Major Flat-Earth org has harassed and abused critics and is now in serious legal trouble.

[DetlefK]

It's about these guys:
https://fecore.org/

- When they incorporated, they wrote that they would have 0 members. But there are 7 people on the board of directors.

- According to law, a corporation must have a "principal office", which must be a real physical location where a representative of the corporation must be present during normal business-hours. The "principal office" of FE Core is a mail-box at a church in some town in Indiana.

- They claim to be a non-profit organization... but have never registered as a non-profit... Which means, that FE Core has been evading taxes for two years now.

- They claim to be developing new and improving old land-surveying techniques for the benefit of society, thus portraying themselves as professionals... except that you're not allowed to work as a professional land-surveyor unless you are registered with the state. (Let's ignore the quality of their work, which is ridiculous.)

- Their aim is to spread Flat-Eartherism to the public... which is illegal because non-profits are specifically forbidden from spreading propaganda. (And Flat-Eartherism is at its core a conspiracy-theory how the government is covering up the fact that Earth is flat.)





These things were pointed out by a Youtube-user called Sly Sparkane. Sly Sparkane used PUBLICLY available information and PUBLIC statements by members of FE Core, made in their function as representatives of FE Core, as evidence. Sly Sparkane really went to town on them.




How did FE Core react? FE Core filed privacy- and copyright-complaints within Youtube against half a dozen Youtube-channels, including Sly Sparkane. For slander.

TO REPEAT: FE Core accused their critics of slandering them and filed privacy- and copyright-complaints to stop their critics. They actually mocked their harassed victims in writing that the reason for their complaints is slander.

- Slander is not a valid reason to file privacy- and copyright-complaints.

- FE Core said that information publicly available on their website is actually private.

- FE Core said that showing their logo violates copyright... which is wrong. Logos may be shown under Fair Use laws. Also, FE Core never trademarked their logo. A copyright-violation is therefore legally impossible.





FE Core has abused Youtube's complaint-system, which is a big No-No. Youtube has so far not reacted to counter-complaints about FE Core's abuse, but it's well-known that Youtube reacts very slowly in such situations. Once Youtube bothers to react, FE Core will most likely use their Youtube-channel.

Meanwhile, Sly Sparkane has submitted his evidence for FE Core's fraudulent corporate activities and for their tax-evasion to the Secretary of State of Indiana and to the IRS...

[gordianot]

1. We have similar idiots inhabiting Government you can recognize them by the (R) their name.

Although very similar their beliefs vary.

[HelpImSurrounded]

2. I hate having to defend a bunch of frauds but...

Where are you getting your legal information? It changes from state to state. It is perfectly legal to form non-profit with no membership and a self-perpetuating board of directors. Some states allow for the existence of ad hoc groups thus negating the need to register as a non-profit.

Their claims of developing new land surveying techniques is research, not engineering practice so they don't need a license to do this.

Since when are non-profits forbidden from spreading propaganda? If that were true we'd have no churches or political parties.

OOOH, I see your source now... a YouTuber... so you're fighting fake experts with fake experts, very clever.

[ret5hd]

3. Tell me...does it hurt?

[HelpImSurrounded]

4. Yes, it does. I hate those guys.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. "non-profits are specifically forbidden from spreading propaganda" sounds silly

"Propaganda" is not something that can be given a specific legal definition. And there are lots of non-profits that spread stuff that would meet most people's definition of "propaganda". The Heritage Foundation, for instance. Or Turning Point USA.

" a corporation must have a "principal office", which must be a real physical location where a representative of the corporation must be present during normal business-hours."

Really? That would mean all non-profits must have at least one full time employee (or a volunteer willing to give up all their time). Where does this legal requirement of a corporation, applied apparently to FE Core, come from?

[DetlefK]

6. It's somewhere in the regulations for a 501 entity.

I didn't include sources because I didn't want to bloat the OP. Youtuber Sly Sparkane showed the relevant forms and paragraphs in his video.

The obligation to have a principal office is not that hard to fulfill:
* Your home-adress with mail-box is good enough.
* And someone must be present in person to officially receive legal letters on behalf of the corporation. (E.g. when you are being sued, the claimant must prove to the court that he informed you that you are being sued. That's why Wikileaks is so hard to sue: It's almost impossible to prove that you TOLD them that you are suing them.)
* The corporation even gets to decide (within reasonable limits) what they consider their business-hours when a representative is available for business.