[mythtv-users] Written proof that we've all been conned about SD

Matt skd5aner at gmail.com
Mon Sep 10 22:09:47 UTC 2007


On 9/10/07, match at ece.utah.edu <match at ece.utah.edu> wrote:
> On 9 Sep 2007 at 18:34, Chris Petersen wrote:
>
> > Funny.  I'm the guy who holds the SD checkbook, and so far the only
> > person who has been "paid" by SD was the guy who offered us a *large*
> > interest-free loan so we could make our down payment to TMS (meaning,
> > he's losing the interest that he would otherwise gain by keeping it in
> > the bank).  Because we're a non-profit, we *can't* pay ourselves or the
> > IRS would come after us with gigantic tax penalties.  If you don't
> > believe us when we say so, then wait until it's time for SD to file its
> > annual taxes, and you can see for yourselves (since as a non-profit,
> > that information will be public).
>
> Chris, are you sure that's true? I believe non-profit corps are allowed to pay
> wages to their employees, they just can't pay dividends or bonuses to their
> stockholders and board members.
>
> > That doesn't mean that we don't hope/plan to use any excess money to
> > contribute back to the FOSS community so that the developers of projects
> > like MythTV, Freevo and XMLTV don't have to continuously use their own
> > money to pay for trade show exhibits, newly-released tuner cards, etc.
> > It does still mean that even though I'm a MythTV developer, I couldn't
> > take ANY money or hardware that wasn't immediately consumed for another
> > purpose (e.g printing Knopmyth CDs to give away) while I sit on the SD
> > board.
>
> I'm no lawyer. I don't even play one on TV... so feel free to set me straight.
>
> The way I understand it, no, you could not be compensated for the work you
> do in your role as an SD board member, but if you were to work in the SD
> mailroom for 2 hours, or sweep the floors in the hallowed halls of SD
> corporate headquarters, then SD *COULD* (doesn't have to) pay you for
> those 2 hours a reasonable amount, like whatever a corporation would pay
> an entry-level mail clerk or janitor, like $7 an hour... not $300.
>
> Now then, if you attend a board meeting that lasts all night long, then sorry,
> you do that for free.
>

I'm not sure even that's true... I don't know much about the topic of
non-profit other than my wife worked as the payroll coordinator for a
non-profit organization for 3 years.  I do know that every single
person who worked there, include the president, CEO, and CFO all made
a salary, including bonuses.  I don't know about other board members
who weren't "employees".  All I know is that the folks near the top
made a huge ammount of money in both salary and bonuses - what dollar
figure, I don't know other than my wife made it obvious it was a lot.
The rest of the staff (~80 or so) all made salary or were paid hourly
- respectably so.

I don't bring this up because I care if the SD people make more or
not.  I would like a free solution, but I don't mind paying $20/year
if that's the last resort.  Anyway, that's besides the point... I
bring this up because I do know people can make a living (a very
GOOOOOOOOD living) working for a non-profit organization, just don't
know how those rules are determined and who is and isn't eligable for
payout.

Thanks!
Matt


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