4 ms·

Is https://libera.chat/about https://libera.chat/about specific enough?

by Jiocus 5y ago

supermatt 5y ago
Not at all. Why is the domain owned by an icelandic entity instead of the nonprofit? Where is the company registration number of the nonprofit (required to open a bank account - where will donations be held, etc). Its all very vague and handwavy at the moment - just like early days of freenode... EDIT: Loads of downvotes, but why? Any of you want to leave a comment instead of just downvoting?
- wut42 5y ago
  I think you are getting downvoted because you're making points that I've already responded to you. Libera is a week old. It may have been started to get in shape before the launch and mass resign of a week ago, but give them time to create the org properly (which, again, is in progress, and was already a week ago).
  - supermatt 5y ago
    Heh, and I wrote it before you even responded :D This comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27289097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27289097 Your comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27289100 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27289100 Im happy to give them time - im just pointing out the current state of things, and what sets off my alarm bells. These are all things that can be addressed, no doubt.
    - wut42 5y ago
      Ha! Sorry, didn't noticed this one when I replied before to you, so I thought it was new. All the bells you are ringing has been pointed already (and since Libera got opened), it's in progress. I trust them to do the correct things, and will be addressed soon. Maybe as you said in another comment that it should have been made more clear on their website, tho.
- Jiocus 5y ago
  > Why is the domain owned by an icelandic entity instead of the nonprofit? According to the WHOIS information, the registration of libera.chat was made 2021-04-23. This registration was made ~1 month before the organisation Libera Chat was announced. As far as I can tell, the organisation could not have made the registration as a legal entity before existing. Seeing the registrar is Namecheap, I guess someone made the registration and made use of the zero-cost Whoisguard service available. Perhaps the registrant's contact details point to Iceland. Some of my domains point to Panama, what gives. > Where is the company registration number of the nonprofit (required to open a bank account - where will donations be held, etc). As the OP title suggests, Libera Chat was assembled a week ago. There is no Swedish law requiring that an organisation registers, but as you suggest, it will be necessary to register a legal entity for financial purposes. Fulfilling the paperwork of registering a non-profit organisation with Skatteverket and thus receiving an ORG number generally comes after the fact of the foundation of said organisation. Non-profit organisations in Sweden are real and protected entities, registration or not.
  - majewsky 5y ago
    > As far as I can tell, the organisation could not have made the registration as a legal entity before existing. Domain name ownership can be transferred. It's trivial for a founding member to register the domain name first, then transfer ownership to the organisation once it has been founded.
    - Jiocus 5y ago
      Of course, but many services would require a registered VAT number to be able to fulfill a purchase or transfer to an organisation. Or rather, to set up such an account in the first place. Frankly, WHOIS records is to crude a metric to really pass judgement on anything nowadays. The masked entries in the lookup for libera.chat i.e. "REDACTED FOR PRIVACY", are typical of registrars not overstepping GDPR compliance when making them public.

Is https://libera.chat/about https://libera.chat/about specific enough?

by Jiocus 5y ago

Is https://libera.chat/about https://libera.chat/about specific enough?

Not at all. Why is the domain owned by an icelandic entity instead of the nonprofit? Where is the company registration number of the nonprofit (required to open a bank account - where will donations be held, etc). Its all very vague and handwavy at the moment - just like early days of freenode... EDIT: Loads of downvotes, but why? Any of you want to leave a comment instead of just downvoting?

wut42 5y ago
I think you are getting downvoted because you're making points that I've already responded to you. Libera is a week old. It may have been started to get in shape before the launch and mass resign of a week ago, but give them time to create the org properly (which, again, is in progress, and was already a week ago).
- supermatt 5y ago
  Heh, and I wrote it before you even responded :D This comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27289097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27289097 Your comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27289100 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27289100 Im happy to give them time - im just pointing out the current state of things, and what sets off my alarm bells. These are all things that can be addressed, no doubt.
  - wut42 5y ago
    Ha! Sorry, didn't noticed this one when I replied before to you, so I thought it was new. All the bells you are ringing has been pointed already (and since Libera got opened), it's in progress. I trust them to do the correct things, and will be addressed soon. Maybe as you said in another comment that it should have been made more clear on their website, tho.
Jiocus 5y ago
> Why is the domain owned by an icelandic entity instead of the nonprofit? According to the WHOIS information, the registration of libera.chat was made 2021-04-23. This registration was made ~1 month before the organisation Libera Chat was announced. As far as I can tell, the organisation could not have made the registration as a legal entity before existing. Seeing the registrar is Namecheap, I guess someone made the registration and made use of the zero-cost Whoisguard service available. Perhaps the registrant's contact details point to Iceland. Some of my domains point to Panama, what gives. > Where is the company registration number of the nonprofit (required to open a bank account - where will donations be held, etc). As the OP title suggests, Libera Chat was assembled a week ago. There is no Swedish law requiring that an organisation registers, but as you suggest, it will be necessary to register a legal entity for financial purposes. Fulfilling the paperwork of registering a non-profit organisation with Skatteverket and thus receiving an ORG number generally comes after the fact of the foundation of said organisation. Non-profit organisations in Sweden are real and protected entities, registration or not.
- majewsky 5y ago
  > As far as I can tell, the organisation could not have made the registration as a legal entity before existing. Domain name ownership can be transferred. It's trivial for a founding member to register the domain name first, then transfer ownership to the organisation once it has been founded.
  - Jiocus 5y ago
    Of course, but many services would require a registered VAT number to be able to fulfill a purchase or transfer to an organisation. Or rather, to set up such an account in the first place. Frankly, WHOIS records is to crude a metric to really pass judgement on anything nowadays. The masked entries in the lookup for libera.chat i.e. "REDACTED FOR PRIVACY", are typical of registrars not overstepping GDPR compliance when making them public.