;TLTR Dear all, Regarding what is in the subject, I reproduced below the entire thread of emails exchanged with the Board members related to my proposal regarding the presence of XSF in Europe. Each email is a block with a line separating one from the others. All the best, Nicola *** Dear all, Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later). Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise. In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program. Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them. Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them. Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows. ### ARTICLE I: Offices **Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.** The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law. ***Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*** The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, ***and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*** or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal ***offices***, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. ***Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended***. **Section 1.3 Other Offices.** The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified. *** Dear Eddie, Thank you for your email. I highlight that my email follows what I said during the Summit in Bruxelles. My intervention represents a proposal submitted to the Board, which must be discussed and voted on. On 27 Apr 2024, at 15:14, E.M. wrote:
Dear Nicola,
many thanks for the effort to bring to review of our XSF organizational setup and make a suggestion to create a legal instance in Europe. I assume there will be more coming than creating an European instance for the XSF, right?
I thought it would be appropriate or helpful to try to be more proactive in Europe. This also involves ensuring that XSF has a European presence and is ready with an action plan and agenda.
Not being a lawyer, I am supporting this attempt in general very much. I believe we have a strong community in Europe and should also back up our community here with a legal instance for the technology we standardize.
My question would be what legal aspects we need to discuss having a "bilateral" (or more) organizational setup? Does this bring any conflict? How do we as Board member refer and deal with new things like DMA etc.? What will EU legislation expect from us? What can we expect?
From my perspective, the legal aspects are mainly concerned with amending the bylaws to provide for a seat in Europe and the existence of a program, i.e., what XSF proposes to do to promote XMPP. There shouldn't be any conflict because these are purely organizational activities. I think that Board members should continue performing the same current activities in compliance with the bylaws, such as providing information, communicating, providing support where necessary, plus implementing programs. It's important to note that XSF, as a foundation, must act respecting the bylaws, make proposals, and realize projects (if they exist). We should not expect more. However, XSF has the potential to form partnerships with companies that have plans to present projects on a European level.
If we create a new legal instance, can we create the instance on an "Europe level" or would the instance exist in a distinct EU country? If so, which country?
The current bylaws already provide the possibility of setting up other locations. We should only add a European XSF legal office (any Member State) so anyone can see this in the bylaws themselves.
My question to Board would be: As I am in all favor for this attempt, and also in favor to put work and time into it, are you as well in favor? Or are you not, and what does not meant to you? My basic question is that I don't want to spent time fighting something that is actually not of interest by a majority in the Board or the XSF organization. Please kindly review this for yourself, too.
I reiterate that my intervention is only a proposal that the Board discusses and votes on. Therefore, I await the replies of others.
By the way, do we need to review the way we handle member applications and personal data? Any other hosting of data?
Have a good day and stay healthy, Eddie
On 26.04.24 16:28, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
***
### ARTICLE I: Offices
**Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.** The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
***Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*** The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, ***and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*** or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal ***offices***, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. ***Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended***.
**Section 1.3 Other Offices.** The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
***
I look forward to receiving a reply from you.
All the best,
Nicola
ssigen
I am available. *** Ciao Peter, Thank you for your email and your insights. On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions: 1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU; 2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me. It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
- perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example: - promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) - raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients
- perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
- perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
- then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more. All the best, Nicola
On 4/26/24 8:28 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
*** On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
This seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
If there were no costs involved and we could identify people to handle certain aspects of XSF operations (e.g., the Treasurer role that I've filled for many years), I would be in favor of moving the entire organization from the USA to the EU.
Of course, there are always costs involved and it's not always easy to find people to fill certain roles in the long term. :-) But I think it's worth exploring.
Naturally, if this change led to more funding, then we'd have money to spend on legal and accounting help to make the transition across the Atlantic. But we have a bit of a "chicken and egg problem" here.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
For sure. I am reasonably familiar with U.S. rules for non-profits, but I am utterly ignorant of the situation in the EU (or UK), I don't know how things differ by country and which countries are most friendly to non-profit organizations, etc.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
BTW, the current Bylaws specify an address of 1899 Wynkoop Street in Denver, but that was the old Jabber Inc. address and we no longer receive mail there. At this point the Principal Address is probably my house! (We do have a post office box, but business operations are not conducted there.)
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU;
See above. This is not a trivial undertaking and we'd need to estimate the costs, both initial and recurring. But I am not opposed to it.
2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
True. We also need to think about things like organizational continuity and succession planning. Specifically, I am uncomfortable being one of the only active XSF members in the U.S., and the only one who can access our bank account, file tax forms, etc.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
*
perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example:
o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients *
perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
*
perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
*
then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Agreed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Peter
Ciao Peter, Thank you. All the best, Nicola *** On 2 May 2024, at 17:37, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
On 5/2/24 1:01 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Specifically, I would like to understand more fully why you say that the "XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects."
Since its founding in 2001, the XSF as a standards development organization has indeed been dedicated (or relegated) solely to technical aspects: primarily defining standardized protocols along with a very few ancillary matters. With a few rare exceptions, the XSF hasn't even actively supported (e.g., with monetary grants) the projects and companies that develop XMPP-compatible software. In large part, this is a legacy of the XSF's place in the Jabber/XMPP ecosystem and its founding as a neutral organization that would not favor any particular vendor or developer, or even favor open-source software over proprietary software. It is also consistent with the nature of our community, which consists of technically-minded people who don't know much about things like marketing or government policy.
In your mind, what would a closer integration with the rest of the business world look like? What new activities would we engage in? What expertise would we need to acquire? And so on.
Peter
Peter, My meaning was that XSF—as a foundation—even though it was born in a technical context and is dedicated to XEP, could also organize public events, do dissemination, participate in competitions to obtain public or private funding, be proactive in the communication and dissemination of XMPP, etc. I did not mean that XSF does not carry out activities but that these could extend. From my point of view, I see more opportunities in Europe than in the rest of the world. ssigen
Hi, I'm in favour, it would make several types of cooperation easier. But, I can't judge what this would mean for taxes and so on. Winfried On 9 May 2024 12:09:32 CEST, Nicola Fabiano <nicola@fabiano.law> wrote:
;TLTR
Dear all,
Regarding what is in the subject, I reproduced below the entire thread of emails exchanged with the Board members related to my proposal regarding the presence of XSF in Europe. Each email is a block with a line separating one from the others.
All the best,
Nicola
***
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
### ARTICLE I: Offices
**Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.** The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
***Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*** The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, ***and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*** or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal ***offices***, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. ***Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended***.
**Section 1.3 Other Offices.** The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
***
Dear Eddie,
Thank you for your email.
I highlight that my email follows what I said during the Summit in Bruxelles. My intervention represents a proposal submitted to the Board, which must be discussed and voted on.
On 27 Apr 2024, at 15:14, E.M. wrote:
Dear Nicola,
many thanks for the effort to bring to review of our XSF organizational setup and make a suggestion to create a legal instance in Europe. I assume there will be more coming than creating an European instance for the XSF, right?
I thought it would be appropriate or helpful to try to be more proactive in Europe.
This also involves ensuring that XSF has a European presence and is ready with an action plan and agenda.
Not being a lawyer, I am supporting this attempt in general very much. I believe we have a strong community in Europe and should also back up our community here with a legal instance for the technology we standardize.
My question would be what legal aspects we need to discuss having a "bilateral" (or more) organizational setup? Does this bring any conflict? How do we as Board member refer and deal with new things like DMA etc.? What will EU legislation expect from us? What can we expect?
From my perspective, the legal aspects are mainly concerned with amending the bylaws to provide for a seat in Europe and the existence of a program, i.e., what XSF proposes to do to promote XMPP.
There shouldn't be any conflict because these are purely organizational activities.
I think that Board members should continue performing the same current activities in compliance with the bylaws, such as providing information, communicating, providing support where necessary, plus implementing programs.
It's important to note that XSF, as a foundation, must act respecting the bylaws, make proposals, and realize projects (if they exist).
We should not expect more.
However, XSF has the potential to form partnerships with companies that have plans to present projects on a European level.
If we create a new legal instance, can we create the instance on an "Europe level" or would the instance exist in a distinct EU country? If so, which country?
The current bylaws already provide the possibility of setting up other locations.
We should only add a European XSF legal office (any Member State) so anyone can see this in the bylaws themselves.
My question to Board would be: As I am in all favor for this attempt, and also in favor to put work and time into it, are you as well in favor? Or are you not, and what does not meant to you? My basic question is that I don't want to spent time fighting something that is actually not of interest by a majority in the Board or the XSF organization. Please kindly review this for yourself, too.
I reiterate that my intervention is only a proposal that the Board discusses and votes on.
Therefore, I await the replies of others.
By the way, do we need to review the way we handle member applications and personal data? Any other hosting of data?
Have a good day and stay healthy, Eddie
On 26.04.24 16:28, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
***
### ARTICLE I: Offices
**Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.** The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
***Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*** The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, ***and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*** or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal ***offices***, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. ***Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended***.
**Section 1.3 Other Offices.** The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
***
I look forward to receiving a reply from you.
All the best,
Nicola
ssigen
I am available.
***
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions: 1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU; 2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me. It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
- perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example: - promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) - raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients
- perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
- perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
- then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
All the best,
Nicola
On 4/26/24 8:28 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
***
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
This seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
If there were no costs involved and we could identify people to handle certain aspects of XSF operations (e.g., the Treasurer role that I've filled for many years), I would be in favor of moving the entire organization from the USA to the EU.
