On 28/11/05, Delphine Ménard <notafishz(a)gmail.com> wrote:
We can't
incorporate as Wikimedia UK, though, because:
a) the Foundation can't grant permission to use the name until the
company exists
b) if someone takes over the company later, by whatever means, we want
the Foundation to be able to stop them using the Wikimedia name.
Yes, but I still don't get it. Are there, apart from this twist (a)
that we have not resolved (which of the chicken or the egg...) any
other /legal/ reasons why the company cannot be called Wikimedia UK?
Because we could agree that the agreement to use the name be signed on
the same day as the Company is founded for example, or signed between
the founders of Wikimedia UK and the Foundation, to be carried on to
the organisation etc. There are many ways to do that I am sure.
The other problem with a), which I didn't mention, is that it would
mean the company is beholden to a *foreign* organisation. I don't know
if this would make a difference - I don't think anyone did - but it
does seem like another potential pitfall, and minimising any possible
problems is always a good thing.
OK for b), although I believe that is a double edge
thing. If the
company Tralala (since it's not Wikimedia UK ;-) ) is taken over, and
they're in trade/partnership/whatever with someone/a company/an
organisation, it seems harder to me for the Wikimedia Foundation to
claim anything from this company. Whereas being able to take the name
away makes it harder for Tralala to continue any trade in the name of
the Wikisomethingorother.
David Gerard had some quite useful comments about the temptations
involved in giving this little company such a potentially profitable
name as Wikimedia UK, though I can't seem to remember the actual case
he mentioned.
Basically, if Tralala Limited gets taken over by People We Don't Like,
then the Foundation can just cut them off; remove the name, and they
can go and do whatever they want, but we can't be held morally
responsible for them nor can they claim to be operating for or with
the foundation. The actual wikimedia people can then go off, form
Lalala Limited instead, sign another agreement with the Foundation to
use the name, and we start over again.
However, if "Wikimedia UK Limited" gets filled with cranks, it becomes
hard for a) the Foundation to disown them or b) to take away the name
and give it to the sane chapter. And then things get messy...
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk