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In my years as a small business owner, I've never seen any use of the term "gross profit." There is "gross revenue," and there is "profit." I think these two terms are being confused.
Profit is whatever money you have left over after the expenses are paid. Gross revenue is whatever money comes in before the expenses are paid.
If a game owner accepts donations to pay for the server and other operating expenses - not including salaries since the DIKU license forbids "INCOME" to any individual, then the profit would be whatever is left over after those expenses are paid, if any. If there IS anything left over, then yes, the mud operator is receiving a profit. If there is nothing left over, then he isn't.
I ran my small business profitably for a couple of years. That is to say, after I paid for supplies, raw materials to create my product, advertising, and maintenence costs to keep my website up (including the monthly ISP fee), I had money left over that I was able to keep for myself. That leftover - was profit. It was also income, which I had to file and pay taxes on. If I had given myself a set salary according to reasonable and customary wages in my state, I would have operated at a loss, rather than a gain, and my company would not have been profitable.
However, it also would not have been a non-profit organization, because it was a *commercial* venture, meaning, it was designed to make a profit - whether or not it actually succeeded.
That's where "intent" comes in I think. If you ask for money for the express purpose of paying expenses to keep something running, and don't *charge* for it - then you are not operating commercially. If you have money left over from your request, and sink it back into improvements on your game, rather than buying yourself a beer after the hard work you've done, then you are also not -intending- to profit.
If you find yourself with money left over on a regular basis, and stop accepting donations as a result, then you are also not -intending- to profit. If you instead allow the donations to continue pouring in, that's where "intent" becomes questionable. That's where the vaguery shows up. When you are already paying expenses, and the money keeps coming and you don't say "No, we don't need it anymore, thanks" and return it to the donor.
The one diku-based mud I've actually played that accepts donations, has made it clear that they would not accept them if they found themselves with more than they need to maintain the game's functionality.
I even looked up "profit" on and saw a number of different sources and definitions. Not one of them implied that such a thing existed as "gross profit" before expenses.
By definition, profit is what you have AFTER expenses, not before.
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