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{{short description|Nonprofit organization}} | |||
''' The Freecycle Network''' (often abbreviated '''TFN''') is a ] ] registered in Arizona, USA, that organizes a worldwide network of ] groups, aiming to divert ] goods from ]. It provides an online registry of worldwide groups, and coordinates the creation of forums for individuals and non-profits to offer and receive free items for reuse or recycling. | |||
{{Infobox organization | |||
|name = The Freecycle Network | |||
|image = Freecycle logo.jpg | |||
|image_border = | |||
|size = | |||
|alt = Typeset freecycle.org, surrounded by two arrows | |||
|caption = The Freecycle Network logo | |||
|abbreviation = TFN | |||
|formation = {{Start date|2003|5|01|df=yes}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiki.freecycle.org/Background |title=Background - FreecycleFAQ |publisher=Wiki.freecycle.org |access-date=2016-05-04}}</ref> | |||
|extinction = <!-- date of extinction, optional --> | |||
|type = <!-- GO, NGO, IGO, INGO, etc --> | |||
|status = ] | |||
|purpose = ] | |||
|region_served = 121 countries<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.freecycle.org/group/?noautodetect=1 |title=The Freecycle Network |access-date=2011-05-02 |archive-date=2011-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423125839/http://www.freecycle.org/group?noautodetect=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
|membership = 6,880,991<ref name="membership">{{cite web|url=http://www.freecycle.org |title=The Freecycle Network |publisher=Freecycle.org |access-date=2016-05-04}}</ref> | |||
|language = <!-- official languages --> | |||
|leader_title = Founder, executive director | |||
|leader_name = Deron Beal<ref name="staff">{{cite web|url=http://wiki.freecycle.org/Staff |title=Leadership - FreecycleFAQ |publisher=Wiki.freecycle.org |date=2016-02-04 |access-date=2016-05-04}}</ref> | |||
|leader_title2 = | |||
|leader_name2 = | |||
|leader_title3 = | |||
|leader_name3 = | |||
|main_organ = <!-- gral. assembly, board of directors, etc --> | |||
|parent_organization = <!-- if one --> | |||
|affiliations = <!-- if any --> | |||
|num_staff = | |||
|num_volunteers = | |||
|budget = | |||
|website = | |||
|remarks = | |||
}} | |||
'''The Freecycle Network''' ('''TFN''') is a private, ]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freecycle.org/about/background|title=The Freecycle Network|access-date=2015-03-18|archive-date=2015-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319012813/https://www.freecycle.org/about/background|url-status=dead}}</ref> registered in ], US and is a charity in the United Kingdom.<ref>"Freecycle UK" is registered under charity number {{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and its registration refers to as its official website address.</ref> TFN coordinates a worldwide network of "gifting" groups to divert reusable goods from ]s. The network provides a worldwide online registry, organizing the creation of local groups and forums for individuals and nonprofits to offer (or request) free items for reuse or recycling and to promote a ].<ref name=Shah2007>{{Cite book |title=The politics of consumption/the consumption of politics |last1=Shah |first1=Dhavan V |last2=Nelson |first2=Michelle R |series=American Academy of Political and Social Science |year=2007 |publisher=Sage, cop |isbn=978-1-4129-5934-6 |doi=10.1177/0002716207299647 |quote=Nelson, Rademacher, and Paek explore the underpinnings of sharing and civic identity through a case study of consumers in a second-order, online consumption community: Freecycle.org. Results show that these individuals hold downshifting attitudes (favor less work and less consumption). Yet the downshifting does not necessarily mean increased civic engagement in a traditional sense. Rather, political and civic engagement for this group included political consumption and digital forms of political participation. |last3=Friedland |first3=L. |last4=Nelson |first4=M. R. |journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |volume=611 |page=6 |s2cid=144677793 }}</ref> In contrast, although ] also contribute to ], they involve mainly buying and selling or ]ing rather than gifting. | |||
==Background== | |||
The organization originated as a project of ], a nonprofit corporation, to promote waste reduction in ], ], and reduce the need for ]s in Arizona's fragile ] landscape. RISE subsequently handed it over to the project leader, ]. On ], it incorporated under Arizona law, and as of September 2006 is a registered ] charity in the United States. | |||
