[liberationtech] Stanford Liberationtech Needs Your Help

[Doug Schuler]

Moritz' suggestions seem very sound.

The Public Sphere Project is a non-profit 501.c.3 organization that's very
aligned with the LT mission and would seem to be a good fit.

Other org's probably have better tech and deeper pockets however!

If I saw any changes I'd like to see the list expand its capabilities and
help function as a project incubator and sometime sustainer. This was one
of the roles that CPSR adopted — more or less subconsciously — and our
organization grew out of CPSR.

Thanks!

— Doug



On Fri, Jun 15, 2018 at 8:56 AM, Moritz Bartl <bartl at renewablefreedom.org>
wrote:

> Hi Yosem,
> On 14.06.2018 21:13, Yosem Companys wrote:
> > Recently, the decision was made to spin off LT as an independent entity.
>
> Have you considered fiscal sponsorship instead, meaning to partner with
> an existing non-profit instead of creating your own?
>
> I can for example see us at Renewable Freedom Foundation hosting this,
> both legally and technically. We have our own servers at various data
> centers, an endowment to ensure continued operation of the foundation,
> and existing legal infrastructure (registration in Germany, charity
> status for donations across Europe, readily set up accounting & audits
> etc.).
>
> It would save you from a lot of headaches and bureaucracy. There are
> other foundations I can connect you to if you're interested in exploring
> this route.
>
> Legally, the primary consideration should be wether you expect grants or
> donations, and where from. If you're dealing with US funders, it is the
> easiest for them to give money to 501c3's in the US; if you're dealing
> with donors from Europe, a European entity might be more useful.
> "Iceland" and "Switzerland" are mentioned quite often with little actual
> benefit (their privacy laws nowadays are similarly good or bad as
> elsewhere), and I would rather base the decision on where you have
> trusted contacts and someone who speaks the language.
>
> The separation of concerns via fiscal sponsorship can give you more
> flexibility, and more independence: I could see you partnering with a
> number of different entities, and regardless of their governance
> structures decide on your own governance model independently. If all you
> plan for the near future is some structure to host the mailing lists
> and/or forums, I suggest you reconsider creating yet another legal
> entity for this (yet).
>
> In terms of recommendations for hosters, you should base your decision
> on where you "place" the legal entity: The best protection you get is
> having the infrastructure in the same country as the legal entity, as it
> will not create potentially complex legal issues crossing borders. If
> you have narrowed down your choices, I can help pick hosting companies.
>
> It sounds like you may be interested in managed services, where you
> trust the hosting company to manage not only the connectivity but also
> the services itself (mailman and/or discourse). If you're considering
> the hosted Discourse at discourse.com, you will need to trust them with
> the data. I have not looked at their policies but usually these managed
> options do not take good care of reducing IP logging, for example. They
> are probably also using cloud storage, so the data sharing is even more
> extensive. By picking a US company you basically pin the jurisdiction,
> and you do not really want to be a foreign entity using US services like
> that, so that makes sense only if you're creating or partnering with a
> US entity. You can, however, find other, privacy-aware companies that
> offer managed mailman/discourse hosting in other jurisdictions without
> the "clouded" bit.
>
> Moritz
> --
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