On 07/08/2009 01:44 AM, Ringo wrote: > Do people think that running a Tor server could be seen as a donation to > the Tor Project (which is a 501(c)(3) charity IIRC)?
This question has come up before, as Brian Puccio mentioned, and comes up again as The Tor Project is a real 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. I'm not a tax attorney, nor CPA, nor accountant; therefore don't take this as any sort of legal/tax advice. This topic is still under review by Tor's legal advisors and accountants. Consider this a quick overview. There are two issues: 1) US FASB requirements for valuation of contributed services and if they create or enhance an asset (for assets Tor can recognize in financial statements). One of the key points here is whether The Tor Project would have to pay for the services versus rely on donations of those services. 2) Legal risks to the Tor Project for having such assets recognized as belonging to the Tor Project. We (accountants and Tor) decided that for 2008, Tor would not pay to run all of the relays. The design of Tor and therefore the Tor network is to rely on a decentralized model of informal volunteers to maintain the network. The point of discussion is that Tor would be mostly useless if the public Tor network didn't exist, so clearly this network could have some value. However, in order to recognize that value, the Tor Project would have to record detailed information about every relay operator in order to accept the contributed service as an asset, and give the donation valuation to the relay operator. This comes back into legal risks, and reverts back to the privacy by design of the Tor software and Tor network itself. To help clarify what this could mean, here's an analogy: Someone donates a fully operational military tank to the Tor Project. While we suddenly have a tremendous asset on our hands (and financial statements), we're beholden to all sorts of legal risks for owning and operating a fully operational military tank as a private entity in the US. We have the right to refuse donations in kind, and essentially we're doing that with those of you running relays that make up the Tor network. We wholly appreciate your efforts (as do all of the Tor users); it's just that we can't trade your volunteering for financial gain on your end (through a tax deduction) at this time. I realize this isn't the definitive answer of "yes or no" you want, but it's the best I can offer right now as discussions progress. The decision can go either way, and I will keep you updated when a decision is made, with the explanation. This doesn't preclude direct donations in kind, such as hosting website mirrors, our website itself, hosting archives, databases, website design, graphics/artwork, etc. -- Andrew Lewman The Tor Project pgp 0x31B0974B Website: https://torproject.org/ Blog: https://blog.torproject.org/ Identica/Twitter: torproject
