This proposal, presented by the Financial Accountability Working Group, was consented to by the General Assembly on Thursday, January 19, 2012.

Identified Need –  to address diminished revenue stream, post-Dewey Square

Proposal
Because cash donations to Occupy Boston have declined while expenses have risen since our eviction from Dewey Square, the Financial Accountability Working Group proposes that weekly stipends be temporarily suspended, except for $2000 set aside for actions.^*

Following completion of a 2012 budget, including an analysis of potential revenues, FAWG will bring a new proposal for working group stipends to General Assembly, on March 6, 2012.

^* FAWG defines “actions” to include rallies, marches, speakouts, demonstrations, etc. Action monies are not to be spent on travel. FAWG proposes that this $2000 action set-aside become available as soon as Occupy Boston completes five actions from this date forward.

Note 1:   existing working group stipend policies remain in effect: up to $100 per week, receipts required.
Note 2:  this proposal will be in effect as of 12:01 am on Monday, January 23.
Note 3:  FAWG will notify all working groups of this consented proposal and provide a window of opportunity—up to 12:00 pm on Saturday, January 22—to make a weekly stipend request.

The below proposal reached consensus at OB’s General Assembly, on 1/17/12

Proposal to Rent Church Space for General Assembly  

Identified Need – secure, dependable indoor meeting space to hold OB  General Assemblies

Prelude
Post Dewey Square, Occupy Boston has been leaning on the kindness of local spiritual institutions to hold General Assembly (and now, Action Assemblies.)  These churches incur an expense to house our meetings, including personnel and utility costs. To date, one church has been levying a rental fee, $20 per hour for use of the Community Church of Boston.  Emmanuel Church is now asking OB for $80 per night.

Proposal
Financial Accountability Working Group (FAWG) propose that Occupy Boston pay these churches specific fees for use of their space, for these specific days and times:

Arlington Street Church – $80 for Tuesdays, 7:00 to 11:00 PM
Emmanuel Church – $80 for Thursdays, 7:00 to 11:00 PM
Community Church of Boston – $80 for Saturdays – 5:00 to 9:00 PM
Community Church of Boston – $80 for Sunday – 5:00 to 9:00 PM

Also, if another space is used for GA, instead of one of these churches, FAWG proposes that Occupy Boston will offer the owners of that space up to $80 for its use. (Note: this does not preclude any Occupy Boston member from finding and soliciting a free space, for GA use.)

Also, FAWG proposes that Tuesday and Thursday General Assemblies end at 10:30 PM, and that Saturday and Sunday General Assemblies end at 8:30 PM.

Also FAWG proposes that the proceeds from the GA donation box be allocated to help pay this rental expense, in the hopes that the General Assembly becomes self sustaining.

If consented to by the General Assembly, this arrangement stands until other accommodations are secured, or until Occupy Boston decides to hold General Assemblies, outside.

On Saturday night’s General Assembly, Boston’s General Assembly consented to the following proposal regarding SOPA, as well as blacking out the website on January 18th:

A Proposal for Solidarity in Condemnation of Legislation to Destroy the Internet in Favor of Corporate Interests
Brought forth by independent members of Occupy Boston and the Occupy Boston IT working group.

Congress is currently contemplating laws that will dramatically change the way the internet functions. First introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA),also known as H.R. 3261, and its counterpart, the Protect IP Act, also known as Senate Bill S.968, expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to allegedly combat online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.

SOPA/PIPA’s success in Congress has been in a large part due to lobbying by the infamous Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). They are opposed by nearly every internet content provider, electronic civil society organization, and the ACLU. The lobbyists are winning: As of last count 81 Congresspeople are in favor of the Act, and 29 are against.

