Re: [gentoo-dev] Paid support

[Curtis Napier]

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Chris Gianelloni wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-09-06 at 23:50 -0400, Curtis Napier wrote:
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>> I'm in support of having a list of devs who want to do paid support.
>> Anything that helps people eat is OK in my book. ;)
>>
>> On the other hand, I think we need to have the foundation run this past
>> our lawyer(s) and make sure we have our i's dotted and out t's crossed.
>> I would hate for something good like this to cause us problems down the
>> road.
>
> Umm... The Foundation has zero to do with a contract between two third
> parties.  Let me give you an example.  I am currently doing paid "Gentoo
> work" for a company, who will remain nameless.  I filled out paperwork
> with the company.  My being a member of the Gentoo Foundation, a
> Trustee, or anything else, has exactly zero bearing on my being
> contracted, as an individual, to a company.
>
>> I know christel is consulting with an accountant about adpot-a-dev,
>> maybe she can throw this in as well?
>
> Do we have to do some special law-abiding dance to have sponsors listed
> on the site?  What about advertisers?
>
> What Christel is researching is the tax law related to individuals
> receiving gifts.  It has no bearing on the Foundation itself.
>
> Let's look at this another way.  We have advertisers that sell Gentoo
> servers and Gentoo-based services.  How exactly is this any different?
> Is it because they're developers?  How does that matter?  In the end,
> the contract is entirely between two third-party entities, the
> developer, and whomever contracts him.  It isn't like the Foundation is
> offering services.  It isn't.  The individual developers are offering
> services.  The Foundation is not any of our employer.  We are not bound
> by any legal contract to the Foundation, and it has no ties to us.
>

Giving ad space to our sponsors is legal for us to do as a Not For
Profit because they are donating goods and/or services to us.
Technically we are not giving them "ads", we are acknowledging the
donated goods and/or services. Just like PBS does at the beginning of
it's shows, they aren't ads but acknowledgments of donations.

Basically I just want to make sure that we are not breaking any of the
rules of being a Not For Profit foundation. The IRS doesn't accept "We
didn't know any better" as an excuse when they come knocking on our door
to re-evaluate our Not For Profit status because we are giving free
advertising to people who *ARE* being paid in a For Profit manner.

And if the IRS changes our status we *may* be liable for back taxes.

I know I'm the only one who ever says anything about the legality of
what we do and always brings the Foundation into it but let's face
facts: The Gentoo web properties are owned and operated by the Gentoo
Foundation which means that those web properties MUST follow the law
concerning Not For Profit.

If no one else is concerned about it then I'll drop it but when the day
comes and the IRS is a knockin'.... don't look at me. Besides, what can
it hurt to have one of the Foundation Trustees ask one of our lawyers
about it?

- --Curtis
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