The basic argument is this: there is a movement afoot to harness the power of business for social change. This includes newly-minted foundations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, corporate-social-responsibility (CSR) programmes and social entrepreneurs. These philanthrocapitalists are undermining the independence and social mission of civil society. As a result, we are missing out on real social transformation, and maybe even risking our democracy.

Brendan Eich:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Brendan_Eich_Mozilla_Foundation_official_photo.jpg

Mitchell Baker

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Mitchell_Baker.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Making_Technology_Governance_Work_%2845944069385%29_%28cropped%29.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Mike_Schroepfer.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Mark_Surman.jpg

Many of the founders fund OpenDemocracy.

The founders of the website have been involved with established media and political activism. It has been funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation among other organisations including the Open Society Foundation the National Endowment for Democracy, the Ford Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.[1]

openDemocracy is owned and published through a non-profit foundation. It has been funded by a number of philanthropic organisations, including George Soros' Open Society Initiative for Europe, the Mott Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Ford Foundation, David and Elaine Potter Foundation, Lush, Andrew Wainwright Trust and the Network for Social Change.[4]

Lots of neocosn on the board of directors for many of these faux democacy corproations.

The Mozilla Foundation will ultimately control the activities of the Mozilla Corporation and will retain its 100 percent ownership of the new subsidiary. Any profits made by the Mozilla Corporation will be invested back into the Mozilla project. There will be no shareholders, no stock options will be issued and no dividends will be paid. The Mozilla Corporation will not be floating on the stock market and it will be impossible for any company to take over or buy a stake in the subsidiary. The Mozilla Foundation will continue to own the Mozilla trademarks and other intellectual property and will license them to the Mozilla Corporation. The Foundation will also continue to govern the source code repository and control who is allowed to check in.[6]

Not a bad idea...