Chapter Rules

Legal
Local Chapters operate independently from the OWASP Foundation, and Local Chapter leaders are responsible for all aspects of their meetings. Local Chapters should use the official OWASP Portal (www.owasp.org) and mailing lists for communications, and should not use or display the OWASP logo on other websites. Commercial use of the OWASP name or logo is strictly prohibited.

Charter
Each Local Chapter agrees to promote and adhere to the general concept of OWASP: to produce free and open unbiased tools and documentation promoting software and application security.

Sponsorship
Sponsorship of Local Chapters is allowed. Local Chapter sponsors will be recognized on the Local Chapter homepage and in official meeting announcements.

Sponsor Rules
All sponsors must be approved by The OWASP Foundation. No product presentation (containing claims or discussing applicability of a product) may take place at any meeting of a Local Chapter. Presentations that focus on a problem or set of problems and discuss solution approaches that may refer to or show examples of various products are allowed. Sponsorship shall be in the form of donations to the OWASP Foundation in the name of the Local Chapter and to provide food and/or beverages at meeting events.

Web Site
Each Local Chapter will have a webpage on the OWASP Portal. Local Chapters may use the OWASP logo on this page and any associated pages. See the Washington DC chapter page for an example.

Meetings
Local Chapters are autonomous when it comes to meeting location, meeting logistics, and the choice of topics that are to be discussed.

Meeting Minutes
Each meeting held by a Local Chapter should be documented. This documentation is then posted on the OWASP website for the given chapter. This documentation should be in English.

Meeting Announcements
Meetings should be scheduled at least quarterly, and announced two weeks before their actual date. Local Chapters should update the OWASP Community page with meeting dates and times (this will be updated on the main page shortly thereafter).

Privacy
The privacy of chapter members and meeting attendees should be protected. Local Chapters should not disclose names, email addresses, or other identifying information about members. Only aggregate statistics can be referenced.

Mailing List Moderation
The Local Chapter shall appoint a moderator for their mailing list. The moderator(s) need to ensure that the discussions stay on topic with a suitable tone of voice for an official OWASP mailing list.

Mailing List Languages
Consider urging your subscribers of the mailing list to accept posting in the local tongue as well as English. This way people not capable of the local tongue are able to read the archives of a local chapter.