==History== | |||
Each local group exists as a ] ] run by volunteer ]. TFN encourages the formation of new groups, subject to approval by regional New Group Approvers (NGAs). Groups approved by TFN are listed at the official website, can use the name and logo, and are subject to rules enforced by a structure of global and regional GOAs (Group Outreach Assistants). TFN originally planned to move in 2004, then in 2005, and then in early ] from Yahoo! Groups to a centralized site, custom-made for the purpose; these plans have now been rescheduled for ] . | |||
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2015}} | |||
TFN first began when its founder, Deron Beal, collaborated with RISE, a small ] that offers recycling services in the downtown area of ], US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.freecycle.org/about/background|title=The Freecycle Network|access-date=2015-03-18|archive-date=2015-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319012813/https://www.freecycle.org/about/background|url-status=dead}}</ref> The team worked together to find local nonprofits that could potentially use their products, but it was not too successful. Hence, Beal created the first Freecycle email that enabled online users to interact with recycling. In February 2005, TFN accepted $130,000 from ] to help build out the website and the network.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Angel |first=Wendy |title=Free and Fabulous |publisher=WasteAge |date=1 March 2005 |url=http://waste360.com/mag/waste_free_fabulous |access-date=29 December 2007}}</ref> | |||
Over time, the concept has spread to over 110 countries,<ref name="The Freecycle Network - Note of total number of countries">{{cite web|url=https://wiki.freecycle.org/Copyright_and_Trademark_Policy_for_the_United_States#Overview|title=The Freecycle Network - Notation of Total Countries of Activity|publisher=The Freecycle Network|access-date=2016-03-23}}</ref> with thousands of local groups and millions of members.<ref name="The Freecycle Network - History and Background">{{cite web|url=https://www.freecycle.org/about/background|title=The Freecycle Network - History & Background Information|publisher=The Freecycle Network|access-date=2015-03-18|archive-date=2015-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319012813/https://www.freecycle.org/about/background|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
The term "freecycle" may have first been used by "Salvager Dali" in Toronto. The concept and term "FreeCycle" were used and trademark asserted by ] in 2000. | |||
The organization began as a collection of ] linked from freecycle.org. It has become a web-community platform on freecycle.org for all groups, which are run by local volunteers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.freecycle.org/browse/US|title=United States|publisher=The Freecycle Network|access-date=2016-03-23}}</ref> TFN encourages the formation of new groups, subject to approval by regional new-group approvers. Groups approved by TFN are listed on the website, can use the TFN name and logo, and are subject to rules which are enforced by a network of global and regional group outreach assistance.<ref name="The Freecycle Network - Required Group Guidelines">{{cite web|url=https://wiki.freecycle.org/Guidelines_and_Disclaimer|title=Guidelines and Disclaime|publisher=The Freecycle Network|access-date=2016-03-23}}</ref> As of March 2009, all new groups had to join freecycle.org's new-group system, which provides Freecycle-specific tools for local volunteer moderators and gives TFN oversight of individual groups. As of 2015, all local groups are listed on freecycle.org.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} | |||
The TFN logo is a registered ] of The Freecycle Network in the United Kingdom and Europe, CTM Reg. No. 4287553. | |||
== |
==Membership== | ||
