[alicebot-archcomm] archcomm membership

[Dr. Rich Wallace]

I am preparing a full public accounting of the expenses of the A.I.
Foundation.

The ALICE brain now consists of a free part, already released under the
GPL, and a non-free part, which will be released under the GPL in 2004,
and there is no conflict there.


Rich

> I agree with Ernest here, although I've been silent about this issue due
> to not wanting to create another flame war. I sincerely hope we can all
> work this out on the Arch Comm. mailing list.
>
> The current advertisement by the AIF indeed contains too many
> conflicting statements.
>
> 1. Alice's AIML knowledgebase has been GPL'ed, in effect all AIML that
> is released as part of that KB is also GPL'ed. The claim that Alice
> contains proprietary technology until the year 2004 can therefore not be
> made.
>
> 2. It's not unheard of for members of a non-profit organisation to have
> special perks as part of their membership. However, and I agree with
> Ernest here, it is indeed a bit weird to see an exchange of services
> (two active parties) promoted when a donation (only one active party) is
> intended. This is certainly a situation where there is a conflict of
> interest. It should be clarified who owns the rights to the AIML set and
> under which licence it's provided to the subscribers.
>
> 3. I have yet to see some proof that the AIF is indeed a non-profit
> *charity*. If I'm not mistaken, a non-profit organisation can be setup
> by anyone but a charity needs to be acknowledged by the IRS (tax
> agency). As far as I know the IRS has not acknowledged the AIF to be a
> charity. Promoting such an fact or hiding the charity ID number is
> something that may be in conflict with one or two California
> regulations.
>
> 4. Currently the only one benefiting from the acquired funds is Dr
> Wallace himself. Although I have to admit that the mission statement
> provides for distribution of funds to individuals:
>
> 	"ALLOCATE public and/or private funds as appropriate to
> organizations, agencies or individuals who can provide AIML, programs or
> products of high quality if they are deemed beneficial to the
> community."
>
> I would like to know who, why and when the decision has been made to
> allocate these Foundation funds to him. Especially since article V of
> the 'Articles of incorporation' states that:
>
> 	"The property of this corporation is irrevocably dedicated to
> charitable purposes and no part of the net income or assets of this
> corporation shall ever inure to the benefit of any director, officer, or
> member thereof or to the benefit of any private person."
>
> It leaves little room for personal opinion in its interpretation.
> Although one person can have more than one role in the Foundation it is
> still highly unusual for a person to be both in a decion making role and
> the receiving role of such a (board) sponsorship decision.
>
> All in all I think Dr Wallace needs to clarify a few things to us, the
> Arch Comm., and the AIML community as to why community money is spend on
> him and not on any of the other proposed elements in the mission
> statement.
>
>
>
> As for the Arch Comm. membership becoming a paid membership my opinion
> on it is very clear. The Arch Comm. should be a committee where a
> person's knowledge or other merits are the reason for their invitation.
> A donation to the AIF should not entitle that person to a seat on a
> committee that is at the heart of the Foundation.
>
> If influence into the long term strategy of the AIF should be given to
> paying members then it should be in the Board. It is very common for
> students or workers to have influence in a school's/companies decisions
> by means of a single representative in the highest decision making
> organ.
>
> The Arch Comm. is the wrong place to include these financially
> contributing members of the AIF. If paying members or corporate
> representatives are becoming part of the Arch Comm. without other merits
> then I think this committee has lost it's objectivity and can no longer
> be considered an organ of a Opensource community.
>
> I hope this will never come to be.
>
> As ever,
>
> Anne Kootstra
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Dr. Rich
W A L L A C E
ALICE A.I. Foundation
drwallace@www.alicebot.org