Bitcoin Foundation - page 5. | Bitcointalksearch.org

Indemnified

full member

Activity: 216

Merit: 100

here are some functions I think a Bitcoin Foundation could perform:

Interact with the legal system, where a centralized entity is needed: for example, to hold the Bitcoin trademark, own/control the bitcoin.org domain name, etc.
Act as a central library for accurate information about Bitcoin, so journalists and policymakers have an 'official' place to learn about Bitcoin.
Collect donations to fund infrastructure necessary for Bitcoin's growth (organize regular developers' conferences or get-togethers maybe? pay for development of cross-implementation testing tools? pay core developers' salaries? create a certification/testing program for Bitcoin implementations? create a central clearinghouse for information about legal issues surrounding Bitcoin across the world?)

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I will donate towards these ends.

repentance

hero member

Activity: 868

Merit: 1000

I've been involved with not for profits for the last 30 years and my first piece of advice is to keep it simple. While there are lots of functions such a foundation could perform, both human and financial resources will be limited so you need to establish a clear vision of what you want the organisation to do and prioritise the order in which you take on various roles. Trying to do everything at once and to be all things to all people will result in a total clusterfuck.

NFPs typically require some kind of governing body such as a board elected by the membership - the exact requirements will vary depending on where it's legally incorporated. They're also generally required to have their accounts audited.

You will need to seek legal advice on whether the foundation would have any legal standing to seek trademark control without the express permission of Satoshi. In countries which aren't "first to file", it may be difficult to obtain various types of IP protection both because Bitcoin is already in the public domain and also because those seeking IP protection would need to establish their "right" to the trademark.

neofutur

full member

Activity: 146

Merit: 100

Quote from: terrytibbs on October 25, 2011, 03:16:25 PM

Totally, do it. Do it.

+1 , bitcoin badly need it !

also a good place to have all the active and motivated people talk, exchange and work together; more cooperation and less internal wars for bitcoin !

osmosis

sr. member

Activity: 300

Merit: 250

Quote from: Blinken on October 25, 2011, 03:25:30 PM

Great idea. We could call it Cryptofed or maybe Trilaterocoin.

I thought the whole idea was to evade the illuminati, not become one of them.

Bitcoin is not the anti-thesis of being organized.

D.H.

sr. member

Activity: 311

Merit: 251

Bitcoin.se site owner

This would be great for Bitcoin, even necessary I'd say. Do it Gavin, we'll figure out along the way exactly what the foundation should and should not do.

wareen

legendary

Activity: 910

Merit: 1001

Revolutionizing Brokerage of Personal Data

That's a great idea and exactly what's needed (especially the interaction with the legal system)!

If you keep it open, transparent and not-for-profit then I doubt there will be much opposition.

Andrew Vorobyov

hero member

Activity: 558

Merit: 500

In

Blinken

sr. member

Activity: 338

Merit: 253

Great idea. We could call it Cryptofed or maybe Trilaterocoin.

I thought the whole idea was to evade the illuminati, not become one of them.

Steve

hero member

Activity: 868

Merit: 1008

Definitely a good idea (and I would be interested in helping David get it going).

kgo

hero member

Activity: 548

Merit: 500

Do you currently get copyright assignment on patches? If not, that'd be another good use for the foundation.

k

sr. member

Activity: 451

Merit: 250

I think it's a good idea and will definitely donate if it's set up.

genjix

legendary

Activity: 1232

Merit: 1076

I have a friend (Martin Dittus) who runs the non-profit London Hackspace who expressed an interest in doing this when we were tossing around the idea some months back. Would be worth getting him on board if so to do the adminstration/relevant registration.

Also another friend of mine, jaromil, works in the Dutch public sector and runs the non-profit dyne foundation and would definitely be up for helping.

terrytibbs

hero member

Activity: 560

Merit: 501

Totally, do it. Do it.

Gavin Andresen

legendary

Activity: 1652

Merit: 2301

Chief Scientist

Bitcoin is revolutionary because it is decentralized, with no single point of control or failure.

However, over the last six months or so it has become obvious to me that the rest of the world isn't set up to interact with a radically decentralized system like Bitcoin, and I think forming a not-for-profit organization will be a positive step towards Bitcoin's long-term success.

I'm posting this to see if there is a consensus on what a Bitcoin Foundation should be.

To get the conversation started, here are some functions I think a Bitcoin Foundation could perform:

Interact with the legal system, where a centralized entity is needed: for example, to hold the Bitcoin trademark, own/control the bitcoin.org domain name, etc.
Act as a central library for accurate information about Bitcoin, so journalists and policymakers have an 'official' place to learn about Bitcoin.
Collect donations to fund infrastructure necessary for Bitcoin's growth (organize regular developers' conferences or get-togethers maybe? pay for development of cross-implementation testing tools? pay core developers' salaries? create a certification/testing program for Bitcoin implementations? create a central clearinghouse for information about legal issues surrounding Bitcoin across the world?)

Other not-for-profit organizations that could be emulated:

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (the APWG's chairman, David Jevans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jevans, is willing to help make a Bitcoin Foundation happen).
The Tor Project
The Apache Software Foundation

Are there others that work well, or are there examples of what NOT to do? Assuming there is rough consensus that a Bitcoin Foundation is a good idea, I would like to get something imperfect up and running quickly, with the expectation that it will evolve over time.

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