Decentralized social network organization Mastodon said Monday that it is planning to create a new non-profit organization in Europe and hand over
    • Microw@lemm.eeEnglish
      6·
      5 hours ago

      They previously had a pretty unique structure (gemeinnützige GmbH) but the german authorities stripped them from that status saying “free social media is not a public benefit purpose”.

        • Microw@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          11 minutes ago

          Well at least not according to the legal view of the tax authorities… from what I have heard anecdotally over the years about german tax authorities, they seem to be very much not living in a 21st century digital world.

  • pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    5·
    22 hours ago

    Is the money getting what it wants or is this making sure the money is quieter? I don’t understand.

    Last year, the company formed a U.S.-based non-profit to get more funds and grants with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone on the board. At the same time, the organization lost its non-profit status in Germany at the same time.

    While Mastodon relies on donations and sponsorships to operate, Bluesky, its main competitor working on a rival decentralized network, is reportedly raising a new funding round from investors at a $700 million valuation.

    The blog post noted that the new Europe-based non-profit entity will wholly own the Mastodon GmbH for-profit entity. The organization is in the process of finalizing the place where the new entity will be set up.

    • pdxfed@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      21 hours ago

      OpenAI’s events of last year has me just slightly less than impressed at the ability of a non-profit board/org to be able to contain/control the wild efforts of capital when it matters.