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Matthew Summers | 18 Dec 21:22
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Logo and Trademark Licensing

Hello,

Pursuant to the recent board meeting, I am writing to begin discussion
regarding the licensing of the Gentoo "g" logo and associated "GENTOO"
trademark for use by the community, for non-commercial and personal
purposes as well as discuss strategy in dealing with commercial of
both. This discussion will include use by derivative distributions
based in part on Gentoo as well as Gentoo itself.

At this time, the board is generally amenable to allowing free use by
the community for non-commercial, private, personal use while taking
due consideration on a case by case basis for any commercial use by
dealing directly with the potential licensee. This is in line with
current precedent in the free and open source community at large.

Further there needs to be some discussion as to how we can best
demarcate official Gentoo media and items where necessary to prevent
confusion and/or the unintentional conveyance of support.

Please let the board know your thoughts and ideas on these matters as
we seek to reach a decision soon.

Thank you and best regards,
Matthew
--

-- 
Matthew W. Summers
Gentoo Foundation Inc.
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Matthew Summers | 17 Nov 23:39
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2011 NMPRC Filing

Dearest Ladies and Gentlemen,

First, to preempt any personal health calamity, everything is in order
so no need for concern. I just want to update everyone on a specific
item detailed below.

Earlier today my fellow board member, Mr. Abbott, brought to my
attention the fact that the NMPRC page for us was showing us not in
good standing. I was taken aback as I had submitted our paperwork long
ago. Thus I called Wayne's office to find out what the hell happened.
Our document and payment were submitted on November 2nd by Wayne's
legal assistant, Heather. She has called the PRC who is researching
the matter currently. Heather stated that the PRC rep said they
thought our statement was still processing and expects a phone call to
confirm shortly. I also checked our banking account and the check I
wrote has not been cashed yet.

In summary, Heather stated that we are not to worry because our
materials and payment were submitted ahead of time. Its the NMPRC
system that is slow in processing. We should see the page updated
soon. I'll keep the board appraised of any information I receive in my
next conversation with Mr. Chew's office.

Many Thanks,
Matthew

--

-- 
Matthew W. Summers
Gentoo Foundation
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Rich Freeman | 17 Jul 23:59
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Foundation Periodic Activities Tracker

It has been fairly obvious that for a number of years one of the
biggest problem the Foundation struggles with is remembering to take
care of things that need to be taken care of on some kind of periodic
interval.  We forget to file and let our foundation become inactive.
We forget to renew trademarks until the last minute, and so on.

To help improve this I'm going to try to lead efforts to create a
simple and effective periodic activity tracking checklist.  The heart
of the checklist is just going to be a table of activities that need
to happen periodically.  Attributes I plan to track include:

Name of Activity
Who is responsible (by role) - nothing to stop people from teaming up,
but one role should be the lead for anything
Frequency of Activity (ie annually, quarterly, etc)
Whether activity is legally required (vs nice-to-have)
Last time activity was completed
Next time activity is due
Link to details page

Then for each activity we can have a details page (or anchors in a
single page) that goes into the gory details.  I'd expect this to
include:
Links to appropriate laws/etc.
Recommended process to follow.
Links to helpful tools/forms/etc.
Where to find the information necessary to complete the step.
Where we store the official copy of the resulting deliverable.
Where interested users can find the deliverable (perhaps redacted), if
applicable.  I'd encourage as much transparency as possible (many
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evaw evaw | 3 Apr 02:28
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(unknown)

This what everybody should use
http://users5.nofeehost.com/nyzigid/lepyjufy.html

InRem embrance OfI... You rArmsWit hin Swear always that you'll be true.
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William L. Thomson Jr. | 29 Mar 01:28
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List of items to be addressed by audit

Just making a quick list of the items/questions asked buried in a few
posts in a previous thread. No need to reply till there are answers.
This is just a list/summary of the items/questions to be answered once
the internal audit has been completed.

I am very appreciative and thankful that the trustees will be conducting
an internal audit. I will patiently away the outcome, and answers to the
following items/questions.

