Rogue archivist and other in$ider$ at Public.Resource.Org earn ea$y ca$h

Thanks to Canadian science fiction author and blogger Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing, I learned all about “10 Rules for Radicals” by rogue archivist Carl Malamud. Apparently, it’s “a must-read for anyone interested in the history or future of universal access, open networks and free societies.” I can’t speak to that, but I did take the time to browse the financial paperwork (IRS Tax Form 990s and audited financial statements) of Public.Resource.Org, Inc., (PRO) a California nonprofit public benefit corporation founded in 2007 by Mr. Malamud to “create, architect, design, implement, operate and maintain public works projects on the Internet.” Here are some of the more interesting bits:

• Carl Malamud, president and CEO of Public.Resource.Org, earned $144,000 in compensation for 2007; $147,962 in compensation for 2008; and $149,928 in compensation for 2009.

• In 2007, Public.Resource.Org signed a related-party agreement for “services and office space” with Dover Beach Consulting, which is owned by Board of Directors member Marshall T. Rose. In 2007, PRO paid $21,000 for these services. In 2008, PRO paid $17,500 for these services.

• In 2007, Public.Resource.Org signed a related-party agreement for design services with Point B Studio, which is owned by Rebecca Hargrave Malamud, the ex-wife of president and CEO Carl Malamud. In 2007, PRO paid $16,833 for these services. In 2008, PRO paid $23,400 for these services. In 2009, PRO paid $14,000 for these services.

• In 2007, Public.Resource.Org signed a related-party lease for office space and data communication access with O’Reilly Media, which is owned by an unnamed member of the Board of Directors. In 2007, PRO paid $4,726 for office space. In 2008, PRO paid $6,808 in rent for use of the space. In 2009, PRO paid $7,080 in rent for use of the space.

• In 2008, President and CEO Carl Malamud sold to Public.Resource.Org computer and video equipment appraised at $34,100 for $14,000. The balance of $20,100 was recorded as an in-kind contribution. Malamud also donated a domain name for exclusive use by PRO, appraised at $12,400. This, too, was recorded as an in-kind contribution.

No word on whether Public.Resource.Org intends to change its name to Self.Dealing.Org.

Conservative think tank has greater financial transparency than EFF

Despite a board of directors that includes prominent (but aging) revolutionaries, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based non-profit organization founded in 1990 that defends the digital rights of consumers and “continues to confront cutting-edge issues,” definitely will not be winning any Best Practices awards for financial disclosure and transparency (D&T) in the near future. Here is EFF’s digital commitment to D&T, as posted on its website:

• 2008-2009 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2006 Annual Report

Contrast that with these documents, all posted on the website of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based research and educational institution whose mission is “to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense”:

• 2009 Annual Report

• 2008 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2006 Annual Report

• 2005 Annual Report

• 2004 Annual Report

• 2003 Annual Report

• 2002 Annual Report

• 2008 Audited Financial Statements

• 2007 Audited Financial Statements

• 2006 Audited Financial Statements

Never thought the Heritage Foundation would be considered more progressive than the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Learn something new every day, eh Monarch.

So, how much money is in the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund?

Source: IRS Form 990s
as filed by the
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Nation's oldest botanical garden has greater financial transparency than EFF

Despite a board of directors that includes prominent entrepreneurs, technologists and revolutionaries such as John Gilmore, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based non-profit organization founded in 1990 that defends the digital rights of consumers, probably will not win any Best Practices awards for financial disclosure and transparency (D&T) in the near future. Here is EFF’s digital commitment to D&T, for all of you counter-revolutionaries who are plotting along at home:

• 2008-2009 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2006 Annual Report

Contrast that with these documents, all posted on the website of the Missouri Botanical Garden, a non-profit organization founded in 1859 and the nation's oldest botanical garden in continuous operation:

• 2009 Annual Report

• 2008 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2008 IRS Form 990

• 2007 IRS Form 990

• 2006 IRS Form 990

• 2008/2009 Audited Financial Statements

• 2007/2008 Audited Financial Statements

Pictured: Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw, proud of his organization's commitment to D&T.

