[LUAU] eWaste Legislation, ecycling, and You

[R. Scott Belford]

Aloha

Thanks for taking the time to reply and to provide some opinion and 
insight on the matter.  I removed the HOSEF-announce list in this reply 
only because we try to keep it announce focused only.  With respect to 
LUAU, I'll keep this reply pretty tidy and encourage those interested in 
the bigger discussion of HOSEF to join us on hosef-managers at 
lists.hosef.org.

HOSEF, its vision, name, purpose, and early planning were born on LUAU 
as a public entity.  We achieved 501(c)(3) exemption because we defined 
certain exempt purposes for which we would operate, literally, right 
down to what percentage of our time we would be engaged in those 
activities.  It was at that point that we set out to see HOSEF fulfill 
these exempt purposes or cease to exist.

Life Cycle of a Public Charity - Jeopardizing Exemption

http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=123299,00.html

I have been faulted by many these last 6 years for being too focused on 
the hardware.  This is hardly the first time that someone has gotten 
involved and said 'gee, that's a lot of metal you are moving, let's quit 
that.'  It's a natural reaction, and I take responsibility for not being 
more explicit that it is simply my legal duty to adhere to the 
guidelines under which the IRS allowed us to organize.  I am a bit like 
a mule when it comes to grinding out duty, and I do my best to have fun 
with it.

There is no question that we need opportunities for people to get 
involved with FOSS in Hawaii without even knowing the name of HOSEF.  To 
that end I'll be following this email with some news about moving LUAU 
and the need for some leadership from one of you in the new Ubuntu LoCo 
that has fallen into our lap.  I encourage anyone to do anything they 
want to promote and sustain the use of FOSS, and I'll help with all my 
heart.

HOSEF has a legally defined mission to promote and sustain the use of 
FOSS by advocacy, outreach, and the use of previously discarded 
hardware.  If we don't do this, we don't exist.  There's a lot of good 
we accomplish and projects that we have initiated.  I respect that it is 
not what everyone wants to do.  As long as it is around, though, the 
world is better served when people help, volunteer, become members, 
serve as Directors, and share in an understanding of why we exist in the 
first place. There is so much good to be done with aloha, collaboration, 
and building rather than destroying.

Other than imploring LUAU now and perhaps on rare other occasions about 
ways to get involved, I'll trust that if any of HOSEF matters to you 
then you'll subscribe to one of our mailing lists at lists.hosef.org

--scott

-- 
R. Scott Belford
Founder/Executive Director
The Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation
P.O. Box 2644
Ewa Beach, HI 96706
808.689.6518 phone/fax
scott at hosef.org


Jim Thompson wrote:
> Scott,
> 
> With respect, I submit that HOSEF (as a board and membership) should 
> consider exiting the "eWaste" business, re-writing the governance 
> documents as needed to effect this change.  As an "Open Source Education 
> Foundation", HOSEF's mission should be advocacy and awareness, not 
> entitlement or the environment.  While HOSEF has traditionally had a 
> foot in both waters, the time may have come for HOSEF to "spin off" the 
> eWaste side of things into a new, purpose-driven entity, with all its 
> wood behind one arrowhead.   In this manner, both can proceed forward.
> 
> I have grave concerns that should HB 2509 and SB 2843 pass, and be 
> signed into law, that HOSEF could fall afoul of the "manufacturer" 
> designation, and most certainly be a "retailer", (you've already 
> arranged for storefront), and thus be "on the hook" for paying the 
> "fees" associated with these bills.    Cheap PCs?  Fugetaboutit.
> 
> California's equivalent law is structured such that the manufacturer and 
> consumer bear the fees, and doesn't make a hobbyist, building a few 
> computers in his basement for family and friends subject to an annual 
> $5,000 fee.   Consider the impact on the small and medium business were 
> all 50 states to pass a law like that proposed in Hawaii.   Such an 
> entity would end up paying $250,000 per year just to be in business.
> 
> SB 2843 and HB 2509 *CAN'T* pass if Hawaii is to have a hi-tech 
> industry.   Their combined weight, as law, would bomb the struggling 
> computer industry in Hawaii back to the stone age.
> 
> Also, a newer PC may end up doing far less harm *long-term* to the 
> environment, never mind the new 'lead-free' stuff, it may end up using 
> far less power than the P4 you've got vibrating in the corner.
> Anyone up for a head-to-head PowerTop 
> <http://opensolaris.org/os/project/tesla/Work/Powertop/> cage bout? My 
> 'new' (last year's) Linux deskside is down to 18 or so wakeups/s when 
> idle. But I'm still dorking around with the kernel .config so that 
> number might move by the time I have things the way I want them. Lots of 
> time in deep C states, and the CPU area is cool to the touch.
> 
> And who else finds it curious that Digital TV becomes mandatory February 
> 17, 2009, and this law will have come into effect?   Seems like a "cash 
> grab" to me.  Want a new TV?  They're far more expensive in Hawaii, and 
> not just due to shipping!  Moreover, it does *nothing* to reduce the 
> incredible number of TVs that will end up in the landfill(s) as people 
> "turn over" with the DTV transition.
> 
> All, please call your senator and representative and express a "No Way!" 
> on these bills.
> 
> To be clear, I think the goal of reducing eWaste covered by SB 2843 and 
> HB 2509 is worthy, but the structure of both bills is a long way from a 
> solution that is good for Hawaii.
> 
> Jim