that they add references to, in the project, with exceptions determined by the Board and outlined in the Governing Guidelines.

      3. The Project does not claim copyright for externally-published or third-party materials and will inform users beforehand.

      4. Disputes or queries or takedown requests regarding copyright should be addressed to a collaborator, with proof of copyright when deemed necessary. Filing a case against us without prior contact and resolution attempts will not stand. We will address copyright issues promptly.

   2. Ownership of Intellectual Property:

      1. The Service and all materials created by the collaborators therein, including Intellectual Property Rights, are the exclusive property of the Project and the respective creators. Materials published by the Project are subject to the Creative Commons 4.0 Share-Alike License, available at link; with exceptions determined by the Board and outlined in the Governing Guidelines.

      2. No license is granted under any such Intellectual Property Rights except as explicitly provided herein. Users agree not to infringe upon these rights.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Legal Code | Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International | Creative Commons

The link to the legal code of the Creative Commons Share-Alike 4.0 license we use.

1. Main Aim and Archiving:

   1. Project Troopers aims to curate and spotlight the best educational materials available.

   2. Original materials are archived on Google Drive for transparency, verification, and availability.

   3. Archived materials are freely available online and not redistributed under the Project's brand.

2. General Classification of Person or People based on their interactions with the project:

   1. The Viewer/User

      1. A person, who uses or views or accesses the Knowledge Hub, will automatically be called and henceforth referred to as the "User".

         1. Users are granted a license to view the Knowledge Hub and its documents; and download documents for personal reference only.

         2. Redistribution of Hub contents without permission or without using the proper license is prohibited.

         3. Violation may lead to license termination by the collaborator-in-charge.

         4. Contact us if you find outdated educational materials on the hub, we will try to respond as soon as possible; with reasonable exceptions declared by the Board of Directors.

   2. The Collaborator

      1. Definition: Any individual granted editing access to the Hub or is a part of the groups that maintain the hub is referred to as a Collaborator or member.

         1. Rules: All the rules in the governing guidelines is automatically applicable and binding on the collaborators. Different access levels and roles are explained in detail in the governing guidelines.

         2. Conduct: Collaborators must maintain civility, morality, and humane conduct in all interactions within the Knowledge Hub.

         3. Documentation: Details of collaborators, including member pages and relevant non-legal information, will be documented in the Governing Guidelines’ section of the Hub.

         4. Leaving the project: If a collaborator is to leave the project, they are supposed to notify the board. However, any prior contributions will not be deleted.

         5. The Observer: The observers would be anonymous people who would add anonymous edits to the hub from time to time, authorised by the board of directors.

         6. Responsibility: Collaborators bear sole responsibility for the content they contribute. Administrators bear no liability for user-generated content.

         7. Accuracy of materials: The Hub aims to provide updated and accurate educational materials. Collaborators are responsible for the accuracy of their published materials. Inaccurate materials will not be entertained.

3. Responsibility and Liability

   1. The project is not liable to anything that the user or the collaborator does with its services. Therefore, you accept the responsibility of any violation or abuse perpetuated by you. The Project is neither liable to loss of your data that occurs due to misuse of the platform by you.

   2. Violations of established rules may incur the following consequences, administered progressively:

      1. Suspension: Duration ranging from one day to one month, or indefinite suspension.

      2. Termination: Permanent cessation of collaborator privileges.

      3. Closure of Project Services: Implementation of Emergency Protocol (🚨) for swift response.

      4. Closure of the Project: Immediate cessation of all Project Troopers services and removal of associated assets.

4. Institutions and their powers

   1. The Troopers Board of Directors

      1. The directors are nominees / admins who have been selected by the people or the CIC to lead the Project. They will have control over all the decisions of the Project's administrative matters. These directors will then constitute the Troopers Board of Directors, which has the power to halt, proceed, change, allow or deny any administrative decision before they are put into action. More about the board will be given in this document.

      2. The Board of Directors is the deciding authority of the Project, i.e the de-facto head. It is where the directors are to propose new ideas, solve conflicts and decide on the future of the Project. This Group will, as is, follow all the rules outlined previously. The directors are in no way above the law. This group will only be composed of the volunteering admins (aka the directors).

      3. Some directors can be considered inactive, if they can not respond to any board activity for 2 weeks or notify the board that they can not attend to the matters of the project temporarily. All other directors will be considered active.