Google CEO’s private family foundation has greater financial transparency than EFF

Despite a board of directors that includes prominent computer science professors such as Lorrie Faith Cranor and David Farber, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based public charity founded in 1990 that defends the digital rights of consumers, probably will not win any Best Practices awards for financial disclosure and transparency (D&T) in the near future. Here is EFF’s digital commitment to D&T, for all you geeks who are keeping score at home:

• 2008-2009 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2006 Annual Report

Contrast that with these documents, all posted on the website of the Schmidt Family Foundation, a private foundation established in 2006 by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, whose mission is to “advance the creation of an increasingly intelligent relationship between human activity and the use of the world’s natural resources”:

• 2008 Annual Report

• 2008 Audited Financial Statements

• 2008 IRS Form 990–PF

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2007 Audited Financial Statements

• 2007 IRS Form 990–PF

• 2006 Annual Report

• 2006 Audited Financial Statements

• 2006 IRS Form 990–PF

Pictured: EFF celebrates 20 years of lack of D&T.

Public Knowledge: Open-access nonprofit that won’t open its financial books to public

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) isn’t the only cutting-edge, open-access, non-profit organization that refuses to open its financial books to the public by posting them on the Internet. Public Knowledge (PK), a public-interest advocacy group in Washington D.C. “working to assure the future remains open, and that democratic principles and cultural values -- openness, access and the capacity to create and compete -- are given new embodiment in the digital age,” also refuses to post its IRS Form 990’s and audited financial statements on its website, even though PK professes to be “dedicated to fortifying and defending a vibrant information commons" and invites consumers and the public to donate money to it online.

Nixon Foundation has greater financial transparency than EFF

Despite a board of directors that includes prominent entrepreneurs and technologists such as Brad “Burning Man” Templeton, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based nonprofit founded in 1990 that spends consumers' money to defend consumers' digital rights, probably will not win any consumer awards for financial disclosure and transparency (D&T) in the near future. Here’s an update to EFF’s digital commitment to D&T, for all of you consumers who are taking notes at home:

• 2008-2009 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2006 Annual Report

Contrast that with these documents, all posted on the website of the Richard Nixon Foundation, a privately supported, non-profit institution dedicated to educating the public about the life, legacy, and times of the Thirty-Seventh President of the United States, located in Yorba Linda, California:

• 2008 IRS Form 990

• 2007 IRS Form 990

• 2006 IRS Form 990

• IRS Determination Letter

• Conflict of Interest Policy

• Gift Acceptance Policy

• Procedures – Public Inspection of Documents

Pictured: Tricky Dick gives the thumbs-up to D&T.

Mars Society needs a financial facelift

Paperwork filed by the Mars Society with the IRS over the past few years indicates that the financial color of the Colorado-based nonprofit is in danger of turning red. Under the longtime stewardship of its founder and president, rocket scientist and SF author Dr. Robert Zubrin, the Mars Society has burned through more than $2 million in the last seven fiscal years, recording an operating deficit in every year from FY 2002/2003 to FY 2008/2009. What has that done to the trajectory of net assets? Here’s the graph!

New VP of Authors Guild not only sells a lot of books, she buys a lot of politicians

Key West resident and best-selling YA novelist Judy Blume, who was recently installed as vice president of the embattled Authors Guild, not only sells a lot of books, she buys a lot of politicians. According to OpenSecrets.org, a website maintained by the Center for Responsive Politics, Blume has contributed more than $30,000 to the campaigns of various politicians since the year 1990, including contributions to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Bill Clinton, Bill Bradley, Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, John Kerry, Barack Obama and the DNC Services Corp. According to Judy’s Blog, Blume recently attended a May 2010 event at the White House.

