Block, Siteadmin, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, delete, edit, move, nsTeam2RO, nsTeam2RW, nsTeam2_talkRO, nsTeam2_talkRW, protect, rollback, Administrators, template
295,177
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: − + − HQ is 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600, San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone:(415) 839-6885 Supposed business hours: 9AM–5PM PST.<ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Contact_us</ref>+ − Pay of Executive Director: $214 K.<ref>https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Wikimedia-Foundation-Executive-Director-Salaries-E38331_D_KO21,39.htm</ref>+ − + Line 48:
Line 48: − + Line 61:
Line 61: − + Line 68:
Line 68: + + + + + + + + + + Line 74:
Line 84: − + − + − + Line 444:
Line 454: − + Line 453:
Line 463: + − <references/>+
→Tretikov Administration
'''Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.''' (WMF) is a not-for-profit Florida corporation with its principle place of business in [[San Francisco, California]]. It was founded by [[Jimmy Wales]], who has a permanent position on the Board of Directors. It operates several online collaborative wiki projects including [[Wikipedia]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wikibooks]], [[Wikisource]], [[Wikimedia Commons]], [[Wikispecies]], [[Wikinews]], [[Wikiversity]], Wikimedia Incubator, Meta-Wiki, [[Wikidata]], [[Wikivoyage]], and owns the now-defunct Nupedia online encyclopedia. Its Executive Director is Katherine Maher.
'''Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.''' (WMF) is a not-for-profit Florida corporation with its principal place of business in [[San Francisco, California]]. It was founded by [[Jimmy Wales]], who has a permanent position on the Board of Directors. It operates several online collaborative wiki projects, including [[Wikipedia]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wikibooks]], [[Wikisource]], [[Wikimedia Commons]], [[Wikispecies]], [[Wikinews]], [[Wikiversity]], Wikimedia Incubator, Meta-Wiki, [[Wikidata]], [[Wikivoyage]], and owns the now-defunct Nupedia online encyclopedia. Its Executive Director is Katherine Maher. In essence, an operator of a phonographic Web site, set up a non-profit foundation to which to transfer his crowd-sourced project, only to end up with the Chairman of its Board of Directors being a lesbian secretly married to a woman who misused her Foundation connections to openly harass male volunteers that attempted to maintain quality control on her articles. The WMF Board then turned its back on the army of long-time volunteers to reinvent their projects to promote subjective individual personal opinions rather than objective truth to create "epistemic justice". Meanwhile, it is using its donations to sue the National Security Agency (NSA) over government efforts to fight terrorism.
The foundation's headquarters address is 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600, San Francisco, CA 94104, Phone:(415) 839-6885. Supposed business hours are 9 a.m.–5 p.m. PST.<ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Contact_us</ref> However, the WMF shifted to remote operations and half-time work at full-time pay in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/03/06/wikimedia-foundation-will-close-san-francisco-office-and-encourage-remote-work-for-march-2020-amidst-covid-19-concerns/|title=Amid COVID-19, Wikimedia Foundation offers full pay for reduced hours, mobilizes all staff to work remote, and waives sick time|date=March 6, 2020|accessdate=Sept. 20, 2020}}</ref>
For the fiscal year ending 2017-06-30, the Executive Director's salary was $307,141.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11212|title=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref>
==History==
==History==
The creation of the foundation was officially announced on June 20, 2003, by the [[atheism|atheist]] and Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]],<ref name="Rupert Neate">{{cite news | first = Rupert | last = Neate | title = Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales goes bananas | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/3399843/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-goes-bananas.html |work=The Daily Telegraph | date= October 7, 2008 | accessdate =October 25, 2009 | quote = The encyclopedia's huge fan base became such a drain on Bomis's resources that Mr Wales, and co-founder Larry Sanger, thought of a radical new funding model – charity.}}</ref> who had been operating Wikipedia within his adult entertainment company [[Bomis]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-June/010743.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = June 20, 2003 | first = Jimmy | last = Wales | authorlink = Jimmy Wales}}</ref> At the time, Wikipedia was operating out of Bomis' offices in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The creation of the foundation was officially announced on June 20, 2003, by the [[atheism|atheist]] and Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]],<ref name="Rupert Neate">{{cite news | first = Rupert | last = Neate | title = Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales goes bananas | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/3399843/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-goes-bananas.html |work=The Daily Telegraph | date= October 7, 2008 | accessdate =October 25, 2009 | quote = The encyclopedia's huge fan base became such a drain on Bomis's resources that Mr Wales, and co-founder Larry Sanger, thought of a radical new funding model – charity.}}</ref> who had been operating Wikipedia within his pornographic company [[Bomis]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-June/010743.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = June 20, 2003 | first = Jimmy | last = Wales | authorlink = Jimmy Wales}}</ref> At the time, Wikipedia was operating out of Bomis' offices in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The name "Wikimedia" was [[neologism|coined]] by American author [[Sheldon Rampton]] in a post to the English mailing list in March 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-March/001887.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = March 16, 2003 | first = Sheldon | last = Rampton | authorlink = Sheldon Rampton }}</ref>
The name "Wikimedia" was [[neologism|coined]] by American author [[Sheldon Rampton]] in a post to the English mailing list in March 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-March/001887.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = March 16, 2003 | first = Sheldon | last = Rampton | authorlink = Sheldon Rampton }}</ref>
