Project Governance, take 2

[Jeff Mitchell]

Nikolaj Hald Nielsen wrote:
> I cant help but think that we should really look into how to set up an
> appropriate "not for profit" legal entity to shield individuals from
> ending up in any form of problems with the tax authorities. The money
> we collect from this years roktober is one thing, but potentially, if
> Amarok 2 becomes popular on MAc and Windows, the commission we get
> from Magnatune ( or any other such deals we make) could become quite
> significant.
> 
> Or if this is too much of a hassle, take another look at the Software
> Conservancy ( I think that was the name of it ).

On behalf of the KDE Marketing Working Group, I had looked into the
Software Freedom Conservancy in the past, since there were thoughts that
having a U.S.-based non-profit entity would make it easier to collection
donations from U.S.-based corporations (among other things).  They might
be useful, but the last thing I heard from them was that they would
discuss the proposal at the next board meeting, which was slated for June.

IIRC, I believe the idea was that sub-projects/related projects (which
were generally defined as, projects that have their home in KDE's SCM
system) would, if they so decided, be able to opt-in.  This would allow
them to enjoy the benefits they choose without worrying too much about
governance and legal issues, and without having to have every project
set something up with the SFC.

I'll get back to you guys on this -- I'm going to check to see if the
MWG is still interested in this situation in the first place.

--Jeff