[nettime-see] Another non-profit ICT foundation: Mozilla Foundation

[Zeljko Blace <zblace@alu.hr>]

It seems that ICT sector taking NGO model into account (lately).
After major cuts in AOL new Mozilla Foundation is set-up to save the
precious work put in Mozilla technologies in hope that as non-profit thay
will manage to sustain and support further development (supported by
corporations like AOL, SUN, Rad Hat...).
Hope thay manage to switch and I wish tham best of luck!

MOZILLA.ORG ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF THE MOZILLA FOUNDATION
TO LEAD OPEN-SOURCE BROWSER EFFORTS
America Online Pledges $2 Million to Help Launch Independent Non-Profit
Industry Leaders Reaffirm Support for Mozilla


Mountain View, CA, July 15, 2003 . Mozilla.org, the organization that
coordinates Mozilla open source development, today announced the launch of
a new foundation that will continue to promote the development,
distribution and adoption of the award-winning Mozilla standards-based web
applications and core technologies, including the Gecko browser layout
engine.  The Mozilla Foundation will continue and expand on the efforts of
mozilla.org, the group managing the daily operations of the Mozilla
project since its inception.

"It has been a long-standing objective of the Mozilla team to create an
independent organization so we can continue to lead and innovate," said
Mitchell Baker, Chief Lizard Wrangler at mozilla.org, who will become
President of The Mozilla Foundation.  "We're grateful for the past and
ongoing support of America Online, and we look forward to continuing to
work with AOL over coming years.  Mozilla was developed in an open source
environment and built by harnessing the creative power of thousands of
programmers on the Internet.  Going forward, we will continue to partner
with developers and industry leaders to keep content on the Web open."
Mozilla.org.s flagship product, Mozilla, is rapidly emerging as the most
widely acclaimed web browser, with PC World.s July issue honoring it as
.Best of 2003. in its category, LinuxJournal Magazine giving it an
.Editor.s Choice Award. for .Best Web Browser. (July issue) and eWeek
raving that .eWEEK Labs found the new features in Mozilla 1.4 ... to be
remarkable improvements that enhance what was already the best browser
option out there.. (July 1).  The Guardian recently predicted that
mozilla.org's upcoming new products .could make Microsoft's offerings look
very shabby indeed. (July 10).

In addition, Mozilla is a cross-platform toolkit for developing
Internet-based applications. By offering a set of components that can be
used in a wide range of applications, are all open source, free of charge
and have been tested through their use in Mozilla 1.4's end-user
applications, Mozilla 1.4 enables developers to build applications for a
cross-platform, network-centric world.

To help launch the new organization, America Online has pledged $2 million
in cash to the Mozilla Foundation over the next two years.  AOL will also
contribute additional resources through equipment, domain names and
trademarks, and related intellectual property, as well as providing some
transitional assistance for key personnel as they move into the new
organization.

Other industry leaders also offered their support to the new organization:
Mitch Kapor, the new Chairman of the Mozilla Foundation, is making a
personal contribution of $300,000, and Red Hat and Sun Microsystems are
among the companies planning to continue their contributions to the
Mozilla project.  

.As an independent organization, the Mozilla project will have even more
freedom to innovate and provide meaningful choice to users on all computer
environments.  A competitive, standards-compliant browser suite is vitally
important to maintaining freedom and innovation on the Internet, so I.m
delighted to make a contribution,. commented Kapor.  Kapor was the
designer of Lotus 1-2-3, the .killer application. that made personal
computers ubiquitous in the business world in the 1980s.  He currently
chairs the Open Source Applications Foundation.

"PC World's recognition of Mozilla in its Best of 2003 is further proof
that great software can be built using licenses that grant freedom instead
of imposing onerous restrictions,"  said Michael Tiemann, Chief Technology
Officer at Red Hat. "Mozilla has long been important to Red Hat, not only
for the experience it offers or the features it implements, but because it
extends our commitment to supporting W3C standards, interoperability, and
choice in the marketplace.  We are pleased to support the creation of the
Mozilla Foundation, and will continue to devote engineering resources to
increase the value of Mozilla over proprietary alternatives."

"Mozilla has consistently offered users the features, performance and
innovation instrumental to the  evolution of the Internet," said Curtis
Sasaki,  Vice President, Engineering, Desktop Solutions,  Sun
Microsystems.  "Sun is committed to the Mozilla technology and is
contributing significant engineering  resources to move it forward.  By
the end of July, Sun will ship Mozilla for the Solaris Operating  System
and make Mozilla the standard browser for Mad Hatter, Sun's Linux-based
desktop software stack, due later this year."

About mozilla.org and the Mozilla Foundation
Mozilla.org (www.mozilla.org) is the group that exists to make Mozilla a
successful open source project.  Mozilla.org provides open source Internet
client software that includes a browser, mail and news functionality, and
a toolkit for developing web-based applications.  Mozilla.org was founded
by Netscape Communications Corporation.

The Mozilla Foundation has been incorporated as a California public
benefit corporation and is seeking to obtain 501(c)(3) status as a
non-profit organization. It will continue to be based in Mountain View,
California.

Mozilla and the Mozilla logo are trademarks of the Mozilla Foundation.

Contact information
Mozilla Foundation:
- Bart Decrem, (650) 387-0625, bart@mozilla.org
- Catherine Corre, (650) 814-1356
America Online:
- Andrew Weinstein, (703) 265-1746


http://www.mozillafoundation.org/press/mozilla-foundation.html







.. :::...::  ::.:::...:..:.:: .. .. ::..::: .. ::.:: ..
                    .plan as a mission


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