Of course, there are always costs involved and it's not always easy to find people to fill certain roles in the long term. :-) But I think it's worth exploring.
Naturally, if this change led to more funding, then we'd have money to spend on legal and accounting help to make the transition across the Atlantic. But we have a bit of a "chicken and egg problem" here.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
For sure. I am reasonably familiar with U.S. rules for non-profits, but I am utterly ignorant of the situation in the EU (or UK), I don't know how things differ by country and which countries are most friendly to non-profit organizations, etc.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
BTW, the current Bylaws specify an address of 1899 Wynkoop Street in Denver, but that was the old Jabber Inc. address and we no longer receive mail there. At this point the Principal Address is probably my house! (We do have a post office box, but business operations are not conducted there.)
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU;
See above. This is not a trivial undertaking and we'd need to estimate the costs, both initial and recurring. But I am not opposed to it.
2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
True. We also need to think about things like organizational continuity and succession planning. Specifically, I am uncomfortable being one of the only active XSF members in the U.S., and the only one who can access our bank account, file tax forms, etc.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
*
perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example:
o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients *
perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
*
perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
*
then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Agreed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Peter
Ciao Peter,
Thank you.
All the best,
Nicola
***
On 2 May 2024, at 17:37, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
On 5/2/24 1:01 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Specifically, I would like to understand more fully why you say that the "XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects."
Since its founding in 2001, the XSF as a standards development organization has indeed been dedicated (or relegated) solely to technical aspects: primarily defining standardized protocols along with a very few ancillary matters. With a few rare exceptions, the XSF hasn't even actively supported (e.g., with monetary grants) the projects and companies that develop XMPP-compatible software. In large part, this is a legacy of the XSF's place in the Jabber/XMPP ecosystem and its founding as a neutral organization that would not favor any particular vendor or developer, or even favor open-source software over proprietary software. It is also consistent with the nature of our community, which consists of technically-minded people who don't know much about things like marketing or government policy.
In your mind, what would a closer integration with the rest of the business world look like? What new activities would we engage in? What expertise would we need to acquire? And so on.
Peter
Peter,
My meaning was that XSF—as a foundation—even though it was born in a technical context and is dedicated to XEP, could also organize public events, do dissemination, participate in competitions to obtain public or private funding, be proactive in the communication and dissemination of XMPP, etc. I did not mean that XSF does not carry out activities but that these could extend. From my point of view, I see more opportunities in Europe than in the rest of the world.
ssigen
-- Normally there is some text here, bragging about the new phone and excusing for the brevity. That is insane: if this phone was really that great, I would have sent a decent mail.
Dear All, the discussion should cover two main points: 1) the possibility of lobbying into the EU institutions and how to start doing so; 2) the need to have an EU legal entity in order to receive funding from the EU institutions. For number 1) I don't think we need a legal entity based in the EU, but we do need just a lobbyist. For number 2), we could start by exploring how to get funding from the EU institutions and then evaluate the possibility of creating a legal entity. In the meantime, I think we could start with a simple representative office (a business address) of the XSF Foundation in Bruxelles. Ciao Mario Sabatino Il 10/05/24 18:32, Winfried Tilanus ha scritto:
Hi,
I'm in favour, it would make several types of cooperation easier. But, I can't judge what this would mean for taxes and so on.
Winfried
On 9 May 2024 12:09:32 CEST, Nicola Fabiano <nicola@fabiano.law> wrote:
;TLTR
Dear all,
Regarding what is in the subject, I reproduced below the entire thread of emails exchanged with the Board members related to my proposal regarding the presence of XSF in Europe. Each email is a block with a line separating one from the others.
All the best,
Nicola
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Eddie,
Thank you for your email.
I highlight that my email follows what I said during the Summit in Bruxelles. My intervention represents a proposal submitted to the Board, which must be discussed and voted on.
On 27 Apr 2024, at 15:14, E.M. wrote:
Dear Nicola,
many thanks for the effort to bring to review of our XSF organizational setup and make a suggestion to create a legal instance in Europe. I assume there will be more coming than creating an European instance for the XSF, right?
I thought it would be appropriate or helpful to try to be more proactive in Europe.
This also involves ensuring that XSF has a European presence and is ready with an action plan and agenda.
Not being a lawyer, I am supporting this attempt in general very much. I believe we have a strong community in Europe and should also back up our community here with a legal instance for the technology we standardize.
My question would be what legal aspects we need to discuss having a "bilateral" (or more) organizational setup? Does this bring any conflict? How do we as Board member refer and deal with new things like DMA etc.? What will EU legislation expect from us? What can we expect?
From my perspective, the legal aspects are mainly concerned with amending the bylaws to provide for a seat in Europe and the existence of a program, i.e., what XSF proposes to do to promote XMPP.
There shouldn't be any conflict because these are purely organizational activities.
I think that Board members should continue performing the same current activities in compliance with the bylaws, such as providing information, communicating, providing support where necessary, plus implementing programs.
It's important to note that XSF, as a foundation, must act respecting the bylaws, make proposals, and realize projects (if they exist).
We should not expect more.
However, XSF has the potential to form partnerships with companies that have plans to present projects on a European level.
If we create a new legal instance, can we create the instance on an "Europe level" or would the instance exist in a distinct EU country? If so, which country?
The current bylaws already provide the possibility of setting up other locations.
We should only add a European XSF legal office (any Member State) so anyone can see this in the bylaws themselves.
My question to Board would be: As I am in all favor for this attempt, and also in favor to put work and time into it, are you as well in favor? Or are you not, and what does not meant to you? My basic question is that I don't want to spent time fighting something that is actually not of interest by a majority in the Board or the XSF organization. Please kindly review this for yourself, too.
I reiterate that my intervention is only a proposal that the Board discusses and votes on.
Therefore, I await the replies of others.
By the way, do we need to review the way we handle member applications and personal data? Any other hosting of data?
Have a good day and stay healthy, Eddie
On 26.04.24 16:28, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I look forward to receiving a reply from you.
All the best,
Nicola
ssigen
I am available.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU; 2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
*
perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example:
o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients *
perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
*
perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
*
then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
All the best,
Nicola
On 4/26/24 8:28 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|ARTICLE I: Offices |
/Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent./ The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
//Section 1.2 Principal Offices.// The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, //and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,// or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal //offices//, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. //Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended//.
/Section 1.3 Other Offices./ The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, Thank you for initiating this discussion. I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions: (1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)? |
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
This seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
If there were no costs involved and we could identify people to handle certain aspects of XSF operations (e.g., the Treasurer role that I've filled for many years), I would be in favor of moving the entire organization from the USA to the EU.
Of course, there are always costs involved and it's not always easy to find people to fill certain roles in the long term. :-) But I think it's worth exploring.
Naturally, if this change led to more funding, then we'd have money to spend on legal and accounting help to make the transition across the Atlantic. But we have a bit of a "chicken and egg problem" here.
|(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants? |
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
|(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined? |
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
For sure. I am reasonably familiar with U.S. rules for non-profits, but I am utterly ignorant of the situation in the EU (or UK), I don't know how things differ by country and which countries are most friendly to non-profit organizations, etc.
|(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address? |
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
BTW, the current Bylaws specify an address of 1899 Wynkoop Street in Denver, but that was the old Jabber Inc. address and we no longer receive mail there. At this point the Principal Address is probably my house! (We do have a post office box, but business operations are not conducted there.)
|(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country? |
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU;
See above. This is not a trivial undertaking and we'd need to estimate the costs, both initial and recurring. But I am not opposed to it.
2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
True. We also need to think about things like organizational continuity and succession planning. Specifically, I am uncomfortable being one of the only active XSF members in the U.S., and the only one who can access our bank account, file tax forms, etc.
|I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider: * perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example: o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients * perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources * perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile * then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first. |
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Agreed.
|Peter P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway. |
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Peter
Ciao Peter,
Thank you.
All the best,
Nicola
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 17:37, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
On 5/2/24 1:01 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below... On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote: We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more. I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here. |
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Specifically, I would like to understand more fully why you say that the "XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects."
Since its founding in 2001, the XSF as a standards development organization has indeed been dedicated (or relegated) solely to technical aspects: primarily defining standardized protocols along with a very few ancillary matters. With a few rare exceptions, the XSF hasn't even actively supported (e.g., with monetary grants) the projects and companies that develop XMPP-compatible software. In large part, this is a legacy of the XSF's place in the Jabber/XMPP ecosystem and its founding as a neutral organization that would not favor any particular vendor or developer, or even favor open-source software over proprietary software. It is also consistent with the nature of our community, which consists of technically-minded people who don't know much about things like marketing or government policy.
In your mind, what would a closer integration with the rest of the business world look like? What new activities would we engage in? What expertise would we need to acquire? And so on.
Peter
Peter,
My meaning was that XSF—as a foundation—even though it was born in a technical context and is dedicated to XEP, could also organize public events, do dissemination, participate in competitions to obtain public or private funding, be proactive in the communication and dissemination of XMPP, etc. I did not mean that XSF does not carry out activities but that these could extend. From my point of view, I see more opportunities in Europe than in the rest of the world.
