[pp.int.general] PPI statutes task force

[Patrick Mächler]

Dear Erik,

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 4:27 PM, Eric Priezkalns
<eric.priezkalns at pirateparty.org.uk> wrote:
> This little snippet of information prompts a whole lot of questions:
> - 'Official organisation':  But what kind of organization?

There are some options to choose from but they are limited. I'd like
to line out that

PPI aims to be an umbrella organization that promotes, supports and
helps developping pirate parties all around the world.
As such it has to be restrained to what the majority of the pirate
parties agree upon.
E.g. currently it seems impossible to have PPI itself as a foundation
that accepts anonymous funds, because a lot of parties have raised
concerns against that. A famous quotation in relation to that was
"Caesar's wife must be above suspicion"

It has to be internationally recognized; e.g. an "international
non-profit organisation" is a common choice for such a body. Of course
the statutes taskforce should consider all options and not limit it to
one.

> - 'Legally required': By the laws of which country?

As said it has to be internationally recognized.
As it is found in Belgium, in the first place we will consider Belgian
law, then EU law, then international law.

> As the founders of TPB, Bono, and international bankers all agree, picking
> the right place to set up the right 'organization' can give huge benefits.

Not-for-profit-organizations (NFPO, superset of NGO, NPO, foundations,
etc.) can usually apply for tax exempt status, no matter where they
are based.
Apart from that you may name further benefits you have in mind for an NFPO.

Why is Brussels a good place for now?
Because that's where the important decisions for the majority of
pirate party members are taken at the moment.
Also a lot of other international organizations that aim for similar
goals are based in Brussels as well, e.g. EuroISPA, EDRI, etc.
It does not mean that PPI has to be bound to Brussels forever. It
should be possible to move its seat. It's up to the respective members
to decide upon this.

>  Given that PPI could, in theory, be set up anywhere in the world, which
> options have been considered so far?  In that context, what kinds of legal
> entity have been considered?
> Will the choice of locations and organizational entities be something on the
> agenda for the conference?

Certainly.
For now I assume that the choice about "locations" and "organizational
entities" is somehow bound to the personal habits of the PPI board to
be elected. To be precise: Currently there is no money to rent
locations.

> If the choice influences the statutes needed,
> surely this should be decided before the statutes themselves?

Yes and no.
There are legal requirements that have to be met for certain types of
non-for-profit-organizations.
On the other hand there certainly will be a lot of internal
regulations for PPI itself, which are not neccesarily in direct
connection to the legal requirements to be met, but which are required
for PPI itself to function.
As written earlier on, the task of the statutes task force will be to
address both aspects of that.

BTW: In the meanwhile the discussions in the mypirates.net group have
been started.
http://mypirates.net/ppi_development/
Please consider joining the group if possible; it's easier to keep
track of discussions if they are centralized.

cheers
pat