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Mozilla turns for-profit
By James Niccolai, IDG News Service and Kieren McCarthy, Techworld
The Mozilla Foundation is to turn for-profit with a new incorporated arm to push the Firefox browser and Thunderbird e-mail application.
The Mozilla Corporation will generate revenue and profit, act as a taxable entity, and take on all the existing paid staff, but the Foundation said that it was "eager to emphasise that [Mozilla Corp.] will pursue the same public benefit goals as the Foundation itself and will not be driven purely by revenue goals"
The non-profit Mozilla Foundation, whose software has been built through the open-source software model, will continue to exist and will be the sole owner of the corporation. Any profits made will be put back into the "Mozilla project" the organisation said.
The stated idea is that "by moving product development out to a new subsidiary, the Mozilla Foundation hopes to be able to concentrate on project and policy issues." The corporation will not have shareholders, offer stock options or provide dividends.
"The Mozilla Corporation is not a typical commercial entity. Rather, it is dedicated to the public benefit goal at the heart of the Mozilla project, which is to keep the Internet open and available to everyone," said Mozilla Corp.'s new president, Mitchell Baker. Mozilla products will remain free and open source.
http://www.techworld.com/applications/news/index.cfm?NewsID=4154
By James Niccolai, IDG News Service and Kieren McCarthy, Techworld
The Mozilla Foundation is to turn for-profit with a new incorporated arm to push the Firefox browser and Thunderbird e-mail application.
The Mozilla Corporation will generate revenue and profit, act as a taxable entity, and take on all the existing paid staff, but the Foundation said that it was "eager to emphasise that [Mozilla Corp.] will pursue the same public benefit goals as the Foundation itself and will not be driven purely by revenue goals"
The non-profit Mozilla Foundation, whose software has been built through the open-source software model, will continue to exist and will be the sole owner of the corporation. Any profits made will be put back into the "Mozilla project" the organisation said.
The stated idea is that "by moving product development out to a new subsidiary, the Mozilla Foundation hopes to be able to concentrate on project and policy issues." The corporation will not have shareholders, offer stock options or provide dividends.
"The Mozilla Corporation is not a typical commercial entity. Rather, it is dedicated to the public benefit goal at the heart of the Mozilla project, which is to keep the Internet open and available to everyone," said Mozilla Corp.'s new president, Mitchell Baker. Mozilla products will remain free and open source.
http://www.techworld.com/applications/news/index.cfm?NewsID=4154