--------------
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Hello, I like the attempt in general and have stated my thoughts in the first mail. Having any official representation in Europe would make also a statement and I think is also a matter of trust to outside entities. It would also adress the strong community we have in Europe. Nicola, further thoughts on the points mentioned by Mario and Winfried? On 11.05.24 12:58, Mario Sabatino <mario@sabatino.pro> wrote:
Dear All,
the discussion should cover two main points:
1) the possibility of lobbying into the EU institutions and how to start doing so; 2) the need to have an EU legal entity in order to receive funding from the EU institutions.
For number 1) I don't think we need a legal entity based in the EU, but we do need just a lobbyist. For number 2), we could start by exploring how to get funding from the EU institutions and then evaluate the possibility of creating a legal entity.
In the meantime, I think we could start with a simple representative office (a business address) of the XSF Foundation in Bruxelles.
Ciao
Mario Sabatino
Il 10/05/24 18:32, Winfried Tilanus ha scritto:
Hi,
I'm in favour, it would make several types of cooperation easier. But, I can't judge what this would mean for taxes and so on.
Winfried
On 9 May 2024 12:09:32 CEST, Nicola Fabiano <nicola@fabiano.law> wrote:
;TLTR
Dear all,
Regarding what is in the subject, I reproduced below the entire thread of emails exchanged with the Board members related to my proposal regarding the presence of XSF in Europe. Each email is a block with a line separating one from the others.
All the best,
Nicola
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Eddie,
Thank you for your email.
I highlight that my email follows what I said during the Summit in Bruxelles. My intervention represents a proposal submitted to the Board, which must be discussed and voted on.
On 27 Apr 2024, at 15:14, E.M. wrote:
Dear Nicola,
many thanks for the effort to bring to review of our XSF organizational setup and make a suggestion to create a legal instance in Europe. I assume there will be more coming than creating an European instance for the XSF, right?
I thought it would be appropriate or helpful to try to be more proactive in Europe.
This also involves ensuring that XSF has a European presence and is ready with an action plan and agenda.
Not being a lawyer, I am supporting this attempt in general very much. I believe we have a strong community in Europe and should also back up our community here with a legal instance for the technology we standardize.
My question would be what legal aspects we need to discuss having a "bilateral" (or more) organizational setup? Does this bring any conflict? How do we as Board member refer and deal with new things like DMA etc.? What will EU legislation expect from us? What can we expect?
From my perspective, the legal aspects are mainly concerned with amending the bylaws to provide for a seat in Europe and the existence of a program, i.e., what XSF proposes to do to promote XMPP.
There shouldn't be any conflict because these are purely organizational activities.
I think that Board members should continue performing the same current activities in compliance with the bylaws, such as providing information, communicating, providing support where necessary, plus implementing programs.
It's important to note that XSF, as a foundation, must act respecting the bylaws, make proposals, and realize projects (if they exist).
We should not expect more.
However, XSF has the potential to form partnerships with companies that have plans to present projects on a European level.
If we create a new legal instance, can we create the instance on an "Europe level" or would the instance exist in a distinct EU country? If so, which country?
The current bylaws already provide the possibility of setting up other locations.
We should only add a European XSF legal office (any Member State) so anyone can see this in the bylaws themselves.
My question to Board would be: As I am in all favor for this attempt, and also in favor to put work and time into it, are you as well in favor? Or are you not, and what does not meant to you? My basic question is that I don't want to spent time fighting something that is actually not of interest by a majority in the Board or the XSF organization. Please kindly review this for yourself, too.
I reiterate that my intervention is only a proposal that the Board discusses and votes on.
Therefore, I await the replies of others.
By the way, do we need to review the way we handle member applications and personal data? Any other hosting of data?
Have a good day and stay healthy, Eddie
On 26.04.24 16:28, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I look forward to receiving a reply from you.
All the best,
Nicola
ssigen
I am available.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU; 2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
*
perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example:
o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients *
perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
*
perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
*
then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
All the best,
Nicola
On 4/26/24 8:28 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|ARTICLE I: Offices |
/Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent./ The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
//Section 1.2 Principal Offices.// The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, //and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,// or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal //offices//, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. //Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended//.
/Section 1.3 Other Offices./ The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, Thank you for initiating this discussion. I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions: (1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)? |
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
This seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
If there were no costs involved and we could identify people to handle certain aspects of XSF operations (e.g., the Treasurer role that I've filled for many years), I would be in favor of moving the entire organization from the USA to the EU.
Of course, there are always costs involved and it's not always easy to find people to fill certain roles in the long term. :-) But I think it's worth exploring.
Naturally, if this change led to more funding, then we'd have money to spend on legal and accounting help to make the transition across the Atlantic. But we have a bit of a "chicken and egg problem" here.
|(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants? |
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
|(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined? |
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
For sure. I am reasonably familiar with U.S. rules for non-profits, but I am utterly ignorant of the situation in the EU (or UK), I don't know how things differ by country and which countries are most friendly to non-profit organizations, etc.
|(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address? |
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
BTW, the current Bylaws specify an address of 1899 Wynkoop Street in Denver, but that was the old Jabber Inc. address and we no longer receive mail there. At this point the Principal Address is probably my house! (We do have a post office box, but business operations are not conducted there.)
|(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country? |
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU;
See above. This is not a trivial undertaking and we'd need to estimate the costs, both initial and recurring. But I am not opposed to it.
2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
True. We also need to think about things like organizational continuity and succession planning. Specifically, I am uncomfortable being one of the only active XSF members in the U.S., and the only one who can access our bank account, file tax forms, etc.
|I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider: * perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example: o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients * perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources * perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile * then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first. |
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Agreed.
|Peter P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway. |
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Peter
Ciao Peter,
Thank you.
All the best,
Nicola
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 17:37, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
On 5/2/24 1:01 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below... On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote: We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more. I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here. |
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Specifically, I would like to understand more fully why you say that the "XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects."
Since its founding in 2001, the XSF as a standards development organization has indeed been dedicated (or relegated) solely to technical aspects: primarily defining standardized protocols along with a very few ancillary matters. With a few rare exceptions, the XSF hasn't even actively supported (e.g., with monetary grants) the projects and companies that develop XMPP-compatible software. In large part, this is a legacy of the XSF's place in the Jabber/XMPP ecosystem and its founding as a neutral organization that would not favor any particular vendor or developer, or even favor open-source software over proprietary software. It is also consistent with the nature of our community, which consists of technically-minded people who don't know much about things like marketing or government policy.
In your mind, what would a closer integration with the rest of the business world look like? What new activities would we engage in? What expertise would we need to acquire? And so on.
Peter
Peter,
My meaning was that XSF—as a foundation—even though it was born in a technical context and is dedicated to XEP, could also organize public events, do dissemination, participate in competitions to obtain public or private funding, be proactive in the communication and dissemination of XMPP, etc. I did not mean that XSF does not carry out activities but that these could extend. From my point of view, I see more opportunities in Europe than in the rest of the world.
--------------
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-- Normally there is some text here, bragging about the new phone and excusing for the brevity. That is insane: if this phone was really that great, I would have sent a decent mail.
Hi Eddie, Thank you for your further intervention highlighting your point of view. On 12 May 2024, at 15:46, emus@mailbox.org wrote:
Hello,
I like the attempt in general and have stated my thoughts in the first mail.
Having any official representation in Europe would make also a statement and I think is also a matter of trust to outside entities. It would also adress the strong community we have in Europe.
Nicola, further thoughts on the points mentioned by Mario and Winfried?
I replyed just now to both Winfried and Mario.
On 11.05.24 12:58, Mario Sabatino <mario@sabatino.pro> wrote:
Dear All,
the discussion should cover two main points:
1) the possibility of lobbying into the EU institutions and how to start doing so; 2) the need to have an EU legal entity in order to receive funding from the EU institutions.
For number 1) I don't think we need a legal entity based in the EU, but we do need just a lobbyist. For number 2), we could start by exploring how to get funding from the EU institutions and then evaluate the possibility of creating a legal entity.
In the meantime, I think we could start with a simple representative office (a business address) of the XSF Foundation in Bruxelles.
Ciao
Mario Sabatino
Il 10/05/24 18:32, Winfried Tilanus ha scritto:
Hi,
I'm in favour, it would make several types of cooperation easier. But, > I can't judge what this would mean for taxes and so on.
Winfried
On 9 May 2024 12:09:32 CEST, Nicola Fabiano <nicola@fabiano.law> wrote:
;TLTR
Dear all,
Regarding what is in the subject, I reproduced below the entire > thread of emails exchanged with the Board members related to my proposal > regarding the presence of XSF in Europe. Each email is a block with a line separating one from the others.
All the best,
Nicola
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the > organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every > level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in > projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will > explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the > next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational > business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and > expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items > to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first > step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. > That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address > of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth > in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation > may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered > office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, > however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a > statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware > as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the > Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at > xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall > designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be > transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation > shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective > of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such > offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the > United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine > or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the > Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other > than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered > office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of > process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in > which the corporation elects to be qualified.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Eddie,
Thank you for your email.
I highlight that my email follows what I said during the Summit > in Bruxelles. My intervention represents a proposal submitted to the Board, > which must be discussed and voted on.
On 27 Apr 2024, at 15:14, E.M. wrote:
Dear Nicola,
many thanks for the effort to bring to review of our XSF > organizational setup and make a suggestion to create a legal instance in > Europe. I assume there will be more coming than creating an European > instance for the XSF, right?
