Guardian

Risks addressed by the role

Non-abiding to the commons

We have described a set of legal mechanisms limiting re-appropriation (licence, general terms of use...). Who activates these mechanisms in case of suspected infringement? What are the procedures: formal notice, filing a complaint, etc.?

A role of guardian of the commons must be held, with a clear list of sanctions to be applied in the event of non-compliance with the rules it describes.

Discrimination of contributors

If some contributors are not welcomed in the same way as others, there is both a risk of reducing contributions, and of misdirecting the service to serve only the subset of the community represented among the contributors.

No conditions can be required to consider a user as a contributor other than contribution, that is, adding value on one or other of the components, in respect of the associated commons.

Mismanagement of financial capital

Financial capital is the most versatile. It can be used in a relatively interchangeable way for many purposes, including indirect ones. It can be used for funding improvements to the commons, for legal defence, for promotion, etc. How are the strategic orientations transcribed in the distribution of investments? Who is responsible for the sound management of financial capital?

A role of financial guarantor must be defined, with the responsibility of making sure that withdrawals from common resources are proportional to the objectives determined by the community.

Legal Form

The ideal stakeholder will profit, with the sole objective of guaranteeing the application of the common good and its adequacy to reality. Indeed, as the search for financial profit increases, so does the risk of re-appropriation, since the sharing of resources is opposed to the privatisation of the benefits that can be derived from them.

It can, for example, take the form of:

• Association.

• Board (of an association, of a co-op…).

• Public entity.