[Wswss] Dissolving WSWSS: legal questions

[Wayne Overbeck]

All day, I've been thinking about the process of 
closing down the WSWSS.  It seems to me that 
there may be some legal questions to be 
addressed.

Paul didn't mention consulting an attorney when 
he outlined how he proposes to dispose of 
the organization's treasury.  If he hasn't 
already done so, I think he should use some of 
the money to consult an attorney with expertise 
in nonprofit corporations--for his own protection 
and that of the other former officers and members.

My concern is that in this internet era it may not 
be as simple to abolish an incorporated entity 
as it once was.

Paul says he will be informing the California 
Secretary of State and the federal IRS that 
the organization no longer exists.  I assume 
that is necessary to end the burden of regular 
financial reporting to state and federal 
authorities.  I don't think any of us wants 
to take on that burden.  Nor should Paul be 
stuck with it indefinitely.

But I have a hunch there might be someone at 
the IRS, for example, who knows how to use 
Google.  If you Google WSWSS, you quickly 
find the WSWSS website, which is excellent and 
looks very much like the website of an active 
organization.  Then there's the matter of this 
very active reflector--which everyone seems to 
want to preserve.

The legal question, I think, is whether an 
organization that no longer exists can continue 
to have such an active online presence.  Can 
we get out of this merely by changing the name 
on the website and the reflector?  Or does the 
IRS even care how active an organization is after 
it ceases to exist?

73,
Wayne, N6NB



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