I thought it would be appropriate or helpful to try to be more > proactive in Europe.
This also involves ensuring that XSF has a European presence and > is ready with an action plan and agenda.
Not being a lawyer, I am supporting this attempt in general > very much. I believe we have a strong community in Europe and should also > back up our community here with a legal instance for the technology we > standardize.
My question would be what legal aspects we need to discuss > having a "bilateral" (or more) organizational setup? Does this bring > any conflict? How do we as Board member refer and deal with new things like > DMA etc.? What will EU legislation expect from us? What can we expect?
From my perspective, the legal aspects are mainly concerned with > amending the bylaws to provide for a seat in Europe and the existence of a > program, i.e., what XSF proposes to do to promote XMPP.
There shouldn't be any conflict because these are purely > organizational activities.
I think that Board members should continue performing the same > current activities in compliance with the bylaws, such as providing > information, communicating, providing support where necessary, plus > implementing programs.
It's important to note that XSF, as a foundation, must act > respecting the bylaws, make proposals, and realize projects (if they exist).
We should not expect more.
However, XSF has the potential to form partnerships with > companies that have plans to present projects on a European level.
If we create a new legal instance, can we create the instance > on an "Europe level" or would the instance exist in a distinct EU > country? If so, which country?
The current bylaws already provide the possibility of setting up > other locations.
We should only add a European XSF legal office (any Member State) > so anyone can see this in the bylaws themselves.
My question to Board would be: As I am in all favor for this > attempt, and also in favor to put work and time into it, are you as > well in favor? Or are you not, and what does not meant to you? My > basic question is that I don't want to spent time fighting something that is > actually not of interest by a majority in the Board or the XSF > organization. Please kindly review this for yourself, too.
I reiterate that my intervention is only a proposal that the > Board discusses and votes on.
Therefore, I await the replies of others.
By the way, do we need to review the way we handle member > applications and personal data? Any other hosting of data?
Have a good day and stay healthy, Eddie
On 26.04.24 16:28, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain > contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda > for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and > organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique > perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or > more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve > following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the > programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the > first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the > registered office. That modification is necessary to access the > European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, > and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article > 1 follows.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The > address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards > Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of > the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are > set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different > address as its registered office or a different person as its > registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall > become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change > with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is > required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices > of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, > Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as > the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business > of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal > /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. > /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the > activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have > such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within > or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from > time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may > require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business > in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall > designate the location of the registered office in each such state and > designate the registered agent for service of process at such > address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the > corporation elects to be qualified.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I look forward to receiving a reply from you.
All the best,
Nicola
ssigen
I am available.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding > your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European > positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in > the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official > presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and > more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is > strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be > right.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence > required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would > facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also > financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. > Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they > come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or > VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or > co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing > address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with > a postal address of any kind.
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some > in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then > have only one office in the EU; 2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that > is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, > legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects > are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals > are. Consider:
*
perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly > increase certain kinds of activity, for example:
o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for > interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support > implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients *
perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to > seek out funding from European sources
*
perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants > unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
*
then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like > to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative > (not technical) program is needed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be > other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the > Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the > community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and > companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth > discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must > evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the > business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves > more.
All the best,
Nicola
On 4/26/24 8:28 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain > contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda > for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and > organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique > perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or > more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve > following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the > programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the > first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the > registered office. That modification is necessary to access the > European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, > and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article > 1 follows.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|ARTICLE I: Offices |
/Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent./ The > address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards > Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of > the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are > set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different > address as its registered office or a different person as its > registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall > become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change > with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is > required by law.
//Section 1.2 Principal Offices.// The principal offices > of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, > Colorado 80202, //and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,// or at such other place as > the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business > of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal > //offices//, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. > //Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the > activities are carried out and where they are intended//.
/Section 1.3 Other Offices./ The Corporation shall have > such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within > or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from > time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may > require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business > in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall > designate the location of the registered office in each such state and > designate the registered agent for service of process at such > address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the > corporation elects to be qualified.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, Thank you for initiating this discussion. I > don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your > proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions: (1) Is the intent > here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU > grants)? |
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European > positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official > headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an > official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions > (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal > market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
This seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
If there were no costs involved and we could identify people > to handle certain aspects of XSF operations (e.g., the Treasurer role > that I've filled for many years), I would be in favor of moving the entire organization from the USA to the EU.
Of course, there are always costs involved and it's not > always easy to find people to fill certain roles in the long term. :-) But I > think it's worth exploring.
Naturally, if this change led to more funding, then we'd have > money to spend on legal and accounting help to make the transition > across the Atlantic. But we have a bit of a "chicken and egg problem" here.
|(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence > required in order to receive such grants? |
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in > Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
|(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also > financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined? |
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my > experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, > especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in > any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, > to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of > an accountant.
For sure. I am reasonably familiar with U.S. rules for > non-profits, but I am utterly ignorant of the situation in the EU (or UK), I > don't know how things differ by country and which countries are most > friendly to non-profit organizations, etc.
|(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or > merely a mailing address? |
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in > Europe with a postal address of any kind.
BTW, the current Bylaws specify an address of 1899 Wynkoop > Street in Denver, but that was the old Jabber Inc. address and we no > longer receive mail there. At this point the Principal Address is > probably my house! (We do have a post office box, but business operations > are not conducted there.)
|(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization > to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and > some in a European country? |
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible > solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe > and then have only one office in the EU;
See above. This is not a trivial undertaking and we'd need to > estimate the costs, both initial and recurring. But I am not opposed > to it.
2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the > EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, > legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what > projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
True. We also need to think about things like organizational > continuity and succession planning. Specifically, I am uncomfortable > being one of the only active XSF members in the U.S., and the only one who > can access our bank account, file tax forms, etc.
|I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our > goals are. Consider: * perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to > significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example: o > promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise > money that we can use to help support implementation of key > protocols in open-source servers and clients * perhaps we feel that > the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European > sources * perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants > unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile * then we > might conclude that what you propose makes sense But it seems > to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first. |
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or > would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Agreed.
|Peter P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, > there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or > moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the > XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. > So that might be worth discussing anyway. |
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my > proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we > must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of > the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical > aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal > office in Europe.
Peter
Ciao Peter,
Thank you.
All the best,
Nicola
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 17:37, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
On 5/2/24 1:01 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below... On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, > Nicola Fabiano wrote: We can discuss it together, but we must > evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of > the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. > XSF deserves more. I'm curious to hear more about your > thinking here. |
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a > legal office in Europe.
Specifically, I would like to understand more fully why you > say that the "XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, > with a role relegated solely to technical aspects."
Since its founding in 2001, the XSF as a standards development organization has indeed been dedicated (or relegated) solely to technical aspects: primarily defining standardized protocols > along with a very few ancillary matters. With a few rare exceptions, the > XSF hasn't even actively supported (e.g., with monetary grants) the > projects and companies that develop XMPP-compatible software. In large > part, this is a legacy of the XSF's place in the Jabber/XMPP ecosystem and its founding as a neutral organization that would not favor any > particular vendor or developer, or even favor open-source software over > proprietary software. It is also consistent with the nature of our > community, which consists of technically-minded people who don't know much > about things like marketing or government policy.
In your mind, what would a closer integration with the rest > of the business world look like? What new activities would we engage > in? What expertise would we need to acquire? And so on.
Peter
Peter,
My meaning was that XSF—as a foundation—even though it was born in a technical context and is dedicated to XEP, could also organize > public events, do dissemination, participate in competitions to obtain > public or private funding, be proactive in the communication and > dissemination of XMPP, etc. I did not mean that XSF does not carry out activities but that > these could extend. From my point of view, I see more opportunities in Europe than > in the rest of the world.
--------------
/This e-mail (including attachments) is intended only for the > recipient(s) named above. It may contain confidential or privileged > information and should not be read, copied, or used by anyone else. If you are > not the named recipient, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail from > your system./
-- > Normally there is some text here, bragging about the new phone and > excusing for the brevity. That is insane: if this phone was really that great, I > would have sent a decent mail.
All the best, Nicola
General question to all: Do you have concerns or general points that block this attempt entirely? 12 may 2024 17:30:08 Nicola Fabiano <nicola@fabiano.law>:
Hi Eddie,
Thank you for your further intervention highlighting your point of view.
On 12 May 2024, at 15:46, emus@mailbox.org wrote:
Hello,
I like the attempt in general and have stated my thoughts in the first mail.
Having any official representation in Europe would make also a statement and I think is also a matter of trust to outside entities. It would also adress the strong community we have in Europe.
Nicola, further thoughts on the points mentioned by Mario and Winfried?
I replyed just now to both Winfried and Mario.
On 11.05.24 12:58, Mario Sabatino <mario@sabatino.pro> wrote:
Dear All,
the discussion should cover two main points:
1) the possibility of lobbying into the EU institutions and how to start doing so; 2) the need to have an EU legal entity in order to receive funding from the EU institutions.
For number 1) I don't think we need a legal entity based in the EU, but we do need just a lobbyist. For number 2), we could start by exploring how to get funding from the EU institutions and then evaluate the possibility of creating a legal entity.