Membership is completely free to all members, and everything posted on the website must be completely free, legal, and appropriate for everyone regardless of their age.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.freecycle.org/about/background |title=The Freecycle Network |access-date=2015-03-18 |archive-date=2015-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319012813/https://www.freecycle.org/about/background |url-status=dead }}</ref> Today, TFN is a global organization with over 4,000 local chapters. They passed two-million-member in February 2006.<ref>, Press release</ref><ref name=Jeffery2008>{{Cite book |last1=Jeffery |first1=Yvonne |year=2008 |title=Green Living For Dummies |first2=Liz |last2=Barclay |first3=Michael |last3=Grosvenor |publisher=For Dummies |isbn=978-0-470-22742-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAI2TeUCM4QC |page=329 }}</ref> By February 2014, TFN had 6,880,991 members across 5,120 groups worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freecycle.org/ |title=The Freecycle Network |publisher=Freecycle.org |access-date=2016-05-04}}</ref> In December 2023, TFN had 11,022,137 members across 5,355 groups worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freecycle.org/ |title=The Freecycle Network |publisher=Freecycle.org |access-date=2023-12-19}}</ref> | |||
TFN has grown rapidly into a global organization of over 3800 (October 2006) local chapters , and passed the 2 million member mark in February 2006 . As of January 2007, the membership stands at 3,111,276 across 3934 groups. The original idea has since been copied and varied by hundreds of similar groups around the world. | |||
==Controversies== | ==Controversies== | ||
===Trademark issues=== | |||
* '']'': In February 2005, Deron Beal accepted TFN's first corporate support of $130,000 from ] . This polarized opinion amongst group moderators. Some saw it as a sensible way of raising funds from a company Beal describes as America's "largest recycler", but others saw it as selling out to corporate interests. Further criticism was provoked by a decision to take paid Google ads on the TFN web site, contrary to the initial stated principles, and by Beal's green ambassador role for WMI . A second grant from Waste Management was received by TFN in February 2006 in the amount of $100,000, bringing total funding to $230,000 from WMI. | |||
A notice of opposition<ref>{{cite news |author=FreecycleSunnyvale |title=Notice of Opposition |url=http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91168664-OPP-1.pdf |date=18 January 2006 |place=Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, USPTO |publisher=Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, USPTO |id=ESTTA62464 |access-date=29 December 2007}}</ref> was filed in federal court by FreecycleSunnyvale against the Freecycle Network<ref>{{cite court |litigants=FreecycleSunnyvale v. The Freecycle Network |vol=C06-00324CW |reporter= |opinion= |pinpoint= |court=] |date=2006 |url=http://freesharing.org/gr/files/2006-01-18_FreecycleComplaint.pdf |access-date= |quote= |postscript= }}</ref> in January 2006. An injunction was granted against Tim Oey in May 2006 for allegedly disparaging the TFN trademark.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=The Freecycle Network, Inc. v. Oey |vol=CV 06-173 (CV-06-00173-RCC) |reporter= |opinion= |pinpoint='''5''' |court=] |date=May 11, 2006 |url=http://volokh.com/files/freecycleorder.pdf |access-date= |quote= |postscript= }}</ref> The injunction was stayed in July 2006 and dissolved by the ] in September 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0616219p.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-11-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704142459/https://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0616219p.pdf |archive-date=2008-07-04 }}</ref> To defend its trademark in 2006, TFN pursued other ] groups who used the word "freecycle" or allegedly had "confusingly similar derivations thereof".<ref>{{cite web|author=Close |url=http://www.chillingeffects.org/trademark/notice.cgi?NoticeID=5022 |title=Good-Doer Attacks a Yahoo Group :: Notices :: Lumen |publisher=Chillingeffects.org |access-date=2016-05-04}}</ref> | |||
* '']'': further criticism has focused on the close-knit friends-and-family board structure, which delayed full registration as a non-profit. Although set to a nominal limit of 15, to date it has been limited to founder Deron Beal (chairperson and treasurer), his wife ] (vice chairperson) and friend ] (secretary), prompting accusations of ]. Beal defends this as a necessary interim measure whilst the organization grows rapidly. | |||
* ''Use of funds'': some members have challenged how sponsorship funds have been allocated. The initial goals were to use them for a new website, Beal's salary, and lawyers' fees. After the first year, the new web site had not appeared, although $45,000USD<!-- Is this an approximate sum or an exact total? --> had received by Beal in salary, and an unstated sum spent on legal expenses. However, the web site was claimed to be on schedule for Q1 2006 (since slipped to 2007). Former colleagues of Beal cite his behavior as an example of so-called "]". | |||
