[MLB-WIRELESS] Fw: Internet Sharing

[darrend at ndpgroup.com.au]

Well said Clae... in my discussions with ACA and AG's Dept, they were both 
quite satisfied with our status as 'non-profit' and 'non-commercial' in 
exactly the terms you mentioned. FYI they were both very positive toward 
our situation.

According to the act(in vic), inc associations cannot distibute profit to 
members and as such are non-profit by nature. 

As far as providing internet access to members who are paying for that 
service, that complicates things a little and I believe would require some 
further _discussion/negotiation_ with the ACA.

If someone were to provide a pipe for free on the otherhand...... :)

Darren Dreis
Vice President
Melbourne Wireless Inc.
vicepresident at wireless.org.au
http://www.wireless.org.au





Clae <clae at tpg.com.au>
Sent by: owner-melbwireless at wireless.org.au
16/02/2003 12:10 PM

 
        To:     <melbwireless at wireless.org.au>
        cc: 
        Subject:        Re: [MLB-WIRELESS] Fw: Internet Sharing

There's a difference between "profit" and "surplus".  A for-profit 
business distributes surplus income to its owners/shareholders; 
that's called profit.   A non-profit group is perfectly allowed to 
generate an operating surpus, it just can't distribute it.  Any 
"profit" from particular activities has to be ploughed back into the 
group's core activities.  MW makes a small surplus on the BBQs, but 
it all goes back into MW, so it's not profit, just fundraising.

OK, that takes care of the ATO, as far as the ACA is concerned it is 
probably best if any charge for internet access is only enough to 
cover costs.  Maybe.

Clae.

My $0.02, IANAL, YMMV etc

At 11:43 AM +1100 16/2/03, rik wrote:
>would "+ Involves the exchange of money for a profit" still be in efect 
igf
>they where making a loss by having "open days" so they end up with zero 
in
>there bank balance?
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jon Teh" <jon at unicomsystems.com>
>To: "Jamie Lovick" <jalovick at doof.org>
>Cc: "rik" <mibz at optushome.com.au>; <melbwireless at wireless.org.au>; "Rick"
><rrgordon at netspace.net.au>
>Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2003 10:44 AM
>Subject: Re: [MLB-WIRELESS] Fw: Internet Sharing
>
>
>>  On Sat, Feb 15, 2003 at 05:04:43PM +1030, Jamie Lovick wrote:
>>  >
>>  > As mentioned in my original Email, this has not been finalised. It 
may
>>  > not even happen.
>>  >
>>  > Regards
>>  >
>>  > Jamie
>>  >
>>  > On Sat, 15 Feb 2003, rik wrote:
>>  >
>>  > > didnt they say communitee/non profit groups could do it without a
>licence?
>>  > >
>>  > > i belive i heard this being said
>>
>>  Jamie,
>>
>>  this seems to pretty solid from what I can see, in the latest
>>  ACA Connections magazine (dead tree), there is an article about the
>>  clarification, I'll summarise as follows:
>>
>>
>>  * Commercial use of wireless technologies - OK for use outside
>>  immediate circle (usually employees) without carrier licence, if
>>  it is a hotspot configuration, and not having multiple hops over
>>  unlicensed wireless, and Internet access is OK.
>>
>>  * Non-Commercial use of wireless technologies - Internet access and
>>  other data applications OK. Not limited to hotspot setup. According
>>  to the ACA, 'commmercial' is seen as an arrangement that fulfills
>>  any of the following criteria:
>>
>>  + Assosciated with an entity which is a business/has
>>    an ABN.
>>  + Provides a guarantee/contract of Service Level.
>>  + Involves the exchange of money for a profit.
>>
>>
>>  If more than a few people want to see this article, I can get the 
magazine
>>  and scan it in; but I suspect it's pretty much the same thing that is 
up
>>  on the web, just more polish for paper form.
>>
>>  Hope this helps,
>>
>>  -- Jon Teh
>
>
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