In the meantime, I think we could start with a simple representative office (a business address) of the XSF Foundation in Bruxelles.
Ciao
Mario Sabatino
Il 10/05/24 18:32, Winfried Tilanus ha scritto:
Hi,
I'm in favour, it would make several types of cooperation easier. But, > I can't judge what this would mean for taxes and so on.
Winfried
On 9 May 2024 12:09:32 CEST, Nicola Fabiano <nicola@fabiano.law> wrote:
;TLTR
Dear all,
Regarding what is in the subject, I reproduced below the entire > thread of emails exchanged with the Board members related to my proposal > regarding the presence of XSF in Europe. Each email is a block with a line separating one from the others.
All the best,
Nicola
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the > organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every > level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in > projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will > explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the > next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational > business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and > expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items > to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first > step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. > That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address > of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth > in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation > may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered > office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, > however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a > statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware > as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the > Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at > xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall > designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be > transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation > shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective > of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such > offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the > United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine > or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the > Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other > than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered > office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of > process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in > which the corporation elects to be qualified.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Eddie,
Thank you for your email.
I highlight that my email follows what I said during the Summit > in Bruxelles. My intervention represents a proposal submitted to the Board, > which must be discussed and voted on.
On 27 Apr 2024, at 15:14, E.M. wrote:
Dear Nicola,
many thanks for the effort to bring to review of our XSF > organizational setup and make a suggestion to create a legal instance in > Europe. I assume there will be more coming than creating an European > instance for the XSF, right?
I thought it would be appropriate or helpful to try to be more > proactive in Europe.
This also involves ensuring that XSF has a European presence and > is ready with an action plan and agenda.
Not being a lawyer, I am supporting this attempt in general > very much. I believe we have a strong community in Europe and should also > back up our community here with a legal instance for the technology we > standardize.
My question would be what legal aspects we need to discuss > having a "bilateral" (or more) organizational setup? Does this bring > any conflict? How do we as Board member refer and deal with new things like > DMA etc.? What will EU legislation expect from us? What can we expect?
From my perspective, the legal aspects are mainly concerned with > amending the bylaws to provide for a seat in Europe and the existence of a > program, i.e., what XSF proposes to do to promote XMPP.
There shouldn't be any conflict because these are purely > organizational activities.
I think that Board members should continue performing the same > current activities in compliance with the bylaws, such as providing > information, communicating, providing support where necessary, plus > implementing programs.
It's important to note that XSF, as a foundation, must act > respecting the bylaws, make proposals, and realize projects (if they exist).
We should not expect more.
However, XSF has the potential to form partnerships with > companies that have plans to present projects on a European level.
If we create a new legal instance, can we create the instance > on an "Europe level" or would the instance exist in a distinct EU > country? If so, which country?
The current bylaws already provide the possibility of setting up > other locations.
We should only add a European XSF legal office (any Member State) > so anyone can see this in the bylaws themselves.
My question to Board would be: As I am in all favor for this > attempt, and also in favor to put work and time into it, are you as > well in favor? Or are you not, and what does not meant to you? My > basic question is that I don't want to spent time fighting something that is > actually not of interest by a majority in the Board or the XSF > organization. Please kindly review this for yourself, too.
I reiterate that my intervention is only a proposal that the > Board discusses and votes on.
Therefore, I await the replies of others.
By the way, do we need to review the way we handle member > applications and personal data? Any other hosting of data?
Have a good day and stay healthy, Eddie
On 26.04.24 16:28, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain > contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda > for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and > organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique > perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or > more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve > following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the > programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the > first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the > registered office. That modification is necessary to access the > European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, > and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article > 1 follows.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The > address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards > Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of > the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are > set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different > address as its registered office or a different person as its > registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall > become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change > with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is > required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices > of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, > Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as > the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business > of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal > /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. > /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the > activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have > such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within > or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from > time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may > require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business > in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall > designate the location of the registered office in each such state and > designate the registered agent for service of process at such > address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the > corporation elects to be qualified.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I look forward to receiving a reply from you.
All the best,
Nicola
ssigen
I am available.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding > your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European > positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in > the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official > presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and > more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is > strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be > right.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence > required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would > facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also > financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. > Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they > come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or > VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or > co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing > address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with > a postal address of any kind.
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some > in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then > have only one office in the EU; 2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that > is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, > legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects > are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals > are. Consider:
*
perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly > increase certain kinds of activity, for example:
o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for > interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support > implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients *
perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to > seek out funding from European sources
*
perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants > unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
*
then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like > to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative > (not technical) program is needed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be > other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the > Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the > community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and > companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth > discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must > evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the > business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves > more.
All the best,
Nicola
On 4/26/24 8:28 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain > contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda > for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and > organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique > perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or > more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve > following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the > programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the > first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the > registered office. That modification is necessary to access the > European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, > and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article > 1 follows.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|ARTICLE I: Offices |
/Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent./ The > address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards > Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of > the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are > set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different > address as its registered office or a different person as its > registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall > become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change > with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is > required by law.
//Section 1.2 Principal Offices.// The principal offices > of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, > Colorado 80202, //and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,// or at such other place as > the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business > of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal > //offices//, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. > //Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the > activities are carried out and where they are intended//.
/Section 1.3 Other Offices./ The Corporation shall have > such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within > or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from > time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may > require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business > in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall > designate the location of the registered office in each such state and > designate the registered agent for service of process at such > address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the > corporation elects to be qualified.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, Thank you for initiating this discussion. I > don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your > proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions: (1) Is the intent > here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU > grants)? |
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European > positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official > headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an > official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions > (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal > market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
This seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
If there were no costs involved and we could identify people > to handle certain aspects of XSF operations (e.g., the Treasurer role > that I've filled for many years), I would be in favor of moving the entire organization from the USA to the EU.
Of course, there are always costs involved and it's not > always easy to find people to fill certain roles in the long term. :-) But I > think it's worth exploring.
Naturally, if this change led to more funding, then we'd have > money to spend on legal and accounting help to make the transition > across the Atlantic. But we have a bit of a "chicken and egg problem" here.
|(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence > required in order to receive such grants? |
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in > Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
|(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also > financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined? |
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my > experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, > especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in > any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, > to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of > an accountant.
For sure. I am reasonably familiar with U.S. rules for > non-profits, but I am utterly ignorant of the situation in the EU (or UK), I > don't know how things differ by country and which countries are most > friendly to non-profit organizations, etc.
|(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or > merely a mailing address? |
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in > Europe with a postal address of any kind.
BTW, the current Bylaws specify an address of 1899 Wynkoop > Street in Denver, but that was the old Jabber Inc. address and we no > longer receive mail there. At this point the Principal Address is > probably my house! (We do have a post office box, but business operations > are not conducted there.)
|(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization > to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and > some in a European country? |
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible > solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe > and then have only one office in the EU;
See above. This is not a trivial undertaking and we'd need to > estimate the costs, both initial and recurring. But I am not opposed > to it.
2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the > EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, > legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what > projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
True. We also need to think about things like organizational > continuity and succession planning. Specifically, I am uncomfortable > being one of the only active XSF members in the U.S., and the only one who > can access our bank account, file tax forms, etc.
|I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our > goals are. Consider: * perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to > significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example: o > promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise > money that we can use to help support implementation of key > protocols in open-source servers and clients * perhaps we feel that > the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European > sources * perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants > unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile * then we > might conclude that what you propose makes sense But it seems > to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first. |
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or > would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Agreed.
|Peter P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, > there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or > moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the > XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. > So that might be worth discussing anyway. |
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my > proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we > must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of > the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical > aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal > office in Europe.
Peter
Ciao Peter,
Thank you.
All the best,
Nicola
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 17:37, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
On 5/2/24 1:01 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below... On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, > Nicola Fabiano wrote: We can discuss it together, but we must > evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of > the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. > XSF deserves more. I'm curious to hear more about your > thinking here. |
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a > legal office in Europe.
Specifically, I would like to understand more fully why you > say that the "XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, > with a role relegated solely to technical aspects."
Since its founding in 2001, the XSF as a standards development organization has indeed been dedicated (or relegated) solely to technical aspects: primarily defining standardized protocols > along with a very few ancillary matters. With a few rare exceptions, the > XSF hasn't even actively supported (e.g., with monetary grants) the > projects and companies that develop XMPP-compatible software. In large > part, this is a legacy of the XSF's place in the Jabber/XMPP ecosystem and its founding as a neutral organization that would not favor any > particular vendor or developer, or even favor open-source software over > proprietary software. It is also consistent with the nature of our > community, which consists of technically-minded people who don't know much > about things like marketing or government policy.
In your mind, what would a closer integration with the rest > of the business world look like? What new activities would we engage > in? What expertise would we need to acquire? And so on.
Peter
Peter,
My meaning was that XSF—as a foundation—even though it was born in a technical context and is dedicated to XEP, could also organize > public events, do dissemination, participate in competitions to obtain > public or private funding, be proactive in the communication and > dissemination of XMPP, etc. I did not mean that XSF does not carry out activities but that > these could extend. From my point of view, I see more opportunities in Europe than > in the rest of the world.