SOPA/PIPA extends current copyright laws, making websites liable when a user links to a page with copyrighted content. Websites such as Google, Youtube, and Reddit will be forced to proactively review any user generated content; the cost of this review will prevent the creation of the next Googles, Youtubes, and Reddits. Sites may be permanently taken down without judicial review because a user on a site linked to suspected copyrighted content. Any website which hosts user-generated content is a potential target of these acts. SOPA also makes content providers, such as Comcast, AT&T, or Verizon, liable when a user utilizes their bandwidth to access suspected copyrighted content. In order to protect their corporations, telecom companies and websites will be forced to filter and pre-approve all content. This would effectively transform the internet from a place for sharing and creativity, into a barren corporatocracy. The internet, a crucial tool of contemporary horizontal democracy, is vital to social movements such as Occupy, the global exchange of ideas, and businesses across the world.

This proposed legislation is troubling to members of the Occupy Boston community, for reasons including, but not limited to, the following:

•1. Freedom of Speech: The passage of SOPA/PIPA would infringe upon Internet users’ fundamental rights to freedom of speech and privacy. All speech would be pre-screened by both telecommunications companies like Cox and AT&T, and websites, like Google, Facebook, and Youtube. Websites which allow the collaborative exchanges of ideas, like Reddit, and message boards would be liable for any individual user’s link to copyrighted content. This will fundamentally transform the roiling marketplace of ideas that we currently know of as the Internet into a barren corporate landscape resembling the Internet known by web denizens in authoritarian regimes. This type of prior restraint on speech will destroy the internet as we know it and has always been unconstitutional in America.

•2. Quelling Social Movements: Under SOPA/PIPA internet social networking could be destroyed on a whim. This would profoundly transform the way the internet is used for social movements around the world, harming any popular movement which relies on social networking. This includes the 2009 Iranian protests, the popular revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, Occupy, and other movements across America.

•3. Jobs: SOPA/PIPA is job-killing legislation. Experts and industry professionals agree that if SOPA/PIPA passes thousands of jobs in the tech industry will be destroyed or shipped away from America to more speech friendly nations. If SOPA passes every small business that uses the internet will be negatively impacted; many startups will have little chance of surviving. Every aspect of internet business will be devastated from online advertising to telecommunications. By crushing the internet, SOPA/PIPA crushes the American spirit of innovation which has created jobs, and been a cornerstone of the American economy.

•4. Corruption: This bill benefits a small number of Hollwood executives and music industry companies (a $10b industry), and is being pushed by their lobbyists, to the detriment of the $800b technology industry. You are not hearing about it because they control the mainstream media. This is but one example of the control well heeled corporations have over our political process, and our action is necessary to inform people who are being failed by the corporate media.

Therefore, we, Occupy Boston do resolve the following:

•1. To join in solidarity with other internet communities in a ‘website blackout’, Janurary 18th, where all visitors to occupyboston.org will be directed to a page containing information about both SOPA and PIPA. Functionality of the website will not be disrupted.

•2. To encourage and implore supporters of Occupy Boston to write to their Senators and Congresspeople concerning the detrimental effects of both SOPA and PIPA.

•3. To condemn the proposed legislation known as SOPA and PIPA for fundamentally crippling free speech on the internet, stifling social movements and creativity, recklessly destroying jobs and annihilating small businesses, and as an example of the endemic corruption which permeates our legislature in the interest of the 1%.

•4. OBIT will work with the Media working group to use social media to proliferate the above message about SOPA. Media working group posts for the day of January the 18th will focus on SOPA. These messages will include information about the Android app SOPA Boycott.

Any individuals with comments about ideas or possible actions are encouraged to join the live chat and share your thoughts.

The General Assembly of Occupy Boston consented to the following proposal on Jan 14, 2012:

$2500.00 to send 2 vans of OB activists to Occupy Congress in DC. These activists are to be mindful of OB’s Statement of Autonomy and are to understand that they attend as individuals within the movement and not as chosen representatives. Participants and friends of this action will fundraise to offset these costs with donations going to the general fund. The hashtag #OBDC will be used to track our activities and encourage donors’ involvement. Unspent money will be dispensed to people who drive up themselves. The DC contingent will give a presentation upon return.