Umbrella Open-Source Software Organization

[phelix]

indolering suggested we should we should join an umbrella Open-Source software organization, like the Software Freedom Conservancy

Opinions?

[domob]

Sounds like a good idea in general. We could even try to be adopted by GNUnet as (part of) their naming system, and join the FSF. IMHO, this is one of the most trust-worth organisations in this direction, but I may be biased. (Alongside the EFF, which is not an umbrella organisation suitable, AFAIK.) A possible problem with the FSF is that they want copyright over the code assigned to them, so they can defend the license in case it gets violated.

[phelix]

IMHO we should in no way connect Namecoin to any US based organization. Especially not give any rights to the code to any such organization (not sure if anybody even had the power to do so).

Switzerland, Sweden... we can discuss countries like these.


I would really like to see us focused on more productive things...

[virtual_master]

Sounds like a good idea in general. We could even try to be adopted by GNUnet as (part of) their naming system, and join the FSF. IMHO, this is one of the most trust-worth organisations in this direction, but I may be biased. (Alongside the EFF, which is not an umbrella organisation suitable, AFAIK.) A possible problem with the FSF is that they want copyright over the code assigned to them, so they can defend the license in case it gets violated.

The GNU name has a good resonance as they have good projects running under them and it is also no known spy-scandal in connection with them or any altering of the source code under pressure.
(RSA is a different issue as it is a private company and profit oriented)
Cooperating with GNUnet could also bring some advantages.
But I am not sure how a libcoin, libbitcoin or bitcoind based client can fit with the GNU public license.
They are running under https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation.

IMHO we should in no way connect Namecoin to any US based organization. Especially not give any rights to the code to any such organization (not sure if anybody even had the power to do so).

Switzerland, Sweden... we can discuss countries like these.


I would really like to see us focused on more productive things...

Switzerland is good to keep there the money and for privacy related issues like email, VPN provider or file hosting service but I am not sure if it would bring anything to have there a copyright registration(only more costs). And Sweden would be even more questionable.

The question if we need a copyright(all cryptocurrencies can be forked whatever we do- so what does it bring ?). If we need it then a US copyright registration would bring more as it has more weight over the world - less countries would challenge it. And if the registration is under GNU public license then it is connected on the first view with GNU and not with the US.
Another aspect is the financial. Would it imply transferring contributions in fiat in the US from other parts of the world ?

[indolering]

Sounds like a good idea in general. We could even try to be adopted by GNUnet as (part of) their naming system, and join the FSF. IMHO, this is one of the most trust-worth organisations in this direction, but I may be biased. (Alongside the EFF, which is not an umbrella organisation suitable, AFAIK.) A possible problem with the FSF is that they want copyright over the code assigned to them, so they can defend the license in case it gets violated.

The GNU name has a good resonance as they have good projects running under them and it is also no known spy-scandal in connection with them or any altering of the source code under pressure.
(RSA is a different issue as it is a private company and profit oriented)
Cooperating with GNUnet could also bring some advantages.
But I am not sure how a libcoin, libbitcoin or bitcoind based client can fit with the GNU public license.
They are running under https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation.

Yeah, the GNU requirements are very bureaucratic, although I license everything under the AGPLv3. I mean, when they weaponize thought, what else can we use to defend ourselves?

IMHO we should in no way connect Namecoin to any US based organization. Especially not give any rights to the code to any such organization (not sure if anybody even had the power to do so).

Switzerland, Sweden... we can discuss countries like these.

I would really like to see us focused on more productive things...

I never thought Obama would make me embarrassed to be an American.

Switzerland is good to keep there the money and for privacy related issues like email, VPN provider or file hosting service but I am not sure if it would bring anything to have there a copyright registration(only more costs). And Sweden would be even more questionable.

The question if we need a copyright(all cryptocurrencies can be forked whatever we do- so what does it bring ?). If we need it then a US copyright registration would bring more as it has more weight over the world - less countries would challenge it. And if the registration is under GNU public license then it is connected on the first view with GNU and not with the US.

We are not going to get in trouble with the copyright of the code. If we get into any copyright related troubles it will be when TPB and the like start using .bit for their main address.

It's not like we shouldn't have a legal presence in multiple jurisdictions. That's what an "international" organization is: a bunch of national legal entities working together. To that point, unless we have multiple developers in a jurisdiction we can't really have one there.

Furthermore, if we run into the extreme legal problems we have the GNU foundation, the EFF, and the Bitcoin Foundation to help us, regardless of our prior affiliation with them. Not to mention that Tor, Freenet, and the Bitcoin projects are already located here. They seem to be operating just fine....

Another aspect is the financial. Would it imply transferring contributions in fiat in the US from other parts of the world ?

It would require we transfer funds to wherever the organization has a bank account. That doesn't mean the organization couldn't have bank accounts in other countries. However, since most potential fiat payment providers (i.e. PayPal, Kickstarter/Amazon) are in the US ....

Although, I think there would be real merit in our servers being internationally hosted. There are multiple reasons Speech.is is hosted in Iceland.

Again, everyone should read this legal primer.

[virtual_master]

I never thought Obama would make me embarrassed to be an American.

The world is as it is. No country is perfect.
We should take the best from every country and we should hope that Namecoin will make the world better.

Furthermore, if we run into the extreme legal problems we have the GNU foundation, the EFF, and the Bitcoin Foundation to help us, regardless of our prior affiliation with them. Not to mention that Tor, Freenet, and the Bitcoin projects are already located here. They seem to be operating just fine....

That sounds good.

It would require we transfer funds to wherever the organization has a bank account. That doesn't mean the organization couldn't have bank accounts in other countries. However, since most potential fiat payment providers (i.e. PayPal, Kickstarter/Amazon) are in the US ....

Although, I think there would be real merit in our servers being internationally hosted. There are multiple reasons Speech.is is hosted in Iceland.

Iceland is to exotic and laws can change there very quickly or can happen something like in Cyprus.

*fiat funds in America* *fiat funds in Europe* * Namecoin and Bitcoin funds*
As more left as more probable to be seized by the authorities - generally this is a fact. (of course I don't mean that funds in Albania are more secure than in the US )
Best if this 3 type of funds from donations are not mixed at all but if it is really necessary then only BTC<->NMC or fiat<->fiat.

[indolering]

I never thought Obama would make me embarrassed to be an American.

The world is as it is. No country is perfect.
We should take the best from every country and we should hope that Namecoin will make the world better.

Yes, but I had to deal with 8 years under Bush. That was really hard!