[gentoo-nfp] [Fwd: [Foundations] Software Freedom Conservancy Launches]

[Donnie Berkholz]

As Corey's mentioned on -core, we might want to look into getting
somebody else to take care of our financial/administrative stuff so the
board can focus on Gentoo. This looks like an opportunity for that.

A bit of looking on their website suggests that they may want a bit more
control of our assets than I feel comfortable with, but that could be
flexible.

Who can follow up on this?

Thanks,
Donnie


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[Foundations] Software Freedom Conservancy Launches
Date: 	Mon, 3 Apr 2006 12:12:21 -0700
From: 	David Ascher <david.ascher@×××××.com>
To: 	foundations@×××××××××××××××××.org



Via Groklaw (http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060401121120517)

*SOFTWARE FREEDOM LAW CENTER LAUNCHES CONSERVANCY*

*Software Freedom Conservancy offers nonprofit umbrella to free and open
source projects*

NEW YORK, April 3, 2006 – The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC),
provider of pro-bono legal services to protect and advance Free and Open
Source Software (FOSS), today announced it has established the Software
Freedom Conservancy to provide free financial and administrative
services for a collection of FOSS projects through a single entity.

"The mission of the Conservancy is to provide free and open source
software developers with all of the benefits of being a tax-exempt
corporate entity without having to do any of the work of setting up and
maintaining such an entity," said Dan Ravicher, legal director for the
Software Freedom Law Center and one of the initial directors of the
Conservancy. "Letting projects pass off the mundane administrative
burdens placed on those wishing to benefit from nonprofit status is a
significant way to keep developers focused on what they do best –
writing software."

The Software Freedom Conservancy (conservancy.softwarefreedom.org
<http://conservancy.softwarefreedom.org>) will be a fiscal sponsor for
FOSS projects by providing free financial and administrative services to
its members. It will provide individual developers protection from
personal liability for their projects and will seek to provide
participating projects with tax-exempt status, allowing them to receive
tax deductible donations. The Conservancy will file a single tax return
that covers each of the member's projects and will handle other
corporate and tax related issues on behalf of its members. In addition,
the Conservancy can hold project assets and manage them at the
discretion of the project, which removes another fiscal burden from
developers who are focused on software innovation.

"We understand the importance of having our legal, financial and
administration houses in order, but our focus and energy needs to be on
our code," said Alexandre Julliard, The Wine Project, one of the
Conservancy's initial members. "The Software Freedom Conservancy gives
us the opportunity to join with fellow community projects to gain needed
legal and fiscal protections in a market where disruptive technologies
such as open source software sometimes generate aggressive actions from
other market participants."

Other initial members of the Conservancy include SurveyOS, BusyBox and
uClibc. For more information about the Conservancy and how to become a
member, please visit conservancy.softwarefreedom.org
<http://conservancy.softwarefreedom.org>.

About The Software Freedom Law Center

The Software Freedom Law Center – directed by Eben Moglen, one of the
world's leading experts on copyright law as applied to software –
provides legal representation and other law-related services to protect
and advance Free and Open Source Software. The Law Center is dedicated
to assisting nonprofit open source developers and projects. The
Conservancy is an example of how the Center is working to address the
needs of FOSS projects that are playing significant roles in the
software market. For criteria on eligibility and to apply for assistance
from SFLC, please visit the website at www.softwarefreedom.org
<http://www.softwarefreedom.org>.