Pictured: U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Judy Blume at the White House.

Electronic Frontier Foundation should apply for Creative Commons catalyst grant

Science fiction writer and copyright activist Cory Doctorow sez that the Creative Commons Corporation of Massachusetts is trying to raise a pool of $100,000 for Catalyst Grants, which would be used to invest in “people and organizations working to make knowledge easily, freely, and legally available to everyone.” Wonderful idea! Perhaps the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) of San Francisco should apply for one of these grants so its board of directors can attend a summer school class on “Financial Disclosure & Transparency (D&T) for 21st-century Nonprofits” at one of the Bay Area’s community colleges.

New president of Authors Guild not only sells a lot of books, he buys a lot of politicians

Chicago attorney and best-selling crime novelist Scott Turow, who was recently re-installed as president of New York City's antiquated Authors Guild, not only sells a lot of books, he buys a lot of politicians. According to OpenSecrets.org, a website maintained by the Center for Responsive Politics, Turow has contributed more than $25,000 to the campaigns of various politicians since the year 1990, including contributions to Paul Simon, Bill Clinton, Carol Moseley Braun, Danny K. Davis, Al Gore, Dick Durbin, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy, Howard Dean, John Kerry and the Prairie PAC. I wonder if Turow has contacted Larry Hoover Dan Rostenkowski Tony Rezko Rod Blagojevich Roland Burris Rahm Emanuel yet to complain about e-book piracy.

Top cat at Authors Guild is all $mile$

Thanks to the “papers please” policy of the New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, a stack of paperwork presented by the Authors Guild and its small gang of affiliated organizations reveals that Paul Aiken, the Guild’s executive director and top cat, earned $141,000 in compensation in FY 2008/2009, up from a mere $87,500 in the prior fiscal year. Aiken also benefited from the Guild’s tasty 401(k) plan, which “provides for a matching contribution by the Guild to a maximum of 4% (a plan amendment increased the matching contribution by 1% in 2008) of eligible employee compensation.” Toss in the $37,500 that Aiken earned in compensation in FY 2008/2009 for serving as executive director of the affiliated Authors Guild Foundation, plus the $20,000 he usually earns in "legal fees" from the affiliated Authors League Fund, and you’ll understand why this cat is all $mile$.

Controversial immigration reform group has greater financial transparency than EFF

Despite a board of directors that includes prominent information technologists such as Brewster “Internet Archive” Kahle, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based nonprofit founded in 1990 that defends the digital rights of consumers, probably will not be winning any digital rights awards for financial disclosure and transparency (D&T) in the near future. Here’s an update to EFF’s digital commitment to D&T, for all of you consumers who are recording the numbers at home:

• 2008-2009 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2006 Annual Report

Contrast that with these documents, all posted on the website of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a controversial national non-profit organization based in Washington that seeks to reform United States immigration policies:

• 2008 Annual Report and IRS Form 990

• 2007 Annual Report and IRS Form 990

• 2006 Annual Report and IRS Form 990

• 2005 Annual Report and IRS Form 990

• 2004 Annual Report and IRS Form 990

• 2003 Annual Report

• 2002 Annual Report

• 2001 Annual Report

Memo to Brewster Kahle: The Internet Archive has a copy of Rules and Regulations of the Insane Asylum of California (1861) but doesn’t have a copy of EFF’s 2001 Annual Report?

Proceeds from Authors Guild Foundation’s annual benefit dinner have fallen off the table

Thanks to the “papers please” policy of the New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, the audited financial statements of the Authors Guild Foundation (the “educational arm” of the Authors Guild) reveal that the proceeds from the organization’s annual benefit dinner held each spring have fallen off the table, declining in each of the last four years, from $294,647 in 2005 to $84,252 in 2009:

2005 Benefit Dinner
Revenue (net of direct expenses) was $294,647

2006 Benefit Dinner
Revenue (net of direct expenses of $56,314) was $216,522

2007 Benefit Dinner
Revenue (net of direct expenses of $51,842) was $180,983

2008 Benefit Dinner
Revenue (net of direct expenses of $52,635) was $174,875

2009 Benefit Dinner
Revenue (net of direct expenses of $49,948) was $84,252

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the slope of the graph. And how did the 2010 18th annual benefit dinner fare? We’ll have to wait until next year to read the “papers please” paperwork!

