There is a formatting error in the first two lines of the code on the page https://www.ethereum.org/dao. Here's the corrected code: contract owned { address public owner; function owned() { owner = msg.sender; } modifier onlyOwner { if (msg.sender != owner) throw; _ } function transferOwnership(address newOwner) onlyOwner { owner = newOwner; } } contract Congress is owned { /* Contract Variables and events */ uint public minimumQuorum; uint public debatingPeriodInMinutes; int public majorityMargin; Proposal[] public proposals; uint public numProposals; mapping (address => uint) public memberId; Member[] public members; event ProposalAdded(uint proposalID, address recipient, uint amount, string description); event Voted(uint proposalID, bool position, address voter, string justification); event ProposalTallied(uint proposalID, int result, uint quorum, bool active); event MembershipChanged(address member, bool isMember); event ChangeOfRules(uint minimumQuorum, uint debatingPeriodInMinutes, int majorityMargin); struct Proposal { address recipient; uint amount; string description; uint votingDeadline; bool executed; bool proposalPassed; uint numberOfVotes; int currentResult; bytes32 proposalHash; Vote[] votes; mapping (address => bool) voted; } struct Member { address member; bool canVote; string name; uint memberSince; } struct Vote { bool inSupport; address voter; string justification; } /* modifier that allows only shareholders to vote and create new proposals */ modifier onlyMembers { if (memberId[msg.sender] == 0 || !members[memberId[msg.sender]].canVote) throw; _ } /* First time setup */ function Congress( uint minimumQuorumForProposals, uint minutesForDebate, int marginOfVotesForMajority, address congressLeader ) { changeVotingRules(minimumQuorumForProposals, minutesForDebate, marginOfVotesForMajority); members.length++; members[0] = Member({member: 0, canVote: false, memberSince: now, name: ''}); if (congressLeader != 0) owner = congressLeader; } /*make member*/ function changeMembership(address targetMember, bool canVote, string memberName) onlyOwner { uint id; if (memberId[targetMember] == 0) { memberId[targetMember] = members.length; id = members.length++; members[id] = Member({member: targetMember, canVote: canVote, memberSince: now, name: memberName}); } else { id = memberId[targetMember]; Member m = members[id]; m.canVote = canVote; } MembershipChanged(targetMember, canVote); } /*change rules*/ function changeVotingRules( uint minimumQuorumForProposals, uint minutesForDebate, int marginOfVotesForMajority ) onlyOwner { minimumQuorum = minimumQuorumForProposals; debatingPeriodInMinutes = minutesForDebate; majorityMargin = marginOfVotesForMajority; ChangeOfRules(minimumQuorum, debatingPeriodInMinutes, majorityMargin); } /* Function to create a new proposal */ function newProposal( address beneficiary, uint etherAmount, string JobDescription, bytes transactionBytecode ) onlyMembers returns (uint proposalID) { proposalID = proposals.length++; Proposal p = proposals[proposalID]; p.recipient = beneficiary; p.amount = etherAmount; p.description = JobDescription; p.proposalHash = sha3(beneficiary, etherAmount, transactionBytecode); p.votingDeadline = now + debatingPeriodInMinutes * 1 minutes; p.executed = false; p.proposalPassed = false; p.numberOfVotes = 0; ProposalAdded(proposalID, beneficiary, etherAmount, JobDescription); numProposals = proposalID+1; } /* function to check if a proposal code matches */ function checkProposalCode( uint proposalNumber, address beneficiary, uint etherAmount, bytes transactionBytecode ) constant returns (bool codeChecksOut) { Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber]; return p.proposalHash == sha3(beneficiary, etherAmount, transactionBytecode); } function vote( uint proposalNumber, bool supportsProposal, string justificationText ) onlyMembers returns (uint voteID) { Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber]; // Get the proposal if (p.voted[msg.sender] == true) throw; // If has already voted, cancel p.voted[msg.sender] = true; // Set this voter as having voted p.numberOfVotes++; // Increase the number of votes if (supportsProposal) { // If they support the proposal p.currentResult++; // Increase score } else { // If they don't p.currentResult--; // Decrease the score } // Create a log of this event Voted(proposalNumber, supportsProposal, msg.sender, justificationText); } function executeProposal(uint proposalNumber, bytes transactionBytecode) returns (int result) { Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber]; /* Check if the proposal can be executed: - Has the voting deadline arrived? - Has it been already executed or is it being executed? - Does the transaction code match the proposal? - Has a minimum quorum? */ if (now < p.votingDeadline || p.executed || p.proposalHash != sha3(p.recipient, p.amount, transactionBytecode) || p.numberOfVotes < minimumQuorum) throw; /* execute result */ /* If difference between support and opposition is larger than margin */ if (p.currentResult > majorityMargin) { // Avoid recursive calling p.executed = true; if (!p.recipient.call.value(p.amount * 1 ether)(transactionBytecode)) { throw; } p.proposalPassed = true; } else { p.proposalPassed = false; } // Fire Events ProposalTallied(proposalNumber, p.currentResult, p.numberOfVotes, p.proposalPassed); } }