--------------
/This e-mail (including attachments) is intended only for the > recipient(s) named above. It may contain confidential or privileged > information and should not be read, copied, or used by anyone else. If you are > not the named recipient, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail from > your system./
-- > Normally there is some text here, bragging about the new phone and > excusing for the brevity. That is insane: if this phone was really that great, I > would have sent a decent mail.
All the best,
Nicola
On 5/12/24 9:38 AM, E.M. wrote:
General question to all: Do you have concerns or general points that block this attempt entirely?
Here are a few things I'm thinking about: (1) Establishing a stronger official presence in Europe seems like a good idea, because most of our activity is there. (2) Moving the XSF to an EU country (i.e., a change of domicile) might also be a good idea. (3) Before making a decision about (1) and especially (2), we should investigate the costs, tax and legal and financial implications, etc. (4) We need to identity who will do the work on the short-term project to investigate these matters. (5) We need to identify who will be responsible for maintaining the XSF's presence or domicile over the long term, including succession plans. (I've been responsible for the XSF's banking relationship, tax returns, and so on for 20+ years; who will do this for the next 20+ years, will we contract with third parties for things like bookkeeping, how will we pay for such services, etc.?) Peter
Ciao Mario, Thanks for the feedback. On 11 May 2024, at 12:58, Mario Sabatino wrote:
Dear All,
the discussion should cover two main points:
1) the possibility of lobbying into the EU institutions and how to start doing so;
From my point of view, this is not the first point to be addressed. It is certainly an important topic but secondary to the organization of XSF. It can be discussed later, but only after it has been decided - what the XSF program will be for next year; - which type of organisation and which location (EU or US) XSF should have.
2) the need to have an EU legal entity in order to receive funding from the EU institutions.
This is **one of the points** of my proposal, which is more extensive because the presence in Europe should not only be for the purpose of receiving public (institutional) funds or financing. XSF will be able to benefit from any support (including financial) that is compatible with its institutional presence in Europe.
For number 1) I don't think we need a legal entity based in the EU, but we do need just a lobbyist.
I agree but - as I said - this aspect IMHO is secondary.
For number 2), we could start by exploring how to get funding from the EU institutions and then evaluate the possibility of creating a legal entity.
I am afraid to disagree with you. From my point of view, the process to follow is exactly the opposite. First, we need to find out whether to give XSF a legal office and a stable organization in Europe. Then, we can work towards any kind of collaboration, including obtaining funding (**including but not limited to public funding**).
In the meantime, I think we could start with a simple representative office (a business address) of the XSF Foundation in Bruxelles.
I think it is not prudent now if the core issue is not decided first. Afterward, any initiative can be initiated that is functional to the program that will be established (**there does not seem to be one now**).
Ciao
Mario Sabatino
Il 10/05/24 18:32, Winfried Tilanus ha scritto:
Hi,
I'm in favour, it would make several types of cooperation easier. But, I can't judge what this would mean for taxes and so on.
Winfried
On 9 May 2024 12:09:32 CEST, Nicola Fabiano <nicola@fabiano.law> wrote:
;TLTR
Dear all,
Regarding what is in the subject, I reproduced below the entire thread of emails exchanged with the Board members related to my proposal regarding the presence of XSF in Europe. Each email is a block with a line separating one from the others.
All the best,
Nicola
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Eddie,
Thank you for your email.
I highlight that my email follows what I said during the Summit in Bruxelles. My intervention represents a proposal submitted to the Board, which must be discussed and voted on.
On 27 Apr 2024, at 15:14, E.M. wrote:
Dear Nicola,
many thanks for the effort to bring to review of our XSF organizational setup and make a suggestion to create a legal instance in Europe. I assume there will be more coming than creating an European instance for the XSF, right?
I thought it would be appropriate or helpful to try to be more proactive in Europe.
This also involves ensuring that XSF has a European presence and is ready with an action plan and agenda.
Not being a lawyer, I am supporting this attempt in general very much. I believe we have a strong community in Europe and should also back up our community here with a legal instance for the technology we standardize.
My question would be what legal aspects we need to discuss having a "bilateral" (or more) organizational setup? Does this bring any conflict? How do we as Board member refer and deal with new things like DMA etc.? What will EU legislation expect from us? What can we expect?
From my perspective, the legal aspects are mainly concerned with amending the bylaws to provide for a seat in Europe and the existence of a program, i.e., what XSF proposes to do to promote XMPP.
There shouldn't be any conflict because these are purely organizational activities.
I think that Board members should continue performing the same current activities in compliance with the bylaws, such as providing information, communicating, providing support where necessary, plus implementing programs.
It's important to note that XSF, as a foundation, must act respecting the bylaws, make proposals, and realize projects (if they exist).
We should not expect more.
However, XSF has the potential to form partnerships with companies that have plans to present projects on a European level.
If we create a new legal instance, can we create the instance on an "Europe level" or would the instance exist in a distinct EU country? If so, which country?
The current bylaws already provide the possibility of setting up other locations.
We should only add a European XSF legal office (any Member State) so anyone can see this in the bylaws themselves.
My question to Board would be: As I am in all favor for this attempt, and also in favor to put work and time into it, are you as well in favor? Or are you not, and what does not meant to you? My basic question is that I don't want to spent time fighting something that is actually not of interest by a majority in the Board or the XSF organization. Please kindly review this for yourself, too.
I reiterate that my intervention is only a proposal that the Board discusses and votes on.
Therefore, I await the replies of others.
By the way, do we need to review the way we handle member applications and personal data? Any other hosting of data?
Have a good day and stay healthy, Eddie
On 26.04.24 16:28, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I look forward to receiving a reply from you.
All the best,
Nicola
ssigen
I am available.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU; 2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
*
perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example:
o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients *
perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
*
perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
*
then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
All the best,
Nicola
On 4/26/24 8:28 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|ARTICLE I: Offices |
/Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent./ The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
//Section 1.2 Principal Offices.// The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, //and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,// or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal //offices//, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. //Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended//.
/Section 1.3 Other Offices./ The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, Thank you for initiating this discussion. I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions: (1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)? |
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
This seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
If there were no costs involved and we could identify people to handle certain aspects of XSF operations (e.g., the Treasurer role that I've filled for many years), I would be in favor of moving the entire organization from the USA to the EU.
Of course, there are always costs involved and it's not always easy to find people to fill certain roles in the long term. :-) But I think it's worth exploring.
Naturally, if this change led to more funding, then we'd have money to spend on legal and accounting help to make the transition across the Atlantic. But we have a bit of a "chicken and egg problem" here.
|(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants? |
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
|(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined? |
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
For sure. I am reasonably familiar with U.S. rules for non-profits, but I am utterly ignorant of the situation in the EU (or UK), I don't know how things differ by country and which countries are most friendly to non-profit organizations, etc.
|(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address? |
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
BTW, the current Bylaws specify an address of 1899 Wynkoop Street in Denver, but that was the old Jabber Inc. address and we no longer receive mail there. At this point the Principal Address is probably my house! (We do have a post office box, but business operations are not conducted there.)
|(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country? |
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU;
See above. This is not a trivial undertaking and we'd need to estimate the costs, both initial and recurring. But I am not opposed to it.
2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
True. We also need to think about things like organizational continuity and succession planning. Specifically, I am uncomfortable being one of the only active XSF members in the U.S., and the only one who can access our bank account, file tax forms, etc.
|I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider: * perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example: o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients * perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources * perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile * then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first. |
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Agreed.
|Peter P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway. |
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Peter
Ciao Peter,
Thank you.
All the best,
Nicola
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2 May 2024, at 17:37, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
On 5/2/24 1:01 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
|Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below... On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote: We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more. I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here. |
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Specifically, I would like to understand more fully why you say that the "XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects."
Since its founding in 2001, the XSF as a standards development organization has indeed been dedicated (or relegated) solely to technical aspects: primarily defining standardized protocols along with a very few ancillary matters. With a few rare exceptions, the XSF hasn't even actively supported (e.g., with monetary grants) the projects and companies that develop XMPP-compatible software. In large part, this is a legacy of the XSF's place in the Jabber/XMPP ecosystem and its founding as a neutral organization that would not favor any particular vendor or developer, or even favor open-source software over proprietary software. It is also consistent with the nature of our community, which consists of technically-minded people who don't know much about things like marketing or government policy.
In your mind, what would a closer integration with the rest of the business world look like? What new activities would we engage in? What expertise would we need to acquire? And so on.
Peter
Peter,
My meaning was that XSF—as a foundation—even though it was born in a technical context and is dedicated to XEP, could also organize public events, do dissemination, participate in competitions to obtain public or private funding, be proactive in the communication and dissemination of XMPP, etc. I did not mean that XSF does not carry out activities but that these could extend. From my point of view, I see more opportunities in Europe than in the rest of the world.
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-- Normally there is some text here, bragging about the new phone and excusing for the brevity. That is insane: if this phone was really that great, I would have sent a decent mail.
