[ppml] Revision to 2008-3

[David Farmer]

On 2 Apr 2008 Owen DeLong wrote:

> I absolutely think that it is vital to be more specific for this policy.
...

I have no problem being specific.  I have a problem thinking that you are 
being specific by referencing sections of US Tax Code. First, its not valid 
outside the US. Second, it make ARIN policy changeable by the US 
Congress, probably a bad idea on multiple fronts.  Referencing a 501(c)3  
organization as an example of an organization that would likely meet the 
requirements is probably acceptable.

> Here's a stab at a statement that describes what I feel should be  
> included:
> 
> To qualify as a community network under ARIN policy, the network must
> be owned and operated by an organization which is organized and/or
> chartered as a not-for-profit which is engaged in providing the service
> to the benefit of the local community at large and not limited to any
> subclass of the community by religion, union membership, pension
> status, or any other form of membership requirement other than if
> such membership is open to all members of the community with
> equal voting status and control of the organization at a cost
> which would not reasonably be considered prohibitive to any person
> living above the locally defined poverty level.
> 
> This probably needs a lot of work, but, it's the best I could do without
> copying the tax code and I'm not willing to do that at 3:15 AM (which
> is the local time here at the moment).

I like what I see, no references to US Tax Code and personally I don't think I 
can complain about the specifics, however I do have a question and some 
scenarios for you to think about;

So you are saying that a Community Network must be incorporated for that 
purpose?  Or could other non-profit organizations incubate a Community 
Network and then spin it out as a separate organization at a future date, or 
run it for ever as a D.B.A (Doing Business As).   

I was thinking that maybe some other community based organization should 
be allowed to sponsor a Community Network and act as the legal entity that 
can sign contracts on it behalf, with ARIN, etc...  I know several Universities 
and other organizations that are doing this or that have done this kind of 
thing in the past.  In fact much of the early Internet worked this way.  

A hypothetical example; let's say the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, 
wanted to sponsor the creation of a Minneapolis Community Network, and 
basically started it as a D.B.A, community members run it, CoC is simply 
acting as the legal shell for doing business.  And for sake of discussion lets 
say the CoC is organized as a 501(c)6, I have no idea if this is the case or 
not the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce might be a 501(c)3 for all I 
know.

Another hypothetical example; let's say the University of Minnesota wanted 
to sponsor the creation of a Minneapolis Community Network, and basically 
started it as a D.B.A, community members run it, UMN is simply acting as 
the legal shell for doing business.  And for discussion UMN is not a 501(c)3, 
it is a Constitutional Corporation of the State of Minnesota, making it a 
political sub-division of state government, in this case I know this to be a 
fact.

Just to be clear these are completely hypothetical, at least as far as I know, 
Minneapolis has a Public/Private partnership delivering community WIFI 
service already.  And it is function as a LIR I believe, and not really the type 
of thing this policy is intended for.

> Owen
> 
> 
> On Apr 1, 2008, at 11:38 PM, David Farmer wrote:
> 
> > I will add that 501(c)3 is only one, the most general and common,  
> > form of a
> > non-profit organization recognized by USIRC, several other 501(c)
> > organizations could legitimately sponsor a Community Network,  
> > including a
> > 501(c)6 Chamber of Commerce, 501(c)7 Recreational club, just to name a
> > few other possibilities.
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c)
> >
> > Further, I could easily see a city or other political sub-division  
> > of government
> > sponsoring a Community Network too, and they are not covered by  
> > 501(c) at
> > all.  So even if you are only dealing with the US, I think  
> > specifying 501(c)3
> > would not be a good idea.  Then if you bring in other countries you  
> > probably
> > can't be more specific than non-profit or not-for-profit.
> >
> > On 1 Apr 2008 Ray Plzak wrote:
> >
> >> Owen,
> >>
> >> An observation. The ARIN region consists of more countries than the
> >> US, hence citing sections of the US tax code is probably not a good
> >> thing to do. I see that you have included the phrase "or local
> >> equivalent" but that is not necessarily clear. Perhaps, simply  
> >> stating
> >> not for profit would be sufficient.
> >>
> >> Ray
> >>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: ppml-bounces at arin.net [mailto:ppml-bounces at arin.net] On  
> >>> Behalf Of
> >>> Owen DeLong
> >>> Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 12:36 AM
> >>>
> >>>        +       IRS 501(c)3 or local equivalent not for profit status
> >>> (501(c)5
> >>>                should not qualify in my opinion).
> >>>
> >
> >
> > =================================================
> > David Farmer				Email:	farmer at umn.edu
> > Office of Information Technology
> > University of Minnesota			Phone:	612-626-0815
> > 2218 University Ave SE			Cell:	612-812-9952
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> > =================================================
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> 



=================================================
David Farmer				Email:	farmer at umn.edu
Office of Information Technology
University of Minnesota			Phone:	612-626-0815
2218 University Ave SE			Cell:	612-812-9952
Minneapolis, MN 55414-3029		FAX:	612-626-1818
=================================================