On 22 January 2012 18:00, Gwern Branwen <gwern0(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Jan 22, 2012 at 12:33 PM, Pedro Sanchez
<pdsanchez(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I'm worried that we may be getting in trouble.
I don't know about US laws, but are charitable organizations allowed
to meddle in political lobbying?
I'd appreciate if more knowledgeable people could give us some light.
It's perfectly allowed, and we're allowed to take positions on
specific bills - it is just that lobbying cannot be a 'substantial
part' of the WMF's activities unless it switches its charity type.
(Googling around, I was reading
http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/whitepaperdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=12202
and
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopicp97.pdf )
What is highly questionable is if it a remotely worthwhile use of
money. If Google's lobbyists can't impact SOPA and the like what makes
the foundation think our can?
--
geni