QUOTE(Adrignola @ Tue 4th October 2011, 6:59pm)
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/found...ber/069299.htmlQUOTE
The WMF isn't allowed to lobby for or against legislation, per our 501c3
non-profit status in the US. This is not necessarily true for chapters
though, and definitely not true for the communities.
But guess how the media will see this situation? Seems like this is the best avenue yet for those seeking revocation of non-profit status to fulfill their desires.
The statement is also wrong. Non-profits
may lobby for or against legislation, when the legislation is relevant to their purpose as a non-profit; virtually all responsible non-profits have, at some time, issued a policy statement related to some proposed legislation, and some non-profits do little but. What non-profits may absolutely not do is campaign for or against a candidate for office.
In any case, whoever said that the WMF is not permitted to lobby for or against legislation (apparently Ryan Kaldari) is an idiot. But we already knew that.