Free-speech advocates, including the ] and 38 law professors, filed an ]<ref>http://volokh.com/files/freecyclelemleybrief.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> opposing a trademark-infringement lawsuit filed by TFN against Tim Oey. The opposition was based on the position that the lawsuit violated Oey's ] rights. Other law professors, including ], and ] filed a second ''amicus'' brief<ref>http://volokh.com/files/freecyclepostbrief.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> in support of Oey. In 2007, the US 9th Circuit Court affirmed that freecycle may be used as a word.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2007/09/25/0616219.pdf |title=The Freecycle Network v Oey |publisher=UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT |access-date=2023-02-06}}</ref> | |||
* '']'': Beal has been criticized for vigorously defending TFN's trademark, at the expense of closing down functioning community groups and imposing precise rules on logos and language for groups. Beal insists this is solely to prevent commercial interests taking the name and establishing an inappropriate ''freecycle.com''. Critics claim that it could equally be protected from corporate abuse by establishment as a generic term. Ironically, Beal himself initially used freecycle as a generic term, and early documents make frequent references to "freecyclers" and "freecycling", terms which now trigger letters from TFN's trademark protection legal team. A formal trademark opposition was filed in January 2006. FreecycleSunnyvale filed a lawsuit in federal court against The Freecycle Network in January 2006. An injunction was granted against Sunnyvale's freecycling group moderator Tim Oey in May 2006 for allegedly disparaging the TFN trademark. This injunction was stayed in July 2006. During 2006, TFN also pursued other ] groups who either mentioned the term "freecycle" or allegedly had "confusingly similar derivations thereof". | |||
* '']'' Free speech advocates, including the ] and ] founder ] have joined a group of intellectual property lawyers to oppose TFN in an Arizona trademark lawsuit TFN filed against Tim Oey. The basis for the opposition is that the lawsuit violates First Amendment rights. | |||
On November 24, 2010, TFN lost its trademark claim to "Freecycle" and its logo in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wileyrein.com/publications.cfm?sp%3Darticles%26id%3D6546 |title=With Naked Trademark Licensing, the Freecycle Network is Left Bare - Wiley Rein LLP |access-date=November 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726061258/http://www.wileyrein.com/publications.cfm?sp=articles&id=6546 |archive-date=July 26, 2011 }}</ref> Justice ] wrote in her opinion, "Beal did not coin the word 'freecycle' and TFN is not the first organization to promote freecycling ... even ... viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to TFN ... engaged in naked licensing and consequently abandoned the trademarks."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/179845/freecyclesunnyvale-v-the-freecycle-network/ |title=FreecycleSunnyvale v. Freecycle Network, 626 F.3d 509 – |publisher=Courtlistener.com |access-date=2024-06-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210093133/http://courtlistener.com/ca9/VsM/freecyclesunnyvale-v-the-freecycle-network/ |archive-date=2010-12-10 }}</ref> | |||
On September 25, 2012, TFN gained a registered trademark in the United States for Freecycle.org (registration number 4215094) from the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4803:o4aixl.2.4|title = TESS -- Error}}</ref> TFN also received a registered-collective-membership trademark on that date (registration number 4215095).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4803:o4aixl.2.3|title = TESS -- Error}}</ref> TFN maintains additional registered trademarks in the European Union, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.{{Citation needed|date=April 2016}} | |||
===UK breakaway=== | |||
