This explains how to request refunds and what can be funded by SPI
Co-Author: Stefano Sabatini <stefasab at gmail.com>
---
Makefile | 2 +-
src/spi | 98 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
src/spi_js | 0
src/spi_title | 1 +
src/template_head2 | 1 +
5 files changed, 101 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
create mode 100644 src/spi
create mode 100644 src/spi_js
create mode 100644 src/spi_title
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0686e44..dd681e4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
# ffmpeg.org HTML generation from source files
SRCS = about bugreports consulting contact donations documentation download \
- olddownload index legal shame security archive
+ olddownload index legal shame security spi archive
HTML_TARGETS = $(addsuffix .html,$(addprefix htdocs/,$(SRCS)))
diff --git a/src/spi b/src/spi
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fffc7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/spi
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+<p>
+SPI (Software in the Public Interest) is a non-profit corporation
+registered in the state of New York founded to act as a fiscal sponsor
+for organizations that develop open source software and hardware. For
+details check here:
+<a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/">www.spi-inc.org</a>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+FFmpeg is an SPI associated project and donations can be collected and
+handled by SPI on behalf of FFmpeg. For details about the association
+check here:
+<a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/projects/ffmpeg/">www.spi-inc.org/projects/ffmpeg/</a>
+</p>
+
+<br>
+
+<h4>How to request refunds from SPI:</h4>
+<p>
+Send a mail to ffmpeg-devel with the [REFUND-REQUEST] tag and a short
+description of the refund topic in the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the mail, you also need to provide the amount to be refunded, with
+a short description of how the money was spent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is no need and is not recommeded to send receipts when sending
+the refund request on the ffmpeg-devel mailing-list, but they are
+usually needed later when the request is approved and the refund
+request is sent to SPI:
+<a href="https://www.spi-inc.org/treasurer/reimbursement-form/">www.spi-inc.org/treasurer/reimbursement-form</a>
+</p>
+
+<br>
+<h4>What can be payed by SPI:</h4>
+<p>
+FFmpeg money collected at SPI can be used for any purpose which is in line with
+501(c)3 nonprofit rules, and within our mission (Free & OSS software).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In practice we frequently payed for travel and hardware.
+For other refund expenses or sponsorships, it is recommended to
+discuss them beforehand on ffmpeg-devel. If there is a community
+agreement on their approval, the current FFmpeg liaison will followup
+to get an approval on the SPI side.
+</p>
+
+
+<br>
+<h4>Funding active development by SPI:</h4>
+<p>
+The texts below have been taken from multiple replies FFmpeg has
+received from SPI, they have been edited
+so that "I" was replaced by "SPI" in some cases.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Paying for development *does* require substantial
+additional paperwork, but it is not prohibited.
+</p>
+<p>
+Several SPI projects pay contractors for development
+efforts. SPI needs a contract in place which describes the work to be
+done. There are also various things SPI needs to check about the potential
+contractors(e.g. are they a US person or not, as with GSoC mentor payments;
+are they really a contractor and not a employee).
+</p>
+<p>
+SPI can't deal with employment at the moment because that involves a
+lot of work, like health insurance, tax withholding, etc. Contractors
+are easier because they have to take care of that themselves; Whether
+someone is a contractor vs employee depends on various factors (that
+of course are different in every country) and can be disputed (see
+e.g. the debate about whether Uber drivers are employees); SPI has a
+questionnaire about their circumstances.
+</p>
+<p>
+Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits all when dealing with
+contractors, especially without knowing the contributor's country.
+</p>
+<p>
+SPI does have some contract templates which depends on the contractors
+country. In case of US, Australia, France and a couple others
+countries, SPI can easily provide them, otherwise SPI would need to
+ask their attorney to draft one, which would take some time
+</p>
+<p>
+Also, SPI has two models, MSA (which transfers ownership) and CSA (which
+grants a license instead). SPI usually sends the MSA (it's better for most
+purposes), but for development purposes, some projects prefer that the
+contractor retains ownership rights.
+</p>
+
+<br><br>
+
diff --git a/src/spi_js b/src/spi_js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/src/spi_title b/src/spi_title
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..389532a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/spi_title
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+SPI
diff --git a/src/template_head2 b/src/template_head2
index 7ba634b..79d2f51 100644
--- a/src/template_head2
+++ b/src/template_head2
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
<li><a href="developer.html#Contributing">Contribute</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fate.ffmpeg.org">FATE</a></li>
<li><a href="http://coverage.ffmpeg.org">Code Coverage</a></li>
+ <li><a href="spi.html">Funding through SPI</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#">More</a>
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2.17.1