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All the best, Nicola ssigen
Dear Nicola, thank you for your replay. You have correctly indicated the real starting point of our discussion on this topic. > - what the XSF program will be for next year; I believe the organisation's mission statement outlines the XSF programme for the future. https://xmpp.org/about/xsf/mission/ So, in my opinion, should be useful to debate whether lobbying the EU during the DMA discussion could have been a good point for the XFS to achieve its goals. The same goes for the implementation of DMA in the real world e.g. as part of the protocol (interoperability XEP). These are only two examples of what could have been done and what XSF could do in the future. Maintaining and developing an open standard requires hard work from the people involved. Applying for funding to pursue this goal could be helpful and may also be of interest to an EU institution or public body in another EU member state. Ciao Mario Il 12/05/24 17:27, Nicola Fabiano ha scr itto: > Dear All, >> the discussion should cover two main points: >> >> 1) the possibility of lobbying into the EU institutions and how to start doing so; > From my point of view, this is not the first point to be addressed. > It is certainly an important topic but secondary to the organization of XSF. It can be discussed later, but only after it has been decided > - what the XSF program will be for next year;
Dear Mario, On 12 May 2024, at 18:34, Mario Sabatino wrote: > Dear Nicola, thank you for your replay. You have correctly indicated the real starting point of our discussion on this topic. > >> - what the XSF program will be for next year; > I believe the organisation's mission statement outlines the XSF programme for the future. > > https://xmpp.org/about/xsf/mission/ My proposal does not relate to the mission of XSF, which is the overall objective of the foundation. XSF is appreciably committed to the technical front for developing XEP and related activities. My proposal—already anticipated in Brussels during the 2024 summit—aims to implement a program even in the short term (one year) that covers every aspect, not only the technical one, for which I leave room for members who know more than me. When I refer to the program, I mean it should be organizational because each reality should have medium and long-term objectives, not just technical ones. I am referring to every aspect (administrative, bureaucratic, financial, etc.) that should outline a program and, thus, the path the foundation intends to follow and the goals it intends to achieve over a certain period of time. > > So, in my opinion, should be useful to debate whether lobbying the EU during the DMA discussion could have been a good point for the XFS to achieve its goals. The same goes for the implementation of DMA in the real world e.g. as part of the protocol (interoperability XEP). These are only two examples of what could have been done and what XSF could do in the future. XSF representatives participated in some of the Commission's initiatives, but I don't think they were able to lobby. Recalling what I wrote in my previous email, lobbying is only possible once you have decided on a program because when you are dealing with institutions and private actors, you have to make explicit what the program of the organization you represent is. The DMA is not the only aspect; many others exist, especially in Europe. Lobbying in Europe is legal but needs registration in an ad hoc register, but this does not mean that this is the decisive element. > > Maintaining and developing an open standard requires hard work from the people involved. Applying for funding to pursue this goal could be helpful and may also be of interest to an EU institution or public body in another EU member state. I have already made my point and do not intend to bore you with the subject. Funding is not the only solution for an organization's effective presence. > > Ciao > > Mario > > Il 12/05/24 17:27, Nicola Fabiano ha scr > itto: >> Dear All, >>> the discussion should cover two main points: >>> >>> 1) the possibility of lobbying into the EU institutions and how to start doing so; >> From my point of view, this is not the first point to be addressed. >> It is certainly an important topic but secondary to the organization of XSF. It can be discussed later, but only after it has been decided >> - what the XSF program will be for next year; It would be fruitful to hear also the others’ opinions. All the best, Nicola ssigen
On 12-05-2024 7:00 p.m., Nicola Fabiano wrote:
So, in my opinion, should be useful to debate whether lobbying the EU during the DMA discussion could have been a good point for the XFS to achieve its goals. The same goes for the implementation of DMA in the real world e.g. as part of the protocol (interoperability XEP). These are only two examples of what could have been done and what XSF could do in the future.
XSF representatives participated in some of the Commission's initiatives, but I don't think they were able to lobby. Recalling what I wrote in my previous email, lobbying is only possible once you have decided on a program because when you are dealing with institutions and private actors, you have to make explicit what the program of the organization you represent is. The DMA is not the only aspect; many others exist, especially in Europe. Lobbying in Europe is legal but needs registration in an ad hoc register, but this does not mean that this is the decisive element.
I'm far from an expert on lobbying and even less so with lobbying on EU institutions, but what I've observed is that most lobbies take the shape of a think-tank or a knowledge platform (sometimes even with EU funding for specific projects). I expect it would be the most effective to form a coalition with some organisations and make a specific push. The standard for DMA chat interoperability would be a logical (first?) target. A report, for example outlining such a standard, would then be a logical first step. From there lobbying the EC (and possibly the European Parliament) would be next. If there are organisations with access to EU institutions in the coalition, then it would help vastly. Winfried -- vanishing in a puff of logic +31.6.23303960 xmpp:winfried@tilanus.com
Hey all, thanks for the recent comments. I think one general investigation would be the European taxes amount we need to pay. Anyway, I personally would like the XSF to address to be present in US _and_ EU. But regardless of the discussion, this is also another call for your feedback as its essential to the entire organization. Especially if you have amy veto arguments. If there are no more comments or objections, I would like to start to go forward. I am convinced Nicola can help us a lot. Cheers & good morning to most of you, Eddie 15 may 2024 23:09:47 Winfried Tilanus <winfried@tilanus.com>:
On 12-05-2024 7:00 p.m., Nicola Fabiano wrote:
So, in my opinion, should be useful to debate whether lobbying the EU during the DMA discussion could have been a good point for the XFS to achieve its goals. The same goes for the implementation of DMA in the real world e.g. as part of the protocol (interoperability XEP). These are only two examples of what could have been done and what XSF could do in the future. XSF representatives participated in some of the Commission's initiatives, but I don't think they were able to lobby. Recalling what I wrote in my previous email, lobbying is only possible once you have decided on a program because when you are dealing with institutions and private actors, you have to make explicit what the program of the organization you represent is. The DMA is not the only aspect; many others exist, especially in Europe. Lobbying in Europe is legal but needs registration in an ad hoc register, but this does not mean that this is the decisive element.
I'm far from an expert on lobbying and even less so with lobbying on EU institutions, but what I've observed is that most lobbies take the shape of a think-tank or a knowledge platform (sometimes even with EU funding for specific projects). I expect it would be the most effective to form a coalition with some organisations and make a specific push. The standard for DMA chat interoperability would be a logical (first?) target. A report, for example outlining such a standard, would then be a logical first step. From there lobbying the EC (and possibly the European Parliament) would be next. If there are organisations with access to EU institutions in the coalition, then it would help vastly.
Winfried
-- vanishing in a puff of logic +31.6.23303960 xmpp:winfried@tilanus.com
On 5/29/24 8:43 PM, E.M. wrote:
Hey all,
thanks for the recent comments.
I think one general investigation would be the European taxes amount we need to pay.
Anyway, I personally would like the XSF to address to be present in US _and_ EU.
That might require twice the cost and twice the number of volunteers (depending on how the European presence is structured).
But regardless of the discussion, this is also another call for your feedback as its essential to the entire organization. Especially if you have amy veto arguments.
If there are no more comments or objections,
I asked some questions that we haven't discussed further.
I would like to start to go forward. I am convinced Nicola can help us a lot.
I'm in favor of getting serious about the investigative phase. Peter
Hi Winfried, Thank you for your feedback. The tax issue is certainly important, but I am convinced that a solution can be found both in terms of the Country with the lowest tax burden and in terms of the type of organization to choose (Association or Foundation). All the best, Nicola ssigen On 10 May 2024, at 18:32, Winfried Tilanus wrote:
Hi,
I'm in favour, it would make several types of cooperation easier. But, I can't judge what this would mean for taxes and so on.
Winfried
On 9 May 2024 12:09:32 CEST, Nicola Fabiano <nicola@fabiano.law> wrote:
;TLTR
Dear all,
Regarding what is in the subject, I reproduced below the entire thread of emails exchanged with the Board members related to my proposal regarding the presence of XSF in Europe. Each email is a block with a line separating one from the others.
All the best,
Nicola
***
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
### ARTICLE I: Offices
**Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.** The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
***Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*** The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, ***and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*** or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal ***offices***, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. ***Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended***.
**Section 1.3 Other Offices.** The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
***
Dear Eddie,
Thank you for your email.
I highlight that my email follows what I said during the Summit in Bruxelles. My intervention represents a proposal submitted to the Board, which must be discussed and voted on.
On 27 Apr 2024, at 15:14, E.M. wrote:
Dear Nicola,
many thanks for the effort to bring to review of our XSF organizational setup and make a suggestion to create a legal instance in Europe. I assume there will be more coming than creating an European instance for the XSF, right?
I thought it would be appropriate or helpful to try to be more proactive in Europe.
This also involves ensuring that XSF has a European presence and is ready with an action plan and agenda.
Not being a lawyer, I am supporting this attempt in general very much. I believe we have a strong community in Europe and should also back up our community here with a legal instance for the technology we standardize.
My question would be what legal aspects we need to discuss having a "bilateral" (or more) organizational setup? Does this bring any conflict? How do we as Board member refer and deal with new things like DMA etc.? What will EU legislation expect from us? What can we expect?
From my perspective, the legal aspects are mainly concerned with amending the bylaws to provide for a seat in Europe and the existence of a program, i.e., what XSF proposes to do to promote XMPP.
There shouldn't be any conflict because these are purely organizational activities.
I think that Board members should continue performing the same current activities in compliance with the bylaws, such as providing information, communicating, providing support where necessary, plus implementing programs.
It's important to note that XSF, as a foundation, must act respecting the bylaws, make proposals, and realize projects (if they exist).
We should not expect more.
However, XSF has the potential to form partnerships with companies that have plans to present projects on a European level.
