Anthony DiPierro wrote:
On 1/1/06, Fastfission fastfission@gmail.com wrote:
I think what you are trying to ask -- and I don't know the answer -- is whether or not a not-for-profit organization in the U.S. would be allowed to generate revenue by hosting advertising. I can't imagine Mediawiki would even consider something which would endanger its not-for-profit status so I doubt this is a problem. It'd still be "non-commercial" in both a legal and ethical sense.
FF
If the WMF just started slapping ads on Wikipedia and generated tens of millions of dollars of revenue they'd be in a precarious situation when tax time rolled around. I'm sure the directors of the foundation would get professional legal advice and possibly an official IRS private letter ruling, before they'd do such a thing.
There are indeed many IRS intricacies relating to the operation of nonprofit societies. I'm sure too that if ads were a realistic considerations we would take all necessary steps to ensure that the status would be protected. A Private Letter Ruling may be a little over the top in what needs to be done.
The debate is over whether to have ads at all. The tax situation is not relevant to that question.
Ec