Re: SPI Workshop/Brainstorming Session at Debconf

From: David B Harris <david(at)eelf(dot)ddts(dot)net>
> The nature of these organisations is legal; as such, they can be sued
> into oblivion, leaving their member-projects out in the cold. Thus, the
> more the merrier - bad idea to put all the eggs in one basket and
> whatnot.

And there is a danger of losing the copyrights that these organizations hold
to the plaintiff in a successful lawsuit, or if the organization is
forced to settle.

However, a legal umbrella for individual developers is becoming increasingly
desirable, and a 501(c)3 vehicle is possibly even useful for getting our
developers under the Volunteer Protection Act.

So, there are a few ways to go. One is to make a lot of little
corporations, as we did in the movie business. Every film was its own
corporation, which is why you would see "Silver Screen Partners XXVIII"
as the producer of a Disney film, and another number next time.

Probably there are other ways to poison-pill the copyrights we hold so
that they would be useless to anyone who acquired them through a
lawsuit.

This is a matter for investigation with counsel.

Thanks

Bruce