Normally I ignore this stuff, but the insinuation that AO3 is secretly some manipulative scheme to enrich people is just blatantly false.
so many of ao3′s userbase is so adamant that ao3 is nonprofit
Yeah because it is. Look up the Organization for Transformative Works in the IRS database of tax exempt organizations, or GuideStar’s non-profit report listing. EIN 38-3765024, BRIDGE Number 5584273916.
Let’s check out their Form 990 and see how much they paid their staffers:
And it’s a whooping $0.00.
Oh heaven forbid. It’s pretty standard for any moderately-sized nonprofit to make conservative investments, so that their reserves do more than simply accrue interest in a bank account. Nobody is taking a vacation to Comoros on that money.
“Once nonprofits get larger, however, some are able to start thinking for the future. Taking money and putting it toward longer-term goals like capital spending or a permanent endowment requires prudent investment. In order to take initial seed money and grow it into a substantial nest egg for use toward those longer-term charitable purposes, nonprofits are allowed to invest in stocks, bonds, funds, and other typical investments.”
https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/can-a-nonprofit-organization-invest-in-stock.aspx
it’s owned by a corporation
Yes, AO3 is part of the Organization for Transformative Works, which is indeed incorporated. Again, pretty standard for a charity. Let’s review the OTW’s Certificate of Incorporation:
it’s been in beta for literal fucking years
Finally… who cares? Gmail was in beta for five years, and that was with all the resources of Google behind it and 100 million people already using it.
“the label is just a way for Google to signal users that they’re still tweaking the e-mail service and adding new features”
Same thing for AO3. The reason AO3 is in beta is because it doesn’t have a finalized codebase and it’s too unstable to make an API out of. They could put out a post tomorrow saying ‘we’re out of beta’ and nobody would bat an eye. The website isn’t perfect, but it’s more than functional. And yes, there are a lot of features that can’t be added without overtaxing the existing hardware resources, so why not try a GreasyFork userscript?
tl;dr - I have to write this every year, but AO3 is still not a scam. It is a non-profit. None of the staffers even get paid. It exists solely for a charitable purpose, a purpose which has been acknowledged and validated by the Internal Revenue Service.
