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IAU FITS Working Group
Rules and Procedures

Effective 01-01-2014 [Previous rules]

Preamble

The following paragraph is not part of the voting rules and just describes the current composition of the EC.

The following discussion describes the rules and procedures to be followed by the IAU FITS Working Group (FWG). These rules have been established by the FWG Executive Committee (EC), which has the right to modify them at any time. The EC also has the authority to determine what procedures are to be followed in any circumstances that are not explicitly covered under the existing rules. The EC currently has 7 voting members consisting of the chair and vice chair (if designated) of the FWG, the previous chair of the FWG, and the chairs of the 4 former regional FITS committees (North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia/New Zealand). The 'Designated FITS Representative' to the Virtual Observatory Working Group (also established by IAU Commission 5) is also a member of the EC. The president of Commission 5 has been traditionally an observer in the EC mailing list. The future composition of the EC will be arranged in such a way to maintain a balance between different geographical areas, disciplinary and wavelength areas, and a representation of major data handling organizations. The EC typically makes decisions on a unanimous consensus basis, but if necessary, a simple majority vote (currently, 4 out of 7 members) may be used to reach a decision.

1. Issues related to the definition of the FITS Standard

2. Business or Procedural Issues

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