Father of Creative Commons licenses co-founds new nonprofit to change campaign finance laws

According to paperwork recently filed with the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Harvard Law School professor and "Free Culture" advocate Lawrence Lessig, who is also the father of the popular Creative Commons licenses, just co-founded a new non-profit organization called The Democracy Fund Inc. to change campaign finance laws. According to the articles of organization:

The purposes for which the corporation is organized are to advocate for a federal constitutional amendment, legislation and policies that will accomplish the public funding of campaigns, limit the ability of corporations and special interests to make expenditures in federal, state and local elections, and achieve other fundamental reform in the financing of election campaigns in the United States.

While the mission of The Democracy Fund Inc. seems to be in line with Lessig's recent piece in The Huffington Post, I would prefer that he leverage his skills, assets and networks to further the cause of financial reform in the nonprofit sector. Two reforms that Lessig could lobby Congress to institute:

• Prohibit nonprofits, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), from soliciting or accepting online donations unless they post their audited financial statements

• Prohibit nonprofits, such as the Creative Commons Corporation (CC), from soliciting or accepting personal loans from board members

Makes cents sense to me!

Tattered and torn, Authors Guild reinstalls Scott Turow as president

Struggling to repair its tattered public image and mend torn relations with a membership that has grown tired of a top-down “Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Them” approach to business, the cloistered leadership of the Authors Guild shelved Roy Blount Jr. and reinstalled lawyer and author Scott Turow as president at its recent annual meeting in New York City. Blount’s disastrous four-year tenure was marked by a number of public embarrassments for the dysfunctional organization, including:

• Guild executive director Paul Aiken’s comical statement in The Wall Street Journal that the experimental text-reading feature in Amazon’s Kindle 2 e-book reader does not “have the right to read a book out loud”

• U.S. Federal Judge Denny Chin’s stunning rejection of the landmark Google Book Settlement

• Guild board member Douglas Preston’s elitist declaration in The New York Times regarding the public outcry over rising ebook prices that “The sense of entitlement of the American consumer is absolutely astonishing. It’s the Wal-Mart mentality, which in my view is very unhealthy for our country. It’s this notion of not wanting to pay the real price of something.”

Scott Turow, a longtime Guild insider who previously served as its president in the late 1990s, has contributed nearly $50,000 to the Authors Guild Foundation since 2000.

Local zoo has greater financial transparency than Electronic Frontier Foundation

Despite a board of directors that includes prestigious legal scholars such as Professor Pamela Samuelson, and prominent alumni like über geek and SF author Cory Doctorow, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based public charity founded in 1990 that defends the digital rights of consumers, probably will not be winning any Best Practices awards for financial disclosure and transparency (D&T) in the near future. Here’s the extent of EFF’s online commitment to D&T, for all you gamers who are keeping score at home:

• 2008-2009 Annual Report

• 2007 Annual Report

• 2006 Annual Report

Contrast that with these documents, all posted on the website of the San Francisco Zoo, a decades-old, bricks-and-mortar nonprofit whose most famous resident was Monarch the grizzly bear:

• 2008-2009 Zoo Views Annual Report (coming soon!)

