https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=513144
Bug ID: 513144
Summary: Money collection for a foreign entity in Finland is
illegal
Classification: Plasma
Product: plasmashell
Version First 6.2.0
Reported In:
Platform: unspecified
OS: Linux
Status: REPORTED
Severity: minor
Priority: NOR
Component: Notifications
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
Target Milestone: 1.0
SUMMARY
Money collection for a foreign entity in Finland is illegal. It has to be done
by a Finnish entity and the money has to go into a Finnish bank account.
The translation of the applicable law:
https://www.finlex.fi/en/legislation/translations/2019/eng/863
The Finnish law in question is unusually strict in comparison to other
countries' and the police has taken action against wikimedia
before(https://yle.fi/a/3-7077584), which did not lead to anything because the
organisation was deemed responsible and it is american. The likelihood of
repercussions is low here too as the entity KDE e.V. is likely to be held
responsible and unlikely to be charged as it is German. However the commit was
made by a person who is easily identifiable and could technically be held
responsible for his actions.
The legally correct thing to do would be to not show the donation notification
to KDE installations in Finland(practically impossible to do), provide
something for the payment so it is no longer a donation but a purchase(might
require tax registration in countries around the world, likely not worth the
cost) or register a subsidiary of KDE e.V. in Finland, open a Finnish bank
account for it and apply for a money collection permit from the Finnish
national police board(because KDE is a NPO, this should work but likely not
worth the costs).
In view of the (im)practicality of solving the issue, this is more of a notice
than a bug. It is good to be aware laws like this exist and if a practical
solution does appear in the future, take advantage of it.
In the meantime, avoid Finland and any other country with such strict money
collection laws in your travel plans, just in case.
--
You are receiving this mail because:
You are watching all bug changes.
