MEMBERSHIP FEATURES
Free, perpetual, and with no liabilities or commitments, membership grants you full participation in our equity for your clicks, etc. on our services and access to our upcoming Surge Browser.
Free membership, natural people only
We exist solely for the benefit of real people. Corporations, organizations, and other entities that are deemed "persons" in certain legal frameworks are not permitted. Free membership (with donations in lieu of customary membership fees) maximizes value to all members because it enables us to achieve the greatest possible scale.
Perpetual
Membership only expires after three (3) years of service inactivity.
Profits and gains in proportion to clicks
All of our profits and gains are distributed as dividends to our members in proportion to their clicks, etc. on our services. Before we release our Surge Browser, any profits or gains we make are distributed equally to each member.
The power to elect our Board
Our board of directors manages everything we do. When our early stage takeover protection ends (see below), each member gets one (1) vote in electing our board directors.
The power to propose and decide on any matter of business
When our early stage takeover protection ends (see below), each member gets one (1) vote on each User Cooperative business item voted on by our members and the power to propose any such item, like firing a CEO or changing an algorithm or a privacy policy.
Exclusive access to Surge Browser
Surge Browser will be members-only (and free-to-use).
No liabilities or commitments
Like members of any cooperative company, our members are not responsible for any liability, commitment, or obligation that we assume in the conduct of our business, and our members do not have any requirements to perform any action as a condition of membership.
Members vote for themselves
No proxies or designees. This ensures that our members vote according to their own interests and, as a result, we perform according to them.
Non-transferable
A membership has to stay in the possession of the original member to keep individuals or groups from accumulating voting power or disproportionately benefitting from any profits or gains.
One membership per person
This supports the integrity of our "one member, one vote" governance by preventing someone from concentrating voting power.
Whole membership agreement
All terms of our membership are included in the following documents:
Free termination, whenever
Our members can terminate their membership at any time and at no charge, but they forfeit their rights and interest in User Cooperative for doing so. To terminate membership, please contact us.
Early stage takeover protection
To protect ourselves against a "hostile takeover" when we are the most vulnerable to it, our founder/organizer is the sole voting member until no later than six months after we reach 1,500,000 members and $15,000,000 in revenue. This coincides with our first member vote to elect directors to increase the size of our board. This has no impact on our members' rights to participate in any profits or gains.