During 2009, there were conflicts between the UK's independent association of TFN moderators and the organization's founders<ref name="Freecycle nonprofit registration">{{cite web|url=http://ecorp.azcc.gov/Details/Corp?corpId=%2011229014 |title=Arizona Corporation Commission eCorp |publisher=Ecorp.azcc.gov |access-date=2016-05-04}}</ref> over the UK-based TFN groups' lack of freedom to develop local initiatives and features and their treatment of volunteer group owners and moderators.<ref name=guardian1> ''The Guardian'', September 10, 2009</ref> This resulted in the dismissal of at least 20 local group owners and moderators, who were replaced with new local TFN volunteers.<ref name="Mods Must Be Local">{{cite web|url=https://wiki.freecycle.org/Moderator_Manual:Mod_dos |title=Moderator Manual:Mod dos - FreecycleFAQ |publisher=Wiki.freecycle.org |date=2016-03-23 |access-date=2016-05-04}}</ref> Many owners of UK-based TFN groups formed a new independent association, ].<ref> Freegle History</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Freecycle in bitter split between the majority of UK moderators who remained with Freecycle and those who left to Freegle; Freecycle, the giveaway movement that helps internet users swap things they no longer want, has split with hundreds of thousands of UK members who have joined a rival group.|author=Ian Johnston|date=19 Sep 2009|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6208589/Freecycle-in-bitter-transatlantic-split.html|publisher=The Telegraph}}</ref><ref name=Jones2009>{{cite news |title=Accusations of very tight control split UK recycling network from US parent: 'Overbearing input' from the States stops British groups making their own decisions, say volunteers |last=Jones |first=Sam |date=12 October 2009 |newspaper=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/oct/12/freecycle-freegle-recycling-networks-groups}}</ref> TFN continued in the UK, with both groups present in many areas.<ref>From Freegle and Freecycle websites, posted figures without independent checking or distinction between active and inactive members; for example 23 April 2012, Freegle Camden South (in London NW1), 4,951 members; Freegle Kentish Town (in London NW1), 6,734 members; Freecycle Camden South, 8,663 members; Freecycle Kentish Town, 12,805 members. There is no information on people belonging to both organisations, or long-standing but inactive members of the older organisation.</ref> In February 2015, TFN UK claimed to have 592 groups with 4,345,095 members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.freecycle.org/ |title=Freecycle.org UK |publisher=Uk.freecycle.org |access-date=2016-05-04}}</ref> | |||
===Payment to Founder === | |||
The Freecycle founder now receives an annual payment of over £120,000 per year while the other listed officers are not compensated. This is over 1/3 of the total Freecycle.org revenue.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/200938414/202322639349300822/full | title=The Freecycle Network, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer | date=9 May 2013 }}</ref> | |||
Freecycle.org has not listed any recent Form 990 with the latest from 2016<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.freecycle.org/pages/about/form990 | title=Freecycle: Form 990 }}</ref> | |||
==See also== | |||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist|2}} | |||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
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* {{official website|https://www.freecycle.org/}} | ||
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===The Freecycle Network structure=== | |||
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* - HUB group | |||
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* - Confidential group for moderators to discuss organizational direction (334 members - Nov 2005) | |||
* - Mutual assistance group open to moderators of any local TFN group (2286 members - Nov 2005) | |||
{{Sharing economy}} | |||
] | |||
] | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freecycle Network}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 04:14, 19 October 2024
Nonprofit organizationThe Freecycle Network logo | |
Abbreviation | TFN |
---|---|
Formation | 1 May 2003 (2003-05-01) |
Legal status | 501(c)3 |
Purpose | Reuse |
Region served | 121 countries |
Membership | 6,880,991 |
Founder, executive director | Deron Beal |
Website | www.freecycle.org |
The Freecycle Network (TFN) is a private, nonprofit organization registered in Arizona, US and is a charity in the United Kingdom. TFN coordinates a worldwide network of "gifting" groups to divert reusable goods from landfills. The network provides a worldwide online registry, organizing the creation of local groups and forums for individuals and nonprofits to offer (or request) free items for reuse or recycling and to promote a gift economy. In contrast, although flea markets and swap meets also contribute to the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), they involve mainly buying and selling or bartering rather than gifting.
