Rules of Procedure

Antitrust Policy for Board of Directors

Approved by the Board of Directors: 2025-12-16

As members of the Board of Directors of the OWASP Foundation, Inc., we are committed to upholding all applicable antitrust laws and ensuring that our activities promote fair competition and ethical collaboration.

Policy:

  • No Collusion: Board members must not engage in discussions or agreements - formal or informal - to impact or sway the competitive marketplace in favor of one or more entities, or to influence OWASP strategy or contracts in favor of any particular entity.
  • Independent Decision-Making: All decisions regarding programs, partnerships, and member services must be made independently and in the best interest of OWASP’s mission.
  • Meeting Conduct: Board meetings must avoid any topics that could be construed as anti-competitive to the marketplace, including sensitive commercial strategies or exclusionary practices
  • Information Sharing: Confidential or proprietary information from OWASP or other organizations must not be shared or used in a way that could violate competition laws.
  • Reporting Concerns: Any suspected antitrust violations must be promptly reported to the Chair, Executive Director, or via the whistleblower policy for review and appropriate follow up action.

Acknowledgment:

At the start of each Board meeting, the following statement shall be read aloud:

As the Board consists of individuals from many competing organizations, OWASP and its Board shall abide by all applicable anti-trust and competition laws. To avoid any perceived or actual conflict of interest, or anti-trust concerns under US federal, state, or regulations, only the published agenda shall be discussed or voted upon, or amended as below. If there are any conflicts of interest, Board members are expected to disclose the conflict of interest and must recuse themselves from discussion and voting.

Each board member must review and adhere to this policy, and agrees through signing the Director’s Commitment Agreement that they agree and consent to this policy.

Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action, including removal from the board.

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