The history of NLnet goes back to 1982 when a group of Europeans led by former NLnet director and member of theInternet Hall of Fame Teus Hagen announced the European Unix Network (EUnet) which became the first public wide area network in Europe and the place where internet was introduced to Europe. NLnet also pioneered the worlds first dial-in and ISDN infrastructure with full country coverage. In 1997 all commercial activities were sold to UUnet (now Verizon) and since that time NLnet has focussed on supporting the open internet, and the privacy and security of internet users. NLnet's core business is to support independent organizations and people that contribute to an open information society. We provide microgrants, advice and access to an interesting global network we established over the years.
More about the history of the foundation |Annual reports
The foundation "Stichting NLnet" stimulates network research and development in the domain of Internet technology. The articles of association for the NLnet foundation state:"to promote the exchange of electronic information and all that is related or beneficial to that purpose".
NLnet does not directly benefit from the undertaken projects, and all developments are published as libre and open source.
Read the Articles of Association (in
:statuten,PDF)Stichting NLnet is a recognised philanthropic non-profit foundation according to the Netherlands Tax Authority (Belastingdienst), and there is a vast network of tax treaties with most countries around the world. Donations to NLnet foundation qualify under many circumstances as charitable donations. For USA based donors, NLnet foundation has a validEquivalency Determination (ED) issued by NGOsource. To make it easy to review our compliance documentation regarding this status as a Public Benefit Organisation (Dutch: Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling, orANBI) we have compiled anoverview of information, according to current Netherlands tax regulations. If you are interested in what this means for you, we can recommend the fiscal and legal overviewLegal environment for philanthropy in Europe, produced byPhilantropy Europe Association (Philea). Considering a substantion donation but don't know where to start — feel free tocontact us.
NLnet is independent. We do directly and indirectly cooperate withmany different organisations and programmes. If we are not working with you, and you think we should:contact us (and feel free to connect to us onthe fediverse).
NLnet foundation is run by abureau operated by professional staff, supervised by asupervisory board. If there arejob openings you'll find these listed undercareer opportunities.