• 2009 Audited Financial Statement

• 2008 Annual Report Issue of Zoo Views Magazine

• 2008 Audited Financial Statement

• 2007 IRS 990 Form

• 2007 Audited Financial Statement

• 2006 IRS 990 Form

• 2006 Audited Financial Statement

• 2005 IRS 990 Form

• 2004 IRS 990 Form

• 2003 IRS 990 Form

• 2002 IRS 990 Form

If the Electronic Frontier Foundation wants consumers to type in credit card numbers so they can make generous donations and purchase cheap swag, it should at least have the courtesy to post its audited financial statements. I mean good manners don't cost nothing do they, eh Monarch?

EFF should celebrate its 20th anniversary by posting 15+ years of paperwork

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a tax-exempt, San Francisco-based nonprofit founded in 1990 that defends the digital rights of consumers and the general public and which spends a significant amount of OPM filing lawsuits against the United States government and large corporations over their lack of disclosure and transparency, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary by hosting a hell of a geeky birthday fundraiser.

Sadly, the EFF, which “continues to confront cutting-edge issues” and "makes documents available to the public by putting them on our website," has only three years of its annual reports, zero years of its audited financial statements, and zero years of its IRS Form 990s posted on its website. In other words, the EFF has a lot of work to do in improving its own disclosure and transparency.

Just curious: Did the $66,000 and $88,000 the EFF paid in consulting fees to science fiction author and former EFF employee Cory Doctorow in 2004 and 2005, respectively, cover meals & entertainment?

Directors of Heinlein Prize Trust have $weet gig

Last December, I posted the compensation figures for the top-paid employee at each of four national professional writer associations: SFWA, Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America and Romance Writers of America. In short, I concluded that the executive director of the RWA, who earned more than $100,000 in Tax Year 2007/2008, has a lovely gig!

Well, it seems that some of the directors of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust, a private foundation based in Houston that rewards accomplishments in commercial space activities, also have a sweet gig. Check out these Per Week of Work (p/w/w) numbers, all based on IRS Form 990 tax forms filed by the Trust and available for public inspection thanks to GuideStar and the Foundation Center:

Calendar Year 2003
• Art Dula, paid $35,000 for 10 hours p/w/w
• Buckner Hightower, paid $35,000 for 5 hours p/w/w
• James M. Vaughn, Jr., paid $35,000 for 5 hours p/w/w

Calendar Year 2004
• Art Dula, paid $95,000 for 20 hours p/w/w
• Buckner Hightower, paid $74,500 for 5 hours p/w/w
• James M. Vaughn, Jr., paid $37,000 for 5 hours p/w/w

Calendar Year 2005
• Art Dula, paid $147,000 for 20 hours p/w/w
• Buckner Hightower, paid $64,500 for 5 hours p/w/w
• James M. Vaughn, Jr., paid $35,000 for 5 hours p/w/w

Calendar Year 2006
• Art Dula, paid $61,000 for 20 hours p/w/w
• Buckner Hightower, paid $35,000 for 5 hours p/w/w
• James M. Vaughn, Jr., paid $35,000 for 5 hours p/w/w

Calendar Year 2007
Neither GuideStar nor the Foundation Center has the paperwork for Calendar Year 2007.

Calendar Year 2008
• Art Dula, paid $35,000 for 20 hours p/w/w
• Buckner Hightower, paid $55,000 for 5 hours p/w/w
• James M. Vaughn, Jr., paid $35,000 for 5 hours p/w/w

Speaking of rewarding accomplishments in commercial space activities, the Heinlein Prize Trust recently announced that it has made "a secured investment in Sea Launch Company, a California based commercial launch services provider that has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization since mid-2009."

Top-paid employee at SFWA, HWA, MWA, RWA

In light of the spirited and educational discussion that has taken place over the past two weeks about the pay rates being offered to pulp authors by Black Matrix Publishing, I thought it would be interesting to see what each of four national professional writer associations paid its top employee in terms of compensation (salary/wages) over the past few years. Note that all data was taken from IRS Form 990 tax forms filed by the organizations themselves and housed in a public database maintained by the Foundation Center (easier than linking to PDFs in GuideStar).