Note: this Code of Conduct pertains to organizations’ behavior. Please also see the Individual Code of Conduct.
The Bytecode Alliance (BA) welcomes involvement from organizations, including commercial organizations. This document is an organizational code of conduct, intended particularly to provide guidance to commercial organizations. It is distinct from the Individual Code of Conduct (ICoC), and does not replace the ICoC. This OCoC applies to any group of people acting in concert as a BA member or as a participant in BA activities, whether or not that group is formally incorporated in some jurisdiction.
The code of conduct described below is not a set of rigid rules, and we did not write it to encompass every conceivable scenario that might arise. For example, it is theoretically possible there would be times when asserting patents is in the best interest of the BA community as a whole. In such instances, consult with the BA, strive for consensus, and interpret these rules with an intent that is generous to the community the BA serves.
While we may revise these guidelines from time to time based on real-world experience, overall they are based on a simple principle:
Bytecode Alliance members should observe the distinction between public community functions and private functions — especially commercial ones — and should ensure that the latter support, or at least do not harm, the former.
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Do not cause confusion about Wasm standards or interoperability.
Having an interoperable WebAssembly core is a high priority for the BA, and members should strive to preserve that core. It is fine to develop additional non-standard features or APIs, but they should always be clearly distinguished from the core interoperable Wasm.
Treat the WebAssembly name and any BA-associated names with respect, and follow BA trademark and branding guidelines. If you distribute a customized version of software originally produced by the BA, or if you build a product or service using BA-derived software, use names that clearly distinguish your work from the original. (You should still provide proper attribution to the original, of course, wherever such attribution would normally be given.)
Further, do not use the WebAssembly name or BA-associated names in other public namespaces in ways that could cause confusion, e.g., in company names, names of commercial service offerings, domain names, publicly-visible social media accounts or online service accounts, etc. It may sometimes be reasonable, however, to register such a name in a new namespace and then immediately donate control of that account to the BA, because that would help the project maintain its identity.
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Do not restrict contributors. If your company requires employees or contractors to sign non-compete agreements, those agreements must not prevent people from participating in the BA or contributing to related projects.
This does not mean that all non-compete agreements are incompatible with this code of conduct. For example, a company may restrict an employee’s ability to solicit the company’s customers. However, an agreement must not block any form of technical or social participation in BA activities, including but not limited to the implementation of particular features.
The accumulation of experience and expertise in individual persons, who are ultimately free to direct their energy and attention as they decide, is one of the most important drivers of progress in open source projects. A company that limits this freedom may hinder the success of the BA’s efforts.
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Do not use patents as offensive weapons. If any BA participant prevents the adoption or development of BA technologies by asserting its patents, that undermines the purpose of the coalition. The collaboration fostered by the BA cannot include members who act to undermine its work.
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Practice responsible disclosure for security vulnerabilities. Use designated, non-public reporting channels to disclose technical vulnerabilities, and give the project a reasonable period to respond, remediate, and patch.
Vulnerability reporters may patch their company’s own offerings, as long as that patching does not significantly delay the reporting of the vulnerability. Vulnerability information should never be used for unilateral commercial advantage. Vendors may legitimately compete on the speed and reliability with which they deploy security fixes, but withholding vulnerability information damages everyone in the long run by risking harm to the BA project’s reputation and to the security of all users.
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Respect the letter and spirit of open source practice. While there is not space to list here all possible aspects of standard open source practice, some examples will help show what we mean:
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Abide by all applicable open source license terms. Do not engage in copyright violation or misattribution of any kind.
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Do not claim others’ ideas or designs as your own.
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When others engage in publicly visible work (e.g., an upcoming demo that is coordinated in a public issue tracker), do not unilaterally announce early releases or early demonstrations of that work ahead of their schedule in order to secure private advantage (such as marketplace advantage) for yourself.
The BA reserves the right to determine what constitutes good open source practices and to take action as it deems appropriate to encourage, and if necessary enforce, such practices.
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Instances of organizational behavior in violation of the OCoC may be reported by contacting the Bytecode Alliance CoC team at report@bytecodealliance.org. The CoC team will review and investigate all complaints, and will respond in a way that it deems appropriate to the circumstances. The CoC team is obligated to maintain confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident. Further details of specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.
When the BA deems an organization in violation of this OCoC, the BA will, at its sole discretion, determine what action to take. The BA will decide what type, degree, and duration of corrective action is needed, if any, before a violating organization can be considered for membership (if it was not already a member) or can have its membership reinstated (if it was a member and the BA canceled its membership due to the violation).
In practice, the BA’s first approach will be to start a conversation, with punitive enforcement used only as a last resort. Violations often turn out to be unintentional and swiftly correctable with all parties acting in good faith.