o.k. folks, sorry for the chaos… diaspora is already u.s. based so it doesn’t matter… patriot act is fact and has a value for all pods where ever they might be… the best desission would be: leave the states!
@recyclingartist, actually i’m not sure
if i understand correct (and i’m not sure i do) then there will be no Diaspora Inc. there will be a diaspora project which is under the umbrella of the FSSN
they will hold the assets and liabilities with the provision that the project has control of their usage
this provides diaspora with expert legal and fiscal representation as a non-profit free software without us actually having to implement it 
thank’s aj… I completely understand the advantages and attraction wich FSSN has on all the developers and co… for me, as stupid european user is simply the fact: everything that is under umbrella of us firms (and in that case it is completely unimportant for me wheater they are profit or non-profit) is under the us law and in that case diaspora seems not to be the right choice for people who are fighting against spying laws it is ridicoulous in fact! but it is my fault, I had to inform myself better.
ya, we have some major issues in the USA and Canada right now it is influencing many aspects of our lives here. hopefully the European community will see us as an example of what NOT to do, he!
@recyclingartist , as I understand it this will have no impact on access to user data, which in a distributed system are of course contained on individual pods. You should therefore choose your pod based on where you are happy for your data to be stored.
This is about transferring ownership of everything which belonged to Diaspora Inc, the company set up by the four founders, to the non-profit Diaspora Foundation under the stewardship of the FSSN. This means things such as the ownership of the Diaspora name as a trademark. Also the agreement of ownership under which all contributions to the project are made. It’s a means of ensuring that this project remains a Free Software project.
Although FSSN is based in USA, I can’t see any means of the NSA (if that’s who you’re afraid of) getting hold of your data as part of this move. Besides, if anyone’s going to fight to the hilt any move to requisition data without the knowledge and agreement of the person who owns those data, I think Eben Moglen would be that person.
I don’t know anything about FSSN other than what we’ve been told by Maxwell here, but I do know a bit about Eben Moglen, and what I know reassures me that he is someone who shares the values of the project and is a ‘safe pair of hands’, and also I don’t believe either Maxwell or Sean would make such a move without being very sure that it was in the best interests of the project, and I’m happy to trust they’ve taken all necessary steps to make sure that it is a safe transition.
I’d like to ask @Goob , have you thought about making two posts for the two decisions? Or asking the other way round was there are certain intention behind so you put both in one thread?
@goob i think you are right. thanks. i carry off on politics. the distributed nature of diaspora makes it a solution to some of our nations issues.
@groovehunter i think it happened at the same time because raising funds has been held back by the other issue being addressed
but this in retrospect should not be the case what do you do?
I’d like to ask @goob , have you thought about making two posts for the two decisions? Or asking the other way round was there are certain intention behind so you put both in one thread?
I tried to create two proposals/two votes, but it will only let you have one at any one time. There wasn’t time to have two votes one after the other, so I did the best thing I could think of. Unfortunately it has been rather forced on us with little time left, and I’m not sure the intention was for there to be a vote at all, but I consider that essential. On reflection I should have asked Maxwell or Sean to start a separate discussion so that there could be a vote on the FSSN here and a separate vote on the other discussion about fund-raising, but I didn’t think of that until it was too late. That’s what happens when people are forced into taking quick action…
agree. i think there is also a general consensus in the community, let us move forward, and get it done
hey @goob or any other who has access to our social media accounts: mind posting a link to this vote from the official Diaspora HQ account if that has not been done?
I think maybe we should accept that we don’t have consensus on crowd funding, and that we should move that discussion to another page, and see if we can work out an acceptable proposal for the longer term?
@nickdowson we have before agreed that votes are passed on majority, not total concensus - which would be impossible to achieve in any larger community.
What you propose will be what will happen if ‘abstain’ wins
thx for explaining @goob You were forced into quick action because of… have the crowdfunding started in time of the anniversary or what?
@jasonrobinson I’m afraid I don’t have access to social media accounts, just the DHQ account in Diaspora. I’d rather let @seantilleycommunit make such an important ‘official’ announcement such as this one.
@groovehunter see Maxwell’s message that started this discussion - he was planning to start the crowdfunding on Monday, in two days’ time. I believe we need some form of community consensus before taking such action, as has been our practice over the past 12 months. This is why the need for a quick vote.
@goob I meant the DHQ account - really only a link here would be enough to tell people there is a vote ongoing. We have nothing to announce yet
@seantilleycommunit - could you post something? Would be nice to get a large mandate for this.
@jasonrobinson - actually I don’t think this community is so big that it would be difficult to achieve consensus, I’ve used consensus decision making in far more difficult circumstances.
Actually, I am aware that the agreement was not to use consensus, but I still think it’s a desirable thing to aim for - rather than alienating people.
ok, so it is fair to say everyone thinks the FSSN is a good idea. Shall we include it in the announcement tomorrow?
Yeah I think it’s safe to say the FSSN is a go (yay!) but the crowd-funding not (nay :’-( )
@maxwellsalzberg do you have an announcement ready? Would you like to put it here somewhere just if someone has some opinions about it?