Month: January 2006

MusicBrainz web service: Time to adopt a Tos?

I recently got word that at least one for-profit company (who shall remain nameless right now) is/was using the MusicBrainz web service in their paid commercial offering. Personally, I don’t think its OK for a for-profit company to be consuming the resources of a non-profit — we make all of our data and software available … Continue reading “MusicBrainz web service: Time to adopt a Tos?”

I recently got word that at least one for-profit company (who shall remain nameless right now) is/was using the MusicBrainz web service in their paid commercial offering. Personally, I don’t think its OK for a for-profit company to be consuming the resources of a non-profit — we make all of our data and software available for companies to download and use for free (as in speech and beer). If someone wants to use our data for their product, they should do it with their own resources.

For the first set version of the Terms of Service, I would like to keep things simple and not add too many rules. Given that I would like to solicit feedback about adopting the following Terms of Service for the web service:

I’d like to get some feedback on this, so please leave a comment:

  • Does this make sense philosophically?
  • Do you spot any problems with this setup?
  • What else should we consider?

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Profit and Loss of the MetaBrainz Foundation for 2005

I just posted the Profit and Loss statement (PDF) for the MetaBrainz Foundation’s fiscal year 2005: Income 4010 Income – Donations – PayPal $ 13,768.31 4020 Income – Donations – General $ 3,980.10 4040 Income – Licenses – Live Data Feed $ 2,465.74 4070 Income – Bank – Interest $ 13.02 4080 Income – Affiliate … Continue reading “Profit and Loss of the MetaBrainz Foundation for 2005”

I just posted the Profit and Loss statement (PDF) for the MetaBrainz Foundation’s fiscal year 2005:

Income
4010 Income – Donations – PayPal $ 13,768.31
4020 Income – Donations – General $ 3,980.10
4040 Income – Licenses – Live Data Feed $ 2,465.74
4070 Income – Bank – Interest $ 13.02
4080 Income – Affiliate – Amazon $ 122.66
   Total Income $ 20,349.83
 
Expense
5020 Expense – Bank – PayPal $ 818.60
5040 Expense – Hosting – CCCP $ 1,174.00
5050 Expense – Rent – Higuera Office $ 2,000.00
5070 Expense – Hardware $ 4,661.47
5080 Expense – Travel $ 802.41
5090 Expense – Internet $ 264.31
5100 Expense – Marketing $ 155.00
5110 Expense – Development $ 2,486.15
5120 Expense – Supplies $ 51.52
5130 Expense – Gifts $ 186.90
5140 Expense – Events $ 355.02
   Total Expense $ 12,955.38
 
   Net Income $ 7,394.45

I’ve also posted the Balance Sheet for 2005 (PDF) and the Balance Sheet for December 2005 (PDF). While we weren’t wildly successful for our first full year in operation, we stayed in the black the entire time and certainly showed that we have a lot of public support. And the IRS cares much about public support for tax exempt non-profits.

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Fundraiser complete: $1,318.86 raised!

The year end fundraiser totalled $1,318.86 (+$100) dollars and thus exceeded our goal for purchasing new hardware! Thanks to everyone who donated in the last days of 2005! The top donors were: AgentArts – $500 Alexander Dupuy – $100 Christopher Wilson – $100 (pledged, but not received yet) Drew Hess – $50 Mathew Philip – … Continue reading “Fundraiser complete: $1,318.86 raised!”

The year end fundraiser totalled $1,318.86 (+$100) dollars and thus exceeded our goal for purchasing new hardware!

Thanks to everyone who donated in the last days of 2005! The top donors were:

  • AgentArts – $500
  • Alexander Dupuy – $100
  • Christopher Wilson – $100 (pledged, but not received yet)
  • Drew Hess – $50
  • Mathew Philip – $25
  • Mark Nicholson – $25
  • Mario Lia – $25
  • Alexander Van Vucht – $25
  • Eric Duerr – $25
  • Geof Morris – $25

Thank you everyone!!

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