      4. The creation of any sub-group belonging to the Project will also be subject to approval by a majority of the directors and the CIC.

      5. All Board decisions are required to documented well, with transparent proceedings. The board can form its own internal processes, rules and sub-committees. The current director(s), with appointed or assigned any roles and their records; the board and its records, and decisions will be maintained under the governing guidelines section of the project.

      6. The Collaborator-in-Charge (CIC): The CIC is the de-jure head of the Knowledge Hub with level of Ownership, director and a CA-A pass. He has the power to decide upon the administrative matters of the Knowledge Hub, but not without the knowledge and approval of the Board of directors.

      7. Proposing ideas or take a decision

         When a director wants to propose new ideas to the Project's infrastructure or take any decision related to the project, they have to follow a few set of procedures before implementing them, in successive order.

         1. Share the idea with the Board

         2. Allow the whole of the Board to debate upon the idea, including the pros and cons. (Can be skipped if a general consensus is already reached.)

         3. Conduct a poll asking the board members to vote.

         4. If the idea receives either a:-

            1. 50%+ majority approval by the active directors who have not abstained from voting. All inactive directors are automatically considered "abstained" from voting on the particular idea.

            2. 75% majority by the members of the Troopers Project (in the case when the admins are not available)

            3. super-admin approval through the emergency protocol

            then, it has to be implemented with immediate effect.

         5. Any idea that affects a particular division of the Project and their operations must be discussed with their admins.

         6. After implementation or veto, it has to be recorded below. The Project docs must be also updated in parallel to reflect the same.

      8. No board decision can be implemented without at least three-fourths of the board voicing their opinion regarding it. If the no. of voting directors (i.e non-abstained) fall below the set threshold, then it is mandatory that some directors must change their opinion via a re-vote. If the threshold is still not satisfied after two re-votes or if the no. of inactive directors impedes the voting procedure (during the first vote), then the board is authorised to hold elections to vote directors to the board by the Project Members.

   2. Election Committee to conduct Elections to the Board and ArbCom

      1. Appointment Process: Members of the community appoint directors or members of the ArbCom through two separate methods, with each member's vote considered equal. The methods are:-

         1. Normal Procedure: Each division votes for their representative director or ArbCom member to be seated on the board.

         2. Special Procedure: The entire community decides on a director or ArbCom member.

      2. Authority and Composition:

         1. Only the Election Committee is authorised to conduct elections for the Board and ArbCom.

         2. The Election Committee comprises members of the Project with a CA-A pass, excluding directors and ArbCom members.

         3. It will not allow existing directors or ArbCom members to run for elections, unless their tenure will expire with the onset of the respective election.

      3. Rule-Making Authority:

         1. The Election Committee has the authority to establish its own rules for elections, which will be documented in the Project's Governing Guidelines.

         2. These rules, if aligned with the mission of conducting free and fair elections without unauthorized or malicious activity, are binding on the voters, the ArbCom and the Board.

   3. Administrators

      1. Accountability and Enforcement: The CIC, the Board, and the admins are accountable to the rules outlined in this document. They have the authority to punish participants found violating any rules and regulations.

      2. Appointment and Responsibilities:

         1. Administrators are appointed based on the needs of the project and have limited roles or sections to oversee. They are responsible for handling violations within their jurisdiction, filing reports, and providing reasoning for their judgments.

         2. Records of current admins and their roles are maintained in the governing guidelines section of the project.

      3. Removal and Updates:

         1. Administrators can be removed by a consensus among participants (a majority of 75%), except for the CIC, who can only be removed by the Board and/or ArbCom.

         2. They have the right to update the terms of the agreement except the "Legal Stature" and are granted editing access to the documentation. They can modify group settings, remove members, or resign from their posts.

         3. Admins can transfer their seat or appoint a new admin with Board approval. Outgoing admins may retain editing access with justification and Board approval.

      4. Accountability and Restrictions:

         1. Admins are answerable only to the Board and the community, not to other admins.

         2. They are not allowed to single-handedly remove another admin (except during the switch of rolling admins), act on irrational decisions, make major changes to the rules, show prejudice or bias, delete the group, or remove members without proper justification.

   4. Arbitration Committee (ArbCom)

      1. Responsibilities:

         1. The ArbCom ensures proper enforcement of document rules, members' rights, and preservation of the document's basic structure.

         2. It serves as a court of last resort, intervening when other project bodies fail to address issues adequately. However, it can initiate cases even if other avenues haven't been exhausted.

      2. Formation and Tenure:

         1. The ArbCom panel is independently appointed by project members through consensus member voting and receives responsibilities from the community.

         2. Each ArbCom member serves a 3-month tenure, with 1/3 of the panel replaced by new members at a time.

         3. No ArbCom member can be allowed to be a director and vice versa.

      3. Powers:

         1. ArbCom has the authority to challenge decisions or policies by project members, the Board, or the CIC, as long as they don't alter the project's fundamental principles.

         2. They can make administrative decisions in the form of Case judgments, acting with complete administrative authority, if it is related and pertinent with respect to the case.

         3. ArbCom operates independently to ensure project integrity and may only be disbanded by its own decision.

         4. All individuals have the right to approach ArbCom for dispute resolution.

      4. Workings:

         1. The ArbCom panel is activated upon filing a grievance or case by a member in personal or public interest.

         2. It develops its own process, subcommittees, and rules to effectively carry out its duties.

5. Emergency Protocol 🚨

   1. The Emergency Protocol is a set of rules and regulations that give the board of directors a wide variety of powers in unforeseen circumstances. Any power, granted by the emergency protocol, is not applicable to the Project during the normal operations of the Project.

   2. The unforeseen circumstances include, but are not limited to:-

      1. Heavy argument and dissatisfaction among the members of the Project, and/or a heavy disregard for the rules of the Project.

      2. Any change of views that occur which threatens the integrity of the Project as a whole.

      3. To preserve the Project for the future (i.e.) To help the Project navigate through uncertain times in order to ensure a bright future; which will include "external factors" that require the Project to radically revamp its structure.

      4. Any situation in which a director deems that implementation of the Emergency Protocol is necessary.

   3. The Emergency Protocol will only be implemented if a conducted poll shows that 66% of the Board believes that it would be necessary.

   4. If any unforeseen circumstance occurs, the directors have the power to:-

      1. Remove a non-admin member, providing a reasonable justification at a later time. This decision should be later accepted by at least 75% of the members. Otherwise, this decision is to be reversed. (Directors)

      2. Temporarily suspend a service or channel until the situation stabilises. (Directors)

      3. Halt or delete or damage a service to such an extent that it is no longer functional, which can be reversed. (the Board)

      4. The right to temporarily freeze or permanently delete parts of the document if the situation requires. There will be reasoning behind these changes to ensure transparency. (the Board)

      5. Transfer enough power to the CIC to take any decision for the betterment of the Project and its members [Board only, referable by any director], and can include exceptions to this transfer. This clause will be called the Ultimatum mode.

   5. Who can reverse the emergency protocol and how?

      1. The CIC can immediately reverse this protocol without approval from anyone else, if he has been granted enough power under the Ultimatum mode through the emergency protocol.

      2. The emergency protocol will automatically be reversed in 6 months' time if no extension has been granted by the Project.

      3. The ArbCom can decide to override and declare this state of emergency illegal.

      4. A director either needs:-

         1. Approval from 50% of the members.

         2. At least 60% of the Project's Board.

   6. This protocol has never been invoked once since the implementation of the documentation. (as of March 31, 2024)

6. Point of Contact Services

   We respect the fact that users and content owners would like to contact us, the required has been mentioned in the “Contact Us” section of the Hub. The Board is responsible for providing Point of Contact services.

7. Fair Use moderation

   1. Protection Against Abuse:

      1. The Project ensures that its services are not abused in any way. The Right to Life, guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, is applicable to everyone, and abuse of it will not be tolerated.

      2. Consequences of abuse may include termination of the license granted to the abuser, although this is not guaranteed in every case.

   2. Reporting Abuse:

      1. Reports of abuse can be conveyed to the Board or the ArbCom (Arbitration Committee) by the affected party.

      2. The Project will assist affected parties and attempt to prevent abuses. Personal information of the affected will not be disclosed upon request, but details of the abuse will be transparently published to inform the public and serve as a reminder of The Project's stance against abuse.