If we create a new legal instance, can we create the instance on an "Europe level" or would the instance exist in a distinct EU country? If so, which country?
The current bylaws already provide the possibility of setting up other locations.
We should only add a European XSF legal office (any Member State) so anyone can see this in the bylaws themselves.
My question to Board would be: As I am in all favor for this attempt, and also in favor to put work and time into it, are you as well in favor? Or are you not, and what does not meant to you? My basic question is that I don't want to spent time fighting something that is actually not of interest by a majority in the Board or the XSF organization. Please kindly review this for yourself, too.
I reiterate that my intervention is only a proposal that the Board discusses and votes on.
Therefore, I await the replies of others.
By the way, do we need to review the way we handle member applications and personal data? Any other hosting of data?
Have a good day and stay healthy, Eddie
On 26.04.24 16:28, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
***
### ARTICLE I: Offices
**Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.** The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
***Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*** The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, ***and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*** or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal ***offices***, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. ***Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended***.
**Section 1.3 Other Offices.** The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
***
I look forward to receiving a reply from you.
All the best,
Nicola
ssigen
I am available.
***
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions: 1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU; 2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me. It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
- perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example: - promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) - raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients
- perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
- perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
- then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
All the best,
Nicola
On 4/26/24 8:28 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Dear all,
Following our last Board meeting, I propose to discuss the organization of XSF's activities further to promote the XMPP protocol at every level, including at European institutions, possibly by participating in projects to obtain contributions and funding (I have some ideas, but I will explain later).
Each Board member's input is crucial. I encourage everyone to outline a few items as our agenda for the next 6/12 months. These points should be related to programmatic and organizational business only (non-technical), reflecting your unique perspectives and expertise.
In that way, everyone can be in the running for one or more items to deal with and what goal we (XSF) want to achieve following our program.
Hence, feel free to share your thoughts about the programmatic and organizational business, and then we can discuss them.
Apart from programmatic and organizational business, the first step is the proposal concerns amending the statutes of the registered office. That modification is necessary to access the European institutions. Other modification proposals are welcome, and we can evaluate all of them.
Otherwise, an amended version (in bold italic) of Article 1 follows.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE I: Offices
*Section 1.1 Registered Office and Registered Agent.* The address of the initial registered office of The XMPP Standards Foundation (the “Corporation”) in the State of Delaware and the name of the initial registered agent of the Corporation at such address are set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate”). The Corporation may, from time to time, designate a different address as its registered office or a different person as its registered agent, or both; provided, however, that such designation shall become effective upon the filing of a statement of such change with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as is required by law.
/*Section 1.2 Principal Offices.*/ The principal offices of the Corporation shall be at 1899 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202, /*and at xxxx, xxx, Europe,*/ or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time. The business of the Corporation shall be transacted from the principal /*offices*/, and the records of the Corporation shall be kept there. /*Both principal offices have legal effect, irrespective of where the activities are carried out and where they are intended*/.
*Section 1.3 Other Offices.* The Corporation shall have such offices either within or outside the State of Delaware and within or outside the United States, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or as the business of the Corporation may require. In the event the Corporation desires to qualify to do business in one or more states other than Delaware, the Corporation shall designate the location of the registered office in each such state and designate the registered agent for service of process at such address in the manner provided by the law of the state in which the corporation elects to be qualified.
***
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
Ciao Peter,
Thank you for your email and your insights.
On 29 Apr 2024, at 21:22, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola,
Thank you for initiating this discussion.
I don't feel qualified to provide accurate insights regarding your proposal, so instead I will ask a few questions:
(1) Is the intent here primarily to seek funding from European organizations (e.g., EU grants)?
Not only that, but the intention is to create a European positioning to evaluate any possible initiative. XSF's official headquarters in the US could be a distraction. From my point of view, an official presence in Europe would facilitate involvement in possible partnerships and more attention from the institutions (the European digital strategy is strongly focused on an internal market). That is my idea, and I hope to be right.
This seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
If there were no costs involved and we could identify people to handle certain aspects of XSF operations (e.g., the Treasurer role that I've filled for many years), I would be in favor of moving the entire organization from the USA to the EU.
Of course, there are always costs involved and it's not always easy to find people to fill certain roles in the long term. :-) But I think it's worth exploring.
Naturally, if this change led to more funding, then we'd have money to spend on legal and accounting help to make the transition across the Atlantic. But we have a bit of a "chicken and egg problem" here.
(2) Is European domicile or a European business presence required in order to receive such grants?
That may not be the case, but as I said, presence in Europe would facilitate access to possible resources.
(3) What are the legal, regulatory, tax (and thus also financial) implications of establishing a European business presence or "co-domicile" such as you have outlined?
I am not an accountant, so I am answering from my experience. Since XSF is a Foundation, contributions should not be taxed, especially if they come from institutional sources (participation in any EU projects). It may be necessary, with an office in Europe, to apply for a tax code or VAT number, but this should be asked of an accountant.
For sure. I am reasonably familiar with U.S. rules for non-profits, but I am utterly ignorant of the situation in the EU (or UK), I don't know how things differ by country and which countries are most friendly to non-profit organizations, etc.
(4) What is needed in order to establish such a presence or co-domicile? Do we need an office / physical address, or merely a mailing address?
The bylaws should be changed to provide for a seat in Europe with a postal address of any kind.
BTW, the current Bylaws specify an address of 1899 Wynkoop Street in Denver, but that was the old Jabber Inc. address and we no longer receive mail there. At this point the Principal Address is probably my house! (We do have a post office box, but business operations are not conducted there.)
(5) Should we perhaps consider moving the organization to Europe entirely instead of having some presence in the USA and some in a European country?
I propose to amend the bylaws, and I note two possible solutions:
1. change the registered office from the US to Europe and then have only one office in the EU;
See above. This is not a trivial undertaking and we'd need to estimate the costs, both initial and recurring. But I am not opposed to it.
2. Add - as provided for in the statute - a seat in the EU that is as official as the one in the USA; this second solution, legally, seems less valid to me.
It always depends on what one wants to do, i.e., what projects are to be realized and what XSF intends to do.
True. We also need to think about things like organizational continuity and succession planning. Specifically, I am uncomfortable being one of the only active XSF members in the U.S., and the only one who can access our bank account, file tax forms, etc.
I'd like to "take a step back" and consider what our goals are. Consider:
*
perhaps we feel it would be beneficial to significantly increase certain kinds of activity, for example:
o promote XMPP as a neutral technology for interoperability (cf. DMA) o raise money that we can use to help support implementation of key protocols in open-source servers and clients *
perhaps we feel that the best way to do that would be to seek out funding from European sources
*
perhaps we feel we won't be considered for such grants unless we have a European business presence / co-domicile
*
then we might conclude that what you propose makes sense
But it seems to me that we need to be clear on the goals, first.
I agree, but XSF's identity and the goals it wants or would like to achieve need clarification. Therefore, an organizational, administrative (not technical) program is needed.
Agreed.
Peter
P.S. Aside from the reasoning outlined above, there might be other reasons to consider a co-domicile arrangement or moving the Foundation to Europe entirely. For example: most of the XSF's and the community's activity (Summits, FOSDEM, major open-source projects and companies) is in Europe, not North America. So that might be worth discussing anyway.
I agree, and this is one of the reasons why I made my proposal. We are in no hurry. We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Peter
Ciao Peter,
Thank you.
All the best,
Nicola
***
On 2 May 2024, at 17:37, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
On 5/2/24 1:01 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
On 2 May 2024, at 1:38, Peter Saint-Andre wrote:
Ciao Nicola, more thoughts below...
On 4/30/24 1:32 AM, Nicola Fabiano wrote:
We can discuss it together, but we must evaluate it soon. Otherwise, XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects. XSF deserves more.
I'm curious to hear more about your thinking here.
I agree with you. As you said, it is worth considering a legal office in Europe.
Specifically, I would like to understand more fully why you say that the "XSF remains isolated from the rest of the business world, with a role relegated solely to technical aspects."
Since its founding in 2001, the XSF as a standards development organization has indeed been dedicated (or relegated) solely to technical aspects: primarily defining standardized protocols along with a very few ancillary matters. With a few rare exceptions, the XSF hasn't even actively supported (e.g., with monetary grants) the projects and companies that develop XMPP-compatible software. In large part, this is a legacy of the XSF's place in the Jabber/XMPP ecosystem and its founding as a neutral organization that would not favor any particular vendor or developer, or even favor open-source software over proprietary software. It is also consistent with the nature of our community, which consists of technically-minded people who don't know much about things like marketing or government policy.
In your mind, what would a closer integration with the rest of the business world look like? What new activities would we engage in? What expertise would we need to acquire? And so on.
Peter
Peter,
My meaning was that XSF—as a foundation—even though it was born in a technical context and is dedicated to XEP, could also organize public events, do dissemination, participate in competitions to obtain public or private funding, be proactive in the communication and dissemination of XMPP, etc. I did not mean that XSF does not carry out activities but that these could extend. From my point of view, I see more opportunities in Europe than in the rest of the world.
ssigen
-- Normally there is some text here, bragging about the new phone and excusing for the brevity. That is insane: if this phone was really that great, I would have sent a decent mail.
participants (6)
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E.M. -
emus＠mailbox.org
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Mario Sabatino -
Nicola Fabiano -
Peter Saint-Andre -
Winfried Tilanus