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
TFN first began when its founder, Deron Beal, collaborated with RISE, a small nonprofit corporation that offers recycling services in the downtown area of Tucson, Arizona, US. The team worked together to find local nonprofits that could potentially use their products, but it was not too successful. Hence, Beal created the first Freecycle email that enabled online users to interact with recycling. In February 2005, TFN accepted $130,000 from Waste Management to help build out the website and the network.
Over time, the concept has spread to over 110 countries, with thousands of local groups and millions of members.
The organization began as a collection of Yahoo! Groups linked from freecycle.org. It has become a web-community platform on freecycle.org for all groups, which are run by local volunteers. TFN encourages the formation of new groups, subject to approval by regional new-group approvers. Groups approved by TFN are listed on the website, can use the TFN name and logo, and are subject to rules which are enforced by a network of global and regional group outreach assistance. As of March 2009, all new groups had to join freecycle.org's new-group system, which provides Freecycle-specific tools for local volunteer moderators and gives TFN oversight of individual groups. As of 2015, all local groups are listed on freecycle.org.
Membership
Membership is completely free to all members, and everything posted on the website must be completely free, legal, and appropriate for everyone regardless of their age. Today, TFN is a global organization with over 4,000 local chapters. They passed two-million-member in February 2006. By February 2014, TFN had 6,880,991 members across 5,120 groups worldwide. In December 2023, TFN had 11,022,137 members across 5,355 groups worldwide.
Controversies
Trademark issues
A notice of opposition was filed in federal court by FreecycleSunnyvale against the Freecycle Network in January 2006. An injunction was granted against Tim Oey in May 2006 for allegedly disparaging the TFN trademark. The injunction was stayed in July 2006 and dissolved by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in September 2007. To defend its trademark in 2006, TFN pursued other free recycling groups who used the word "freecycle" or allegedly had "confusingly similar derivations thereof".
Free-speech advocates, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and 38 law professors, filed an amicus brief opposing a trademark-infringement lawsuit filed by TFN against Tim Oey. The opposition was based on the position that the lawsuit violated Oey's First Amendment rights. Other law professors, including Lawrence Lessig, and Jimmy Wales filed a second amicus brief in support of Oey. In 2007, the US 9th Circuit Court affirmed that freecycle may be used as a word.
On November 24, 2010, TFN lost its trademark claim to "Freecycle" and its logo in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Justice Consuelo María Callahan wrote in her opinion, "Beal did not coin the word 'freecycle' and TFN is not the first organization to promote freecycling ... even ... viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to TFN ... engaged in naked licensing and consequently abandoned the trademarks."
On September 25, 2012, TFN gained a registered trademark in the United States for Freecycle.org (registration number 4215094) from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. TFN also received a registered-collective-membership trademark on that date (registration number 4215095). TFN maintains additional registered trademarks in the European Union, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
UK breakaway
During 2009, there were conflicts between the UK's independent association of TFN moderators and the organization's founders over the UK-based TFN groups' lack of freedom to develop local initiatives and features and their treatment of volunteer group owners and moderators. This resulted in the dismissal of at least 20 local group owners and moderators, who were replaced with new local TFN volunteers. Many owners of UK-based TFN groups formed a new independent association, Freegle. TFN continued in the UK, with both groups present in many areas. In February 2015, TFN UK claimed to have 592 groups with 4,345,095 members.
Payment to Founder
The Freecycle founder now receives an annual payment of over £120,000 per year while the other listed officers are not compensated. This is over 1/3 of the total Freecycle.org revenue. Freecycle.org has not listed any recent Form 990 with the latest from 2016
See also
- Buy Nothing Project
- Freecycling
- Glocalization
- Reciprocal altruism
- Regift
- Reuse
- Sharing economy
- Symbiosis
- Social software
- Waste hierarchy
References
- "Background - FreecycleFAQ". Wiki.freecycle.org. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- "The Freecycle Network". Archived from the original on 2011-04-23. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
- "The Freecycle Network". Freecycle.org. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- "Leadership - FreecycleFAQ". Wiki.freecycle.org. 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- "The Freecycle Network". Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
- "Freecycle UK" is registered under charity number 1118148 and its registration refers to uk.freecycle.org as its official website address.
