When companies or individuals join ILDA, they agree to abide by the Code of Ethics. It requires all Members to treat each other and the public in a fair, safe and professional manner.
If there is a problem, anyone may file an Ethics Complaint against the ILDA Member. The ILDA Ethics Committee reviews and seeks to resolve the complaint, in order to reach a fair settlement.
You may also want to refer to the Code of Business Practice. This is a subset of the Code of Ethics, which gives more detailed requirements and guidance in some specific areas. Because it is a subset, violations of the Code of Business Practice are handled in the same way as violations of the Code of Ethics.
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Code of Ethics
ILDA Bylaws, Article VI, Section 3.
Statement of Code of Ethics• Members desire to promote cooperative, responsible and ethical application of laser display.
• Members agree to conduct their business in a professional, ethical, safe and courteous manner, and to make a good faith effort to resolve any and all complaints made against them.
• Members agree to respect the goals, desires and objectives of their clients.
• Members agree to observe and obey any and all regulations governing the use of lasers in any country or area in which the member operates.
• No member will knowingly take or receive credit for work done by another member or, through inaction, knowingly allow an incorrect credit to persist.
• Members agree not to make inaccurate or misleading claims in advertising and/or promotion.
• No member will knowingly make inaccurate or slanderous statements about any competitor or through silence lend credibility to statements made by others.
• Members will not misrepresent their capabilities or the capabilities of the medium in general.
• Members agree to keep privileged information obtained by reason of their position in ILDA confidential.
The Code of Ethics was adopted by the general membership of the International Laser Display Association at its annual membership meeting in San Francisco, November 13, 1987.-
Violations
ILDA Bylaws, Article VI, Section 2.
Violation of Code of EthicsAll occurrences involving member violations or alleged violations of Section 3, Article VI of the Code of Ethics, shall be investigated by the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee shall have the discretion to recommend to the Board of Directors that a Letter of Reprimand by placed in the member's file for a recommended period of time and/or suspension or expulsion of a member for violation of the Codes of Ethics. The Ethics Committee shall propose and the Board of Directors shall ratify the process for handling complaints of ethics violations and for making recommendations to the Board of Directors. The procedure adopted must allow the member notice and an opportunity to be heard.
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What the code means
- ILDA requires that its Members agree to abide by ILDA’s Code of Ethics and Code of Business Practice, and that they acknowledge ILDA’s Lasershow Safety - Basic Principles.
If anyone believes that a Member has not lived up to the Codes and Principles, they can file an Ethics Complaint against the Member Company. (Note that a person does not have to be an ILDA Member in order to file a complaint.) On average, there are roughly 2-3 such complaints filed annually. The goal is to satisfy the complainant; for example, by having the Member refund money for an unsatisfactory transaction.
If the Member does not live up to the Ethics Committee's recommendations, ILDA takes action such as warning the Member, or allowing their Membership to run out and not be renewed, or (ILDA’s most severe punishment) terminating the Membership.
Please note the following limitations of the Codes and Principles:- If there is an issue over whether a show is safe and/or legal, contact the appropriate authorities first. These could include federal and state laser safety regulators, a local fire marshal, a venue’s operator, etc. Such persons have legal authority to stop unsafe shows; ILDA does not have such power (the most we can do is remove a company from Membership).
- ILDA is a trade association. We do not run the Member companies’ businesses. We do not independently investigate our Members — we assume they are operating within the Codes and Principles unless someone tells us otherwise. If someone has a problem with a Member, we suggest they file an Ethics Complaint. But if no complaint is filed, we cannot take independent action against a Member.
- ILDA will assist Members who ask for guidance with safety and regulations. Such assistance does not necessarily mean that we endorse their shows, equipment or safety practices. Again, we do not run their businesses. But we do provide assistance to any Members who state that they want to improve.
- ILDA does not investigate practices of businesses prior to when they joined ILDA. Once a company joins ILDA and agrees to the Codes and Principles, we can accept Ethics Complaints for actions currently ongoing or in the future. But we are not set up to investigate or punish a Member for practices before they joined. (One exception: If a company was a Member of ILDA in the past, and wants to rejoin, they cannot do so if there are unresolved Ethics issues. Those issues must be resolved in order for the company to rejoin ILDA.)
- Because ILDA does not run or monitor the operations of Members, we cannot make any promises about Members’ quality, ethics or safety, except to state that we will take action on any Ethics Complaints made against a Member. Persons dealing with ILDA Members should check business references, review past shows, examine equipment and take other prudent steps to ensure a good fit between the client’s needs and the Member’s capabilities and experience.
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