[Foundation-l] Serbia and Montenegro

[Delirium]

Jimmy Wales wrote:

>In other cases, we will have chapters which cover only parts of some
>nations.  For example, a 'U.S. local chapter' makes no sense because the
>US is much much too big and diverse for that to be sensible.  I can
>easily imagine an "eastern seaboard" chapter, a "california" chapter,
>etc.  How to draw those lines, and why, well.... too early to speculate
>since no one has really tried to form one yet. :)
>  
>
The U.S. is also somewhat unique in that it doesn't have a need for a 
separate "Wikimedia U.S." to fill legal beaurocratic roles, because the 
global Wikimedia Foundation is already headquartered in the U.S. and 
subject to U.S. law, so can fill any of those roles itself (tax-exempt 
donations, applying for U.S. grants, etc.).

I suppose for consistency's sake we could have the same setup in the 
U.S., but from a pragmatic perspective it seems that as long as U.S. 
Wikimedians trust the Wikimedia Foundation to handle the accounts and 
legal aspects, the same effect could be accomplished just by having 
non-incorporated/informal associations of U.S. Wikimedians do everything 
a local foundation would normally do except for the legal aspects, 
thereby avoiding legal and beaurocratic duplication.

-Mark