   3. Forgiveness Policy: The Board or the ArbCom reserves the right to forgive abusers if forgiveness is granted by the affected party in written form, and if the abuser promises not to repeat the abuse in written form for legal validity.

   4. Freedom of Expression: The Project allows criticism and voicing of opinions, which is not considered abuse, except for illegal criticism such as cybercrimes against The Project, as defined under respective jurisdiction.

8. Data

   1. Data Storage and Privacy Policy:

      1. The data within the Knowledge Hub is stored on third-party implementations, and the privacy policies of the software used are automatically applicable to all end-users and collaborators.

      2. Technical aspects of the Hub are required to be documented under the Governing Guidelines of the Project, focusing on keeping viewer data safe whenever possible.

   2. Data Collection:

      1. Necessary data is collected only with user consent, including actions such as enrolling in Project Services or for legitimate interests like protection, security, and legal obligations.

      2. Two separate databases interact daily:

         1. Online Database: Contains instructions for software and data voluntarily shared by users, including basic information like Name, Email, Contributions, and Last Access Date.

         2. Offline Database: Cached on end-users' devices, may include Name, Device Model, and Preferences.

   3. Optional Data: Users may opt-in to provide additional data, enhancing the ability to provide customised services based on user preferences.

   4. Data Protection Measures:

      1. Important data is protected in databases, not shared with third parties without consent (except Governments).

      2. While data is processed in the cloud and on-device, electronic storage is not guaranteed to be 100% secure.

      3. Personal information is retained for necessary periods, with efforts made to protect it within legally acceptable means.

      4. If you believe that we have breached a relevant data protection law and wish to make a complaint, please contact us and provide us with full details of the alleged breach. We will be happy to assist you.

   5. User/Contributor Rights and Responsibilities:

      1. You have the right to access, correct, or obtain a copy of their data upon request.

      2. You will be informed of any data breaches affecting your data.

      3. If you are below 13 years of age, you must have the consent of your guardian or parents before using this platform.

   6. Cookies: The Project uses cookies to collect information and improve user experience. Four types of cookies are used:

      1. Essential Cookies: Necessary for proper device connectivity and caching.

      2. Tracking (Marketing) Cookies: Placed by third parties for tracking and selling data. We do not place these cookies.

      3. Functional Cookies: Used by the Project and/or third-parties to remember user choices for personalized experiences.

      4. Analytics Cookies: Aid in understanding visitor interactions and website analytics.

9. Changes to Offerings and Closure Procedures:

   1. Changes to Services: We reserve the right to change, discontinue, or limit "services or access to them" without prior notice; for any reason; which will be provided by the Board of Directors or/and ArbCom (both of which can be disputed with the ArbCom).

   2. Basic Structure Preservation: Any changes to the Basic and Fundamental structure of the governing guidelines should be made by consulting all admins, directors, ArbCom members together and should be approved by the Election Committee.

   3. Closure Scenarios: The group may be closed under the following circumstances:

      1. General consensus (90% majority) among participants.

      2. Widespread disregard and violation of rules leading to organisational breakdown.

      3. Closure order from WhatsApp, government, or relevant authority.

      4. Merger with another group by general consensus (90% majority) among participants.

      5. Remote wiping of project data and deletion by the CIC under the ultimatum mode (Refer Emergency Protocol 🚨).

   4. Content Rights Upon Closure: Upon closure or merger, all Project content rights will be transferred to either the conglomeratic group owning the project (in case of merger) or to respective participants (in case of closure). However, all content previously released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License will still apply to the respective materials. This clause cannot be changed or nullified by anyone, including the Project.

   5. Applicability of Rules and Regulations:

      • Until full closure or transfer is complete, Project Rules & Regulations will apply, not the terms of any other group.

      • Upon complete merger and transfer of ownership, users continuing to use Project's Services automatically agree to the conglomeratic group’s policies.

   6. Autonomous Operation Acknowledgment: We acknowledge the intention to maintain autonomous operation, with closure or merger being rare situations.

We wish the user a happy experience using the Troopers' Services. Your experience is invaluable.

Thank you for contributing to Project Troopers!

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© Project Troopers Open-source Group (2024). Released under the Creative Commons 4.0 Share-Alike license (as mentioned under “Intellectual Property” in our Terms with exceptions).