[SDIP-5] ShyftDAO Participation Agreement
Summary
This proposal aims to implement a private ordering agreement (a so-called “participation agreement”) among all DAO Participants to provide an operating framework for ShyftDAO and govern each party's rights and obligations.
Proposal details:
The participation agreement available on IPFS
here or alternatively here (Might take a bit to load)
- Defines ShyftDAO participants.
- Provides a mutual release by DAO participants from claims arising out of or in connection with ShyftDAO and a mutual waiver of claims against ShyftDAO and other protected parties.
- Aims to limit the liability of ShyftDAO participants and other protected parties concerning loss or damage arising from the interaction with ShyftDAO.
- Provides a complaints and dispute resolution procedure.
Motivation
Purpose and Background
The participation agreement aims to provide expectation management of what a stakeholder of the Shyft ecosystem can expect during their participation or interaction with ShyftDAO. Many projects use the label of a DAO in different forms and organizational structures. Still, there is no common understanding of what a DAO is, resulting in a lack of clarity as to what rights and obligations exist when dealing with a DAO.
Besides the benefit of contractual agreements being a valuable backup for governance structures in case the technical infrastructure does not work as desired, a document like the participation agreement should also prevent DAOs from being put under too much pressure in their early stage of development.
DAO governance is still nascent. This will likely become more professional in the future. The goal is to protect against activist tokenholders groups that may try to extract value from DAOs for their own benefit under the threat of legal action. Implementing a participation agreement could be a suitable mechanism to prevent this as a precautionary measure so that the ShyftDAO governance structures can grow organically without distraction.
Effects and Impact Analysis
The participation agreement reflects the experimental nature of decentralized governance. This state of affairs is reflected in comprehensive disclaimers so that participation in ShyftDAO is at the participant's own risk. Any person, entity, or organization interested in ShyftDAO should familiarise themselves with the risks of DAO participation and, if necessary, seek additional legal advice to minimize the risks.
Alternative Solutions
DAO without participation agreement: a DAO without any legal arrangement might come at the cost of unlimited liability risks for its participants and is challenging to grasp for external stakeholders who want to interact with the DAO.
Partial incorporation of the ShyftDAO community: The ShyftDAO community could partially be incorporated into a dedicated legal entity or under the legal umbrella of the Shyft DAO Foundation. However, given the current stage of community building, this step seems too early, as the community has not yet expressed its opinion.
--> The participation agreement is believed to be a good solution, as it provides a legal framework for governance participation, does not require too much administrative overhead, and provides the possibility for future changes.
Proposal
Technical Implementation
This proposal does not require any additional code. The participation agreement is made available via IPFS to ensure immutability.
The participation agreement will be adopted provided this SDIP passes the ShyftDAO governance process. Furthermore the “Proposal Rules and Guidelines” will be updated to reflect that you agree to the participation agreement by voting on DAO proposals.
It is expected that changes to the participation agreement will only be made as a result of future SDIPs.
Copyright
Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.
Feedback Period
The feedback process begins now and is expected to end at 14:00 UTC on 30/01/2023. After this, a Snapshot vote is expected to be put up around 15:00 UTC on 30/01/2022 if, in accordance with the rules established for the creation of proposals (https://forum.shyft.network/d/23-what-is-the-criteria-for-creating-a-proposal), there is sufficient interest and support for the proposal from the community.
Following the feedback period, the voting period will last for 5 days thereafter for the community members to cast their votes in accordance with the rules established for voting.
Actions
For: The ShyftDAO adopts the participation agreement linked above.
Against: The ShyftDAO rejects the participation agreement linked above.
Disclaimer
No Legal Advice. The SDIP and information given are provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect current legal developments, verdicts, or settlements. Any information contained in this should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter.