     1. State filings, with NMPRC and State Attorney General, bi-annual
        filings with NMPRC, and annual with State Attorney General
     2. Federal filings, annual tax return, form 990 (990-N or 990-EZ)
     3. Where is the money from the old bank account? When was it
        received/deposited into new account, and how much?
     4. What is the cause behind the $9k discrepancy in Q3 2010, and why
        was that not caught sooner, like in 2008 or 2009?

I believe that is it, and again thank you very much for taking your time
to provide information on the above!

--

-- 
William L. Thomson Jr.
Obsidian-Studios, Inc.
http://www.obsidian-studios.com
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William L. Thomson Jr. | 25 Mar 22:37
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I have a Gentoo banner, traking Gentoo's assets

I still have a Gentoo banner that was purchased brand new and used at a
single even back in 2008, Florida Linux Show. The previous board, or
more specifically Chris Gianelloni kindly purchased the banner and had
it sent to me specifically for the show. I am not sure anyone is aware I
still have it.

That brings me to a bigger issue, at some point really need to start
tracking assets and have a list of Gentoo owned assets and their
location. Though location is likely to change for such things as a
banner. A list of assets might already exist, and if it does, please
excuse me from overlooking such. 

Not sure who to tell about this, and doesn't seem like it would belong
on -project. I think the Foundation is responsible for Gentoo's assets.
Thus letting you all know I have a banner that does not belong to me but
to Gentoo. Happy to ship it to whom ever, when ever. Its been kept in a
safe place for years. Though the tube was slightly damaged a bit in
shipping to me. Its still usable and no harm will come to the banner.

Let me know to whom and where to ship it to, when that time comes,
thanks!

--

-- 
William L. Thomson Jr.
Obsidian-Studios, Inc.
http://www.obsidian-studios.com
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William L. Thomson Jr. | 25 Mar 21:52
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[Fwd: Re: SPI/SFC was -> What does the IRS Consider a Donation ?]

Below is the second email from internal communications amongst board
members back in 2008. This was a private internal email. But I do not
believe it contains any sensitive or private information. Since others
did not have access to the information, I feel its in alls best interest
for it to be known.

It contains information regarding the SFLC and SPI, for reference and
historic purposes only.

-------- Forwarded Message --------
> From: William L. Thomson Jr. <wltjr@...>
> To: trustees@...
> Subject: Re: SPI/SFC was -> What does the IRS Consider a Donation ?
> Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:27:55 -0400
> 
> On Sun, 2008-06-08 at 23:02 +0000, Ferris McCormick wrote:
> >
> > > But we are no where near ready for such things. If that's the direction
> > > we do want to go. Then we seriously need to look at and work toward SPI.
> > > 
> > I've always favored that.  I understood they could not take us at this
> > time and thus we went with what we had.
> 
> First off to be 100% clear
> 
> The SPI can take us when ever. They are self funding via collecting 5%
> of all donations.
> 
> The SFC is underfunded. They operate on grants, and projects must be
> invited to join. Once funding is available.
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William L. Thomson Jr. | 25 Mar 21:50
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[Fwd: Re: What does the IRS Consider a Donation ?]

Below is an email from internal communications amongst board members
back in 2008. This was a private internal email. But I do not believe it
contains any sensitive or private information. Since others did not have
access to the information, I feel its in alls best interest for it to be
known.

It contains information regarding the SFLC and SPI. I will forward on
one more to this list. For reference and historic purposes only.

-------- Forwarded Message --------
> From: Ferris McCormick <fmccor@...>
> To: William L. Thomson Jr. <wltjr@...>, trustees@...
> Subject: Re: What does the IRS Consider a Donation ?
> Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 23:02:30 +0000
> 
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> On Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:31:39 -0400
> "William L. Thomson Jr." <wltjr@...> wrote:
> 
> > On Sun, 2008-06-08 at 22:20 +0000, Ferris McCormick wrote:
> > >
> > > Yes.  If it were up to me and my own dream, I'd incorporate outside the
> > > US and the EU.  Like, I think, Ubuntu.
> > 
> > That's ideal but there is hardly interest in or a purpose for the one
> > atm. IMHO I would rather see us move to SPI before trying to setup
> > additional foundations and creating a bigger mess.
> >
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William L. Thomson Jr. | 23 Mar 21:54
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Re: Tax return and accounting discrepancies

On Wed, 2011-03-23 at 15:37 -0500, Dale wrote:
>
> If they are not filed, does Gentoo cease to exist legally?

