[OTR-dev] What about an OTR org.?

[Greg Troxel]

David Goulet <dgoulet at ev0ke.net> writes:

> I had this yet _crazy_ idea when reading for the last 6 months every
> threads and discussions about OTR and different IMs using it, new
> ideas and also not forgetting the Cryptocat threadS :).
>
> So here goes. I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to try to
> create an OTR foundation or non profit organization or whatever we can
> think of (OTR project à la Tor) that would basically regroup libotr (C
> library), IM plugins, and more stuff like an OTR Java library, Python
> binding and other important project that I forget or soon to be
> related to OTR (we can think of Javascript stuff related to Cryptocat
> for instance). I guess this is basically what cypherpunks.ca does
> today but I'm thinking something much more wider in terms of OTR projects.

This conflates two separate things:

  nonprofit structure and registration

  a group of people to actually do things

Setting up a nonprofit in the US is hard and takes years; one needs to
have a board, file annual reports, etc.  I suspect it's just as hard in
Canada.   This has very little to do with actually hacking on code.

So basically, I'm suggesting that your "let's organize X" notion is
entirely separable from nonprofit corporate issues.  If the people doing
X feel that they need a corporation for liability issues, or to make
donations deductible, etc., then finding an umbrella organization could
make sense.  One such US place is the Software Freedom Conservancy.
But, I can see that a place outside the US might be desired due to legal
issues.  Still, I would recommend looking for an existing umbrella
organization.   IMHO, otr is too small to make having an otr-specific
charitable nonprofit make sense.
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