I had incorrectly assumed that a Friendly Society is limited in liability. It is not. Aside from the limited company route, the co-operative route is also open. That would enjoy limited liability and might be more in tune with the open spirt of Wikimedia.
(One big difference between a co-op and a company is that a co-op requires a minimum of 7 participants will to act as a committee but is more fluid in membership/ownership.)
Oliver
On 26 Jul 2010, at 15:22, Thomas Dalton wrote:
On 26 July 2010 10:26:08 UTC+1, Colm King cargoking@live.com wrote:
If a Friendly Society is registered, unlimited liability doesn't really have a major part in the setting up, because what would we spend money on?
One problem is if Wikimedia Ireland gets sued for libel on Wikipedia or something and for some reason doesn't succeed in convincing the court that it isn't the chapter's responsibility. The individual trustees would then be personally liable for the damages. It's chance of it happening is very small (getting sued is quite likely, actually, but the court should realise pretty quickly that the chapter isn't responsible) but the potential cost to the trustees is enormous. It is also possible for the chapter to be sued for things that actually are its fault (due to mistakes by the board or staff) and the same problem would apply.
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