Is it possible to structure this in such a way that

[mdh]

Continuing the discussion from The State and Future of HMS/Whateverwecallthisplace:

The State and Future of HMS/Whateverwecallthisplace

Is it possible to structure this in such a way that if we, say, get sued for a million dollars, nobody is personally ruined? It seems like we might need to think about business liability insurance, which is likely to represent a major expense.

If we want to set up the server space to be owned by this entity, then it would seem that the proper order is probably Naming --> Legal Entity --> Move Site --> Establish Blog, in which case we should probably start a new thread and have this conversation now.

New thread for this conversation, good idea!

[noahdjango]

If we want to set up the server space to be owned by this entity,

well… do we? should we? I don’t really get what that means, because I’m dumb. if we want to become a legal entity, is that because we want to earn money and therefore will need business liability insurance?

[mdh]

if we want to become a legal entity, is that because we want to earn money and therefore will need business liability insurance?

Not necessarily! We could set up shop somewhere OUTSIDE of the US and/or be entirely not for profit. That’s plausible. It can even be decreed that excess monies be dispersed or donated annually. It’s all in whatever charter we could come up with. I wouldn’t mind a site that gave all it’s extra money to [some worthy cause we can reach consensus on] based on transparent rules.

Aw man, I’m sounding like I want to be more involved in organizing this…

[Haystack]

well… do we? should we? I don’t really get what that means, because I’m dumb. if we want to become a legal entity, is that because we want to earn money and therefore will need business liability insurance?

We want to set up a legal entity so that no one person shoulders all of the responsibility of maintaining the site, managing its funds, etc. @LockCJ is currently hosting the site, but understandably doesn’t want that kind of responsibility, nor would it make sense for there to be one person upon whom the entire site depends.

Liability could be an issue if, for example, someone posts copyrighted content and lawyers show up demanding remuneration. This is always a risk, especially for sites with user-generated content, and currently it’s being assumed by @LockCJ.

It’s something that we need to do separately from whether or not we make money.

[tinoesroho]

Bumpity bump!

@staff, we should consider moving forward on this in the next fortnight.

[ChickieD]

I’m around this week but not great with legal stuff. From what I know, someone will pay if someone wants money, no matter how you structure it legally.

What are the realistic possibilities of a suit? Is it possible to create a cooperative structure where, say, everyone pays $10/year to join, funds go into an account owned by the coop and dolled out by a treasurer, and each person has equal ownership? Probably some kind of paper floating around the inter webs we could crib from.

[ChickieD]

This is the head of my department for my Masters program in Engineering Management. He helps people start businesses and helped me start mine:

Legal and Accounting for Startups - Dale Callahan

But we are in a different situation where we are not necessarily trying to make a profit, but just protect everyone from a suit.