Re: [Ietf-and-github] GitHub Sponsors for Organizations

[Mark Nottingham <[e-mail]>]

> On 26 May 2020, at 6:48 am, Brian E Carpenter <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> On 24-May-20 17:22, Mark Nottingham wrote:
>> I don't think this is a good idea -- at least not without a lot more checking / consultation.
> 
> Mark, I think that funds directed at a specific draft/solution would be a bad thing for many reasons, not least being that money is not a proxy for technical quality, and the IETF is supposed to choose solutions for their technical merit. So IMHO the funds must not be labelled with "quic" or any other specific technology.

Right; that's the problem. From the users' perspective, they're sponsoring 'quic'. 


> But if the funds are by construction sent to a suitable general account via ISOC or IETF LLC, I don't see an ethical problem, and (IANAL) I doubt there could be anti-trust problems, and they could presumably be treated as 501(c)(3) donations for US tax purposes.
> 
> I agree of course that this must be carefully checked by legal/tax experts.
> 
> If the LLC stopped accepting donations, I think we'd have much more fundamental problems.
> 
>   Brian
> 
>> 
>> Potential issues:
>> 
>> - The primary purpose of standards (at least to lawyers) is countering anti-trust concerns. Does allowing sponsorship of individual efforts create a perception of conflict of interest? Especially if the sponsorships are visible to the Chairs, the WG, etc.
>> 
>> - GitHub appears to require you to create a Stripe account for the funds to be deposited into. Presumably, you'd then forward them to IETF LLC. Does this  create any reporting obligations or potential liabilities for you in the EU, US, etc.?
>> 
>> - Likewise, as a co-controller of the GitHub account, does it create any obligations for me and Lucas (keeping in mind that I'm a citizen of two countries, one of which is has a notoriously complex tax system)?
>> 
>> - What measures will we take to make the forwarding of funds (as well as any deducted fees, currency conversions, etc.) transparent to donors?
>> 
>> - If the LLC stops accepting donations, where will remaining funds go?
>> 
>> Etc.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> 
>> 
>>> On 23 May 2020, at 12:19 am, Lars Eggert <[e-mail]> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> so orgs can now set themselves up to receive sponsorships through GitHub Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors/accounts
>>> 
>>> I'm contemplating a test balloon with the quicwg org, setting it up so that any sponsorship would go to the IETF LLC.
>>> 
>>> Anyone see a downside to this?
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> Lars
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>> 
>> --
>> Mark Nottingham   https://www.mnot.net/
>> 
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--
Mark Nottingham   https://www.mnot.net/