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Kontor

Draft, November 2026

Principles and draft statutes

Kontor is meant to be run by a non-profit association that answers to its members and users – not to investors. Here are our promises and the draft statutes. Both are open for discussion.

Our principles

  1. No advertising and no paid reach.
  2. No use of personal data for advertising or AI training, no selling of data.
  3. Every feature for everyone – no Premium that puts basic rights such as access to your data behind a paywall.
  4. Your feed is yours: chronological or by rules you can see and choose.
  5. You can take your data and contacts with you at any time; open protocols, not lock-in.
  6. The software is free software (AGPL-3.0). Anyone can inspect, improve and run it.
  7. The community has a say: important rule changes are put to a vote.
  8. Open finances: income and expenses are published every year.

What is still open

  • This is a draft, not legal advice. Before founding, the tax office should review it (determination under § 60a AO).
  • A professional network is not automatically charitable: if it mainly serves its users’ economic interests, the tax office may deny charitable status. That is why the purpose centres on education, knowledge sharing and consumer protection – not brokering.
  • A job or project board could count as a taxable business activity. Whether and how it belongs is decided only after advice.
  • Registering as an e. V. requires seven founding members (§ 56 BGB).

Criticism and improvements are welcome as an issue on GitHub or by e-mail to business@moinsen.dev.

Draft statutes

This is an English translation for information; the German text is authoritative. The tax-relevant clauses follow the model statutes of the German Fiscal Code (Annex 1 to § 60 AO). The model for a non-profit association running an open platform is Codeberg e. V.

§ 1 Name, seat, financial year

(1) The association is called “Kontor – offenes Berufsnetz”. It is to be entered in the register of associations and will then carry the suffix “e. V.”.

(2) The association has its seat in Hamburg.

(3) The financial year is the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose

(1) The association pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes within the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged purposes” of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung).

(2) The purposes of the association are the promotion of adult and vocational education (§ 52(2) sentence 1 no. 7 AO), of consumer protection (no. 16) and of civic engagement in favour of charitable purposes (no. 25).

(3) The purposes are realised in particular by: a) building and running a platform that is freely accessible to everyone, free of charge and free of advertising, on which people share professional knowledge and experience, ask questions, learn from each other and support each other; b) developing and publishing the software required as free software; c) educating and informing about data protection, digital self-determination and fair conditions in professional online networks; d) events, learning offers and publications on these topics.

(4) In pursuing its purposes the association follows the principles of its charter, in particular: no advertising, no selling of personal data and no use for AI training without explicit consent.

§ 3 Selflessness and use of funds

(1) The association acts selflessly; it does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes.

(2) Funds of the association may only be used for the purposes set out in these statutes. Members receive no payments from the association’s funds.

(3) No person may benefit from expenses that are foreign to the purpose of the association or from disproportionately high remuneration.

(4) Offices in the association are generally honorary. The general meeting may decide on reasonable compensation within the limits of § 3 no. 26a EStG.

§ 4 Membership

(1) Any natural or legal person who supports the purposes of the association may become a member. The board decides on the application, submitted in text form.

(2) In addition to full members there are supporting members. They support the association financially and may speak, but not vote, at the general meeting.

(3) Membership ends by resignation in text form at the end of a month, by exclusion for a serious breach of the association’s interests after a hearing, or by death or dissolution of the legal person.

§ 5 Contributions

(1) Members pay contributions according to a contribution schedule adopted by the general meeting. The board may reduce or waive contributions on request.

(2) Use of the platform does not require membership or any contribution.

§ 6 Bodies

The bodies of the association are the general meeting and the board.

§ 7 General meeting

(1) The ordinary general meeting takes place at least once a year. It may be held in person, online or in hybrid form.

(2) The board invites in text form with four weeks’ notice and an agenda. An extraordinary meeting must be convened if one tenth of the members request it.

(3) The general meeting decides by a simple majority of votes cast. Amendments to the statutes require a two-thirds majority; changes of purpose and dissolution require a three-quarters majority.

(4) It elects and discharges the board, adopts the contribution schedule and the budget, and receives the annual financial report. Minutes are kept of its resolutions.

§ 8 Board

(1) The board within the meaning of § 26 BGB consists of three persons. Any two board members jointly represent the association.

(2) The board is elected for two years and remains in office until a new election.

§ 9 User participation and transparency

(1) The board puts significant changes to the platform rules to a vote of all users beforehand. The result must be published and taken into account in the decision.

(2) Each year the association publishes its statutes, the names of the board members, an activity report and its income and expenses.

§ 10 Dissolution and allocation of assets

On dissolution of the association or if tax-privileged purposes cease to apply, the association’s assets pass to a legal entity under public law or another tax-privileged body, to be used for the promotion of adult and vocational education.

§ 11 Entry into force

These statutes were adopted at the founding meeting on … and enter into force upon registration.