Voronwe, thanks for answering my questions - it does indeed sound feasible!
As to the questions why we are doing this, I'd like to attempt to answer Holby and Din, and please correct me if I'm wrong in any of this:
Holby, it seemed to many members ages ago that phpbber would only allow us a limited growth, and even more limited means to design the board according to our own wishes - we tried, but could not find out, I think, how much space on their servers, simply, phpbber allows to a single board - we assumed there were limits. That's why lidless bought the b77.com address for us, so we could move somewhere when we outgrow phpbber.
So, as far as I understand, that's why we plan to move in the first place - leaving the question of how to organise the new place, which is what Din was asking about, I think, and it seems there are these two options: either one person owns the board, which is the normal practice, or we find a way to have the membership own the board.
I don't know the first thing about legal questions, but what Voronwe explains about how an organisation can own a messageboard is very convincing to me.
I'm sure similar possibilities exist in all countries, and if we had people skilled in these things from England, Germany or wherever, in addition to the US, they could just get together and find out where the law offers the best opportunities, and register the board under the laws of that place. But through coincidence, Voronwe is the only person who can help us here, and it seems that we are lucky and Californian law offers a viable solution - so, that's why we are heading in that direction.
(And I should add that I have the greatest trust in Voronwe, so that makes it even more lucky, for me.
)
But now that I've said all this, I have another question - not sure if I can explain the problem I've been thinking about, that's why the question is so long:
What Voronwe proposes sounds wonderful - for now! What would happen if the board's membership changes significantly?
Even now, some of the people who were most active three or four months ago, are, whether through RL obligations or because interest has slackened, not all that active any more.
So, I'm wondering, what if, in a year or so, the membership has changed so much that slowly all the current, politically highly aware members will move on and leave behind a board of happily unaware posters?
What if Voronwe decides it's time for an alternative lifestyle and moves to the North Pole, without Internet access?
What if Mayors repeatedly resign prematurely simply because they can't be bothered to continue their duties?
If Jonathan and Ted on TORC decide they've had enough, they can close the place and that's it. If there is one owner, and that owner gives up, the place closes, nobody else has anything to do with it.
So, what I'm thinking about is: with no real owner who is a personal entity, how can "the board" ensure the duties of the organisation are fulfilled or, if they can't be fulfilled, makes sure the place is closed?
Is it possible for us to leave without putting any "next generation" of posters in a legal fix or would the board have to close if some - who/how many - of us were to leave?