Legal formation of a foundation such as Squeak-F is a relatively  
simple problem, and doesn't really deserve much cognitive effort.   
The bottom line is that you should get, and follow, the advice of  
counsel and/or the accountant who is setting things up for you.  If  
you are getting those services for free, it would be simply insane to  
ask them to step out of their jurisdiction or comfort zone to  
structure the corporation in some strange or new-fangled way.  Given  
what I understand of Squeak-F goals, this is an absolutely routine  
matter.  In the United States, modern and "uniform" corporate laws  
make it less and less important in which state you organize.

In particular, if you are using free lawyers, don't ask them to  
practice outside the country in which they are practicing, unless  
there is a genuine issue that I don't understand.  The encryption  
issue is simply not one of those.  If you, in fact, are exporting  
into or out of any nation, it is probably of no consequence in which  
nation you have organized -- you will be subject as a practical  
matter to the customs and internet-related laws of that  
jurisdiction.  Since Squeak-F will be resourceless in any legal  
squabble as a matter of practice, follow the KISS rule.  We simply  
can't afford, and are unlikely to benefit from, any complex legal  
structure.

KISS.  Don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good.   
Organization is something that requires very little thought, and must  
not become a hurdle.  Far more important is figuring out what it is  
you want to do, and then doing it.

THE REAL QUESTION IS, AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN, TO DEFINE THE ENTITY'S  
MISSION.  Organization is a formality.  Please don't ignore the  
important issue for the trivial one.

P.S.: I read somewhere that IRS has been loathe to grant open source  
NFP entities tax-exempt status.  My tax partner thought it was an  
interesting question, but wondered aloud whether it made much  
difference at all, since most prospective donors of import would be  
able to write off the expense one way or the other, and most small  
donors will not care much one way or the other.  As a practical  
matter, does Squeak-F expect to do much grass roots fund-raising,  
that you should particularly care?


On Mar 7, 2006, at 6:48 PM, Ron Teitelbaum wrote:

> Hey Craig,
>
> Congratulations!
>
> Well I would vote for Delaware since there are a number of benefits of
> incorporating there, not to mention the lower costs.  Also we  
> already have
> legal help from the software freedom law center, which is free.  I  
> would say
> that yes we should get the tax exempt status, and yes we need  
> accounting
> help.  Over all I would say not too much time and not very much  
> money.  It
> just needs to get done so we can move on.
>
> Ron Teitelbaum
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Craig Latta
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 4:46 PM
>>
>> Hi--
>>
>> 	Ron writes:
>>
>>> My vote would be for setting up the Squeak Foundation as a Not for
>>> Profit United States Non-Stock Corporation... I'm not sure why it
>>> needs to take a considerable amount of time.
>>
>> 	Well, if I we decide to incorporate in the U.S., we'd have to decide
>> in
>> which state to incorporate, and whether to apply for tax-exempt  
>> status
>> with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and jump through those hoops.
>> We'd probably want to choose and hire a lawyer and an accountant.
>>
>> 	That sounds like a considerable amount of time (and money) to me.
>>
>>
>> -C
>>
>> --
>> Craig Latta
>> improvisational musical informaticist
>> www.netjam.org
>> Smalltalkers do: [:it | All with: Class, (And love: it)]
>>
>>
>
>