[Dev] [donations] [due 2015-04-20] draft of agreement with ceata

Tiberiu-Cezar Tehnoetic tct at ceata.org
Wed Apr 15 11:57:52 GMT 2015


On 15.04.2015 00:54, hellekin wrote:
> *** It's a step in the right direction.  I would make it a bit clearer:
> Ceata would hold the funds for a period suitable for the Parabola
> community to agree on a successor, which cannot exceed, e.g., 9 months.
> If this succession does not occur within this reasonable time, then the
> funds should be transferred to an entity supportive of software freedom,
> either Ceata or another non-profit organization elected by the Parabola
> Community.

If by "transfer" you mean "no strings-attached donation" (you refer to
it as "donation" in the second paragraph), then yes. Ceata is a free
software organization, so other free software organization would have no
reason to reject a donation on behalf of Parabola (or Ceata to make the
donation) if it has no strings attached. Ceata can keep the funds
blocked for 9 months and if a Successor is still not communicated by the
Delegate, then we donate the funds to the free software organization the
Delegate tells us to.

> This latter part is to protect the Parabola Community in the improbable
> case of a conflict arising between the two parties.  I don't think it
> will happen, but I would feel better if the community would make the
> decision whether to donate to Ceata or another entity (e.g., the FSFE).

Please note that if at some point funds are to be transferred to FSF*E*,
then it certainly is the last stop for that money, because FSFE can only
accept donations and spend money on behalf of other projects, but can't
transfer it to another organization (they are an association with
special status under German law which puts them under this kind of
restrictions).

>  That removes the incentive of non-cooperation on both sides: if
> Parabola won't find a successor, they contribute to software freedom.
> If Ceata doesn't think Parabola is doing a good job, they can't capture
> the funds either.

Agreed.

However, I want to be clear and make you aware of the following fact,
because I've noticed you use the party "Parabola Community" when talking
about this agreement.

Parabola is self-governed and it's its responsibility to appoint
Delegates who won't abuse power. According to this agreement, Ceata has
no way of stopping a Delegate from making an abuse (asking on behalf of
Parabola to buy a new monitor for himself, to be delivered at his home,
regardless of the fact the Parabola community might not be aware of this
and regardless of the fact that Parabola community wouldn't agree with
it on some mailing list; if the community decides to revoke him and
appoint another Delegate, Ceata still needs the cooperation of the
former Delegate, to sign-off the amendment relinquishing him of the
responsibility and replacing herself/himself with the new Delegate.

If Ceata tries to stop the abuse, then the best it can do is say we want
to stop this collaboration and ask for a Successor. The Delegate, having
bad intentions, can refuse to communicate a Successor to Ceata,
regardless if Parabola has actually found one. 2 months pass, the funds
get blocked for another 9 months and then Ceata asks for an organization
to donate Parabola funds to. The Delegate doesn't appoint any. If there
is no default put in place (Free Software Foundation, but this time it's
okay to have a default, it's not a Successor, it's just the recipient of
a donation) then the money are "captured" by Ceata, which is not okay.

So we can change this to:

* 2 months passed without a Successor being nominated by the Delegate
and/or the Successor doesn't agree, it's not tax-exempt etc.

* 9 months passed with the money blocked at Ceata, no Successor
communicated by the Delegate

* Ceata donates the money to FSF, Parabola loses some money on the
transfer and can kindly ask FSF if they want to become their fiscal sponsor.

But you have to understand that the Delegate has the power to spend
money as (s)he sees fit, block the succession of a new Delegate, block
the succession of a new fiscal sponsor and block Parabola funds.

What do you want to do about that? Accept it as it is, put in place some
safeguards which gives away some of the governance of your community to
Ceata? I don't know, but I want you to be aware of the problems that
might appear at your end, with the Delegate.

-- 
Tiberiu-Cezar Tehnoetic
Președinte, Fundația Ceata
+40-761-810-100

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