# Servers' Rights

->To have fair staff, do not to trust all power to one person; but divide it among many.

IRCNow is an experiment to create a network run by users for the benefit of users. It is an experiment to create a truly open and free network.

IRCNow is a federation that unites together self-governing servers to provide a common network for the free and open source software community. Each server provide its own services, has its own staff, writes its own policies, and manages its own money. Each server is almost independent. However, each server unites together to provide a strong unified network, contributing software, money, and other help to protect our common infrastructure and defense.

In the future, each server in IRCNow will be bound by the [IRCNow Constitution](/ircnow/constitution). IRCNow's governance is modeled after the US constitution and its principles of government. The network is run in the public interest: all the source code is available free of charge and you can use it for any purpose without asking for permission.

IRCNow is a free network: of the users, by the users, for the users.

Each server is semi-independent financially. Each server registers a business or non profit organization in its own country. It registers a bank account and some form of payment processor (eg, PayPal, Skrill, Patreon, Authorize.net) or sets up its own cryptocurrency wallet. It collects its own donations and revenues.

Each team controls its own income and expenses and pays its own salaries. The money is not handled by the network directly. Instead. it goes to each team's account. When the network needs money, the teams later vote to voluntarily collect it as a team to fund common expenses like software development and networking infrastructure.

We do ask that each server provide an accounting of all bank transactions, so that we have transparency about how much each team earns and spends. Providing an account transaction ledger is enough.