- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
It was for profit?
They previously had a pretty unique structure (gemeinnützige GmbH) but the german authorities stripped them from that status saying “free social media is not a public benefit purpose”.
Libre software isn’t a public benefit under German law?!?
Well at least not according to the legal view of the tax authorities… from what I have heard anecdotally over the years about german tax authorities, they seem to be very much not living in a 21st century digital world.
See also this comment in the other thread: https://lemmy.world/comment/14448522
Is this similar to what Proton did?
Is the money getting what it wants or is this making sure the money is quieter? I don’t understand.
Last year, the company formed a U.S.-based non-profit to get more funds and grants with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone on the board. At the same time, the organization lost its non-profit status in Germany at the same time.
While Mastodon relies on donations and sponsorships to operate, Bluesky, its main competitor working on a rival decentralized network, is reportedly raising a new funding round from investors at a $700 million valuation.
The blog post noted that the new Europe-based non-profit entity will wholly own the Mastodon GmbH for-profit entity. The organization is in the process of finalizing the place where the new entity will be set up.