- Shah, Dhavan V; Nelson, Michelle R; Friedland, L.; Nelson, M. R. (2007). The politics of consumption/the consumption of politics. American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 611. Sage, cop. p. 6. doi:10.1177/0002716207299647. ISBN 978-1-4129-5934-6. S2CID 144677793.
Nelson, Rademacher, and Paek explore the underpinnings of sharing and civic identity through a case study of consumers in a second-order, online consumption community: Freecycle.org. Results show that these individuals hold downshifting attitudes (favor less work and less consumption). Yet the downshifting does not necessarily mean increased civic engagement in a traditional sense. Rather, political and civic engagement for this group included political consumption and digital forms of political participation.
{{cite book}}
:|journal=
ignored (help) - "The Freecycle Network". Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
- Angel, Wendy (1 March 2005). "Free and Fabulous". WasteAge. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
- "The Freecycle Network - Notation of Total Countries of Activity". The Freecycle Network. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
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- "United States". The Freecycle Network. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
- "Guidelines and Disclaime". The Freecycle Network. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
- "The Freecycle Network". Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
- The Freecycle Network Tops Two Million Member Mark Today!, Press release
- Jeffery, Yvonne; Barclay, Liz; Grosvenor, Michael (2008). Green Living For Dummies. For Dummies. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-470-22742-8.
- "The Freecycle Network". Freecycle.org. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- "The Freecycle Network". Freecycle.org. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- FreecycleSunnyvale (18 January 2006). "Notice of Opposition" (PDF). Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, USPTO: Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, USPTO. ESTTA62464. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
- FreecycleSunnyvale v. The Freecycle Network, C06-00324CW (United States District Court for the Northern District of California 2006).
- The Freecycle Network, Inc. v. Oey, CV 06-173 (CV-06-00173-RCC), 5 (United States District Court for the District of Arizona May 11, 2006).
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Close. "Good-Doer Attacks a Yahoo Group :: Notices :: Lumen". Chillingeffects.org. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- http://volokh.com/files/freecyclelemleybrief.pdf
- http://volokh.com/files/freecyclepostbrief.pdf
- "The Freecycle Network v Oey" (PDF). UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- "With Naked Trademark Licensing, the Freecycle Network is Left Bare - Wiley Rein LLP". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
- "FreecycleSunnyvale v. Freecycle Network, 626 F.3d 509 –". Courtlistener.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-10. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- "TESS -- Error".
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- "Arizona Corporation Commission eCorp". Ecorp.azcc.gov. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- UK Freecycle moderators break away from US network The Guardian, September 10, 2009
- "Moderator Manual:Mod dos - FreecycleFAQ". Wiki.freecycle.org. 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- http://www.ilovefreegle.org/about/history.php Freegle History
- Ian Johnston (19 Sep 2009). "Freecycle in bitter split between the majority of UK moderators who remained with Freecycle and those who left to Freegle; Freecycle, the giveaway movement that helps internet users swap things they no longer want, has split with hundreds of thousands of UK members who have joined a rival group". The Telegraph.
- Jones, Sam (12 October 2009). "Accusations of very tight control split UK recycling network from US parent: 'Overbearing input' from the States stops British groups making their own decisions, say volunteers". The Observer.
- From Freegle and Freecycle websites, posted figures without independent checking or distinction between active and inactive members; for example 23 April 2012, Freegle Camden South (in London NW1), 4,951 members; Freegle Kentish Town (in London NW1), 6,734 members; Freecycle Camden South, 8,663 members; Freecycle Kentish Town, 12,805 members. There is no information on people belonging to both organisations, or long-standing but inactive members of the older organisation.
- "Freecycle.org UK". Uk.freecycle.org. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- "The Freecycle Network, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". 9 May 2013.
- "Freecycle: Form 990".