Not really, but sorta. If would have to re-establish and file with New
Mexico as a for profit. Seems the IRS just changes status from exempt,
to non-exempt.

> If so, wouldn't Gentoo lose all it intellectual property?  For example, is 
> someone started using the Gentoo emblem, would Gentoo exist legally to 
> even stop the person/company from using it?  After all, if you don't 
> exist, you can't *own* anything.

Not really, but that problem could arise. Gentoo wasn't in existence
legally back in 08. That was the first task the board back then
accomplished. With me doing the final mailing into New Mexico.

> My biggest fear is that Gentoo, and the folks that are in charge, are 
> going to let this slide long enough that Gentoo is no longer able to 
> survive.

It will likely survive, but they have let this slide. This situation is
100% a result of devrel, and a few other developers driving me away.
Rather than staying out of the way, and letting me get tasks done, that
clearly no one else has or will.

> It could be the IRS imposes penalties that Gentoo can't pay or 
> the penalty is that it just no longer can file them at all, even if for 
> financial reasons.
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William L. Thomson Jr. | 23 Mar 21:18
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Re: Tax return and accounting discrepancies

On Wed, 2011-03-23 at 15:07 -0500, Dale wrote:
>
> My questions would be this, if these things are not filed, are there 
> penalties for not filing them?

Yes, the IRS can impose penalties in many different forms. Usually
varies on a case by case basis. But if/when the IRS gets involved, you
lose most all control. They tell you how things will be, and that is
that. Its very bad, I have some clients going through this, and believe
me, the Foundation does not want this.

> Who gets those penalties, the individual or the organization itself? 

Thats a good question, I know for a fact the organization would. However
there could be some personal responsibility as well for officers. Its a
NPO so its a bit different than a for profit in that regard. Where
principles in a for profit can be held liable for their actions. But
that does tend to vary based on the type structure of the for profit
entity, C corp, S corp, LLC, partnership, sole proprietor, etc.

> How much would those be if there is one?

Not sure, typically its based on income, amount you would have paid in
taxes, etc. But a NPO does not file a tax return, for normal purposes.
It does so just to show accounting to the govt, prove its not a for
profit entity. There would not be any back taxes owed, or compounded
penalties, interest, etc for that.

But it very well could effect 501c3 status, or possible cause Gentoo to
lose NPO status entirely. Also New Mexico could act on their own and
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William L. Thomson Jr. | 23 Mar 20:06
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Tax return and accounting discrepancies

I am still quite concerned and would like to know a reason why the
Gentoo Foundation has not filed a state of federal tax return. I am not
sure when the last time the Gentoo Foundation did file any returns, or
provided required annual accounting information to New Mexico.

Even more alarming I do not like the follow accounting discrepancy added
in the last quarterly report. Which there is no report for 2010 Q4, and
we are almost done with 2011 Q1.

"Corrections to balance bank account as balance has been off since
records have been kept. $8,980.16"
http://www.gentoo.org/foundation/en/finances/2010q3.xml

An almost $9k discrepancy where account balance has been off,
unacceptable! That is really not good! Where did that money go? Did it
exist in the first place? Does anybody have a clue?

If anyone recalls the main reason I resigned from the board in 2008, it
was due to the fact I did not feel the treasurer was qualified to be
such. I was doing their job for them in spending a tremendous amount of
time finding a bank Gentoo could open an account with. Even after I
found one, took a very long time for the account to be opened. Never did
get a CPA, or other things.

Now here we are about 2.5yrs later, and still no tax return, and very
shady accounting. It might be acceptable to others, but it surely is not
to me. I hope Gentoo starts to keep an eye out if people have any
qualifications for the roles and positions they fill. Given the amount
of neglect, and lack of leadership all around.
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