What does the "Foundation" actually do, that isn't happening already? What is the product or service that it provides? Seems something like a talk-shop, lobby, think-tank along those lines right?
Besides being able to curry favour with certain (unnamed) entities on the member's behalf, what does a member get in return for their bitcoins? A vote?
At the downside risk of painting a big, fat target for bitcoin attackers, I don't really see the balance of upside benefits, icbw.
Bkkcoins:
This feels like the beginning of the end to me. A good 'ol boys club where only the Bitcoin rich get influence. How else can they justify paying large dues? How is this foundation going to respond to government pressure to change the code, to regulate and control who uses Bitcoin and how? It seems like we're going from what was a decentralized system to one where the developers are directly under the influence of the major dues payers and will be, whatever they say now not withstanding, under direct government control.
Bitcoin is inherently different than Linux and one thing that brought many users together in using Bitcoin was that it had no central nexxus for control.
I know how you feel but the worst outcome here, as I see it, is the beginning of the end of the official 'Satoshi' client. In this game, the best software wins network majority. A centralised, compromised client offering weighed down by "the Foundation" can always be usurped by a more desirable client offering ... from wherever it springs ... although there is always that network warning key that Gavin holds that could be used to propagandise against upstart client "threats" I suppose.
Obligatory troll: would Gavin (or any dev) even tell us if they worked for a TLA ... recall he did sell the bitcoin traceability aspect via graph theory analysis in his talk to the CIA?
