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[16 November 2006]

Overview

The Software Freedom Conservancy is an organization composed of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects. As a fiscal sponsor for FOSS projects, the Conservancy provides member projects with free financial and administrative services, but does not involve itself with technological and artistic decisions. By joining the Conservancy, member FOSS projects can obtain the benefits of a formal legal structure while keeping themselves focused on software development.

What are the benefits of joining the Conservancy?

One of the principal benefits of joining the Conservancy is that member projects get all the protections of being a corporate entity without actually having to form and maintain one. These benefits include, most notably, protection from personal liability for the developers of the project. Projects can continue to operate in the same way they did before joining the Conservancy without having to select a board of directors or any other layer of corporate management, without having to maintain corporate records and without having to do any of the other things required of incorporated entities. The Conservancy handles all of that burden on behalf of its projects.

The Conservancy is in the process of applying for tax-exempt status, which will allow the Conservancy's member projects to receive tax deductible donations. The Conservancy files a single tax return that covers all of its member projects and handles other corporate and tax related issues on behalf of its members, who are, of course, always free to join and leave the Conservancy at any time. Additionally, by not having to form a new organization, projects avoid having to pay the fees and spend the time required by the state incorporation and federal tax exemption application processes.

Another benefit of joining the Conservancy is that projects can use it to hold assets, which are managed by the Conservancy on behalf of and at the direction of the project. For example, any monies received by a project are put in a separate Conservancy fund and maintained there until the project directs the Conservancy to do something with the funds. This prevents developers from having to commingle project funds with their own accounts or having to set up their own project specific account. Since the Conservancy is seeking tax-exempt status, there are some limits that the law places on what member projects can do with their assets, but those limits are the same as if the project was an independent non-profit entity.

All of these benefits are provided for free; the Conservancy does not charge its member projects any fees.

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How does a project join the Conservancy?

In order to join, projects need to meet certain criteria, including the requirement that the project be exclusively devoted to the development of Free and Open Source Software and that it be consistent with the Conservancy's tax exempt purposes and the financial requirements imposed by the IRS. Most FOSS projects will meet these requirements. To find out if your project can join the Conservancy, or to get more information, contact us. Qualifying projects that wish to join the Conservancy will form an agreement with the Conservancy that sets out all of their rights and responsibilities.

If my project joins the Conservancy, how will it change?

Substantively, member projects continue to operate in the same was as they did before joining the Conservancy. So long as the project remains devoted to Free and Open Source Software and operates consistently with the Conservancy's tax exempt status, the Conservancy does not intervene in the project's development other than to provide administrative assistance. For example, the Conservancy keeps and maintains books and records for the project and assists with the logistics of receiving donations, but does not involve itself with technical or artistic decision making. Projects are asked, however, to keep the Conservancy up to date on their activities.

Once a project joins, who owns its assets (money, copyrights, trademarks, etc.)?

The Conservancy holds assets on behalf of its member projects and manages and disburses those assets in accordance with the project's wishes. Monies received by the Conservancy on behalf of a project are maintained in separate accounts established for each specific project and the management of those funds is directed by the project. For example, if a donor wanted to contribute to Project X, they would formally make the donation to the Conservancy and identify Project X as the desired project to support. The Conservancy would then deposit the check into an account it established for Project X. Project X would then tell the Conservancy how that money should be spent.

Similarly, any copyrights, trademarks or other assets transferred to a project can also be held by the Conservancy on behalf of the project. A significant service that the Conservancy provides its members is a vehicle through which copyright ownership in the project can be unified. There are several advantages to having a consolidated copyright structure, including that it makes enforcement activity easier and more effective. However, although it is almost always beneficial for projects to consolidate their copyrights, such is not a requirement in order to join the Conservancy.

How can a project leave the Conservancy?

As set out in an agreement between member projects and the Conservancy, projects can leave the Conservancy at any time. Federal tax exemption law, though, states that

2 From conservancy.softwarefreedom.org/?overview 17 November 2006 projects must transfer their assets from the Conservancy in a way that is consistent with the Conservancy's not-for-profit tax status; meaning the assets cannot be transferred to an individual or a for-profit entity. Generally, a project would either find another fiscal sponsor or form their own independent tax exempt non-profit.

Who runs the Conservancy?

The Conservancy is directed by a Board of Directors. The desire and expectation is that the initial Board will be supplemented with others from the FOSS community who can contribute a variety of expertise and perspective related to the Conservancy's mission.

3 From conservancy.softwarefreedom.org/?overview 17 November 2006 Officers

The Board of Directors of the Conservancy elects its officers. The current officers are:

Mark Galassi - Vice-President

Mark Galassi has been involved in the GNU project since 1984. He currently works as a researcher in the International, Space, and Response division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he has worked on the HETE-2 satellite, ISIS/Genie, the Raptor telescope, the Swift satellite, and the muon tomography project. In 1997 Mark took a couple of years off from Los Alamos (where he was previously in the ISR division and the Theoretical Astrophysics group) to work for Cygnus (now a part of ) writing software and books for eCos,although he continued working on the HETE-2 satellite (an astrophysical Gamma Ray Burst mission) part time. Mark earned his BA in Physics at Reed College and a PhD from the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stony Brook.

Bradley M. Kuhn - President and Board Chairperson

Kuhn began his work in the as a volunteer for the (FSF) in the mid-1990s. In 1992, he became an early adopter of the popular GNU/ operating system, and over the years he has contributed to numerous Free Software projects. Kuhn served as Executive Director of FSF from March 2001 until March 2005. During this period, he focused on streamlining the copyright assignment and project management functions that FSF performs for the GNU project. He hopes to assist SFC in bringing similar services to larger parts of the community. Kuhn holds a summa cum laude B.S. in Computer Science from Loyola College in Maryland, and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Cincinnati.

Karen Sandler - Secretary

Karen M. Sandler joined the SFLC in 2005 after working as an associate in the corporate departments of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in New York and Clifford Chance in New York and London. Sandler received her law degree from Columbia Law School in 2000, where she was a James Kent Scholar and co-founder of the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review. Sandler received her bachelor's degree in engineering from The Cooper Union.

© 2006 Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. Available under Creative Commons License

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