In January 2014, Sarah Stierch was discovered to have written Wikipedia articles for hire while being a full-time WMF employee. The WMF promptly announced her departure as an employee without any official explanation.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2014-01-08/News_and_notes|work=Wikimedia Signpost|date=January 8, 2014|title=WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing"|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref>
In January 2014, Sarah Stierch was discovered to have written Wikipedia articles for hire while being a full-time WMF employee. The WMF promptly announced her departure as an employee without any official explanation.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2014-01-08/News_and_notes|work=Wikimedia Signpost|date=January 8, 2014|title=WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing"|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref>
In March 2014, Ryan Kaldari, who has been working for the WMF for almost four years and is a Wikipedia administrator, got into an editing battle with another editor. Kaldari then made complaining comments about that editor under a second assumed name. For that policy violation, Kaldari lost his administrator privileges. However, the dispute caused Wikipedia users to research Kaldari's background and discovered that for years he has been the owner and operator of several other websites including "Snuffster.com", which was intended as a parody of Friendster, but soon became a haven for Internet trolls to mock murdered children. Kaldari has been paying for the site for 10 years and has actively added comments to various threads on the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikimedia-foundation-employee-caught-sockpuppeting-and-loses-admin-rights|first=Gregory|last=Kohs|title=Wikimedia Foundation employee caught sockpuppeting and loses admin rights |date=March 8, 204|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/wikipedia-sockpuppet-ryan-kaldari/|title=Wikipedia staffer at center of latest sockpuppet scandal|first=Rob|last=Price|work=Daily Dot|date= March 12, 2014|accessdate=March 16, 2014}}</ref> Kaldari's poor judgment in owning and operating this site was called to the attention of Jimbo Wales, who dismissed it out of hand.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&oldid=599304349</ref>
In March 2014, Ryan Kaldari, who has been working for the WMF for almost four years and is a Wikipedia administrator, got into an editing battle with another editor. Kaldari then made complaining comments about that editor under a second assumed name. For that policy violation, Kaldari lost his administrator privileges. However, the dispute caused Wikipedia users to research Kaldari's background and discovered that for years he has been the owner and operator of several other websites including "Snuffster.com", which was intended as a parody of Friendster, but soon became a haven for Internet trolls to mock murdered children. Kaldari has been paying for the site for 10 years and has actively added comments to various threads on the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikimedia-foundation-employee-caught-sockpuppeting-and-loses-admin-rights|first=Gregory|last=Kohs|title=Wikimedia Foundation employee caught sockpuppeting and loses admin rights |date=March 8, 204|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/wikipedia-sockpuppet-ryan-kaldari/|title=Wikipedia staffer at center of latest sockpuppet scandal|first=Rob|last=Price|work=Daily Dot|date= March 12, 2014|accessdate=March 16, 2014}}</ref> Kaldari's poor judgment in owning and operating this site was called to the attention of Jimmy Wales, who dismissed it out of hand.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&oldid=599304349</ref>
===Tretikov Administration===
===Tretikov Administration===
In 2015, Tretikov reorganized the staff and launched a secret project to develop a "Knowledge Engine" (KE) which some planning documents said would compete with [[Google]] as a means of searching sources beyond the WMF projects by automating the process of evaluating what information on the Internet was reliable.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/head-of-wikimedia-foundation-resigns-as-tensions-with-editors-mount/ Wikimedia Foundation director resigns after uproar over “Knowledge Engine”], ''Ars Technica''.</ref> Tretikov applied for a grant of $2 million per year over three years from the Knight Foundation, but only received a one-time $250,000 grant to explore the concept. In November 2015, the WMF Board reaffirmed its support of Tretikov's leadership and retained a management consultant to mentor her. In addition, a number of senior WMF staff (including Deputy Director Erik Möller) departed, some making critical public remarks as they left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2016/02/26/unicorns-are-a-myth-lila-tretikov-resigns-as-wikimedia-foundation-executive-director/#comment-44801|title=Unicorns are a Myth: Lila Tretikov resigns as Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director|date=Feb. 26, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref> It is easy to imagine KE to evolve into an attempt to provide the equivalent of a FICO score for every domain name, perhaps every known person on Earth, that third-party software would likely utilities to influence how second-rate search engines would rank information. Wales frequently uses software features at his web sites to discredit or silence the communications anyone he disapproves of. Wales had previously welcomed the idea of having a biography for every person on Earth but the "deletionist" element of his "community" (who simply lust after the destroying of information about low-fame entities) rejected the notion.
In 2015, Tretikov reorganized the staff and launched a secret project to develop a "Knowledge Engine" (KE) which some planning documents said would compete with [[Google]] as a means of searching sources beyond the WMF projects by automating the process of evaluating what information on the Internet was reliable.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/head-of-wikimedia-foundation-resigns-as-tensions-with-editors-mount/ Wikimedia Foundation director resigns after uproar over “Knowledge Engine”], ''Ars Technica''.</ref> Tretikov applied for a grant of $2 million per year over three years from the Knight Foundation, but only received a one-time $250,000 grant to explore the concept. In November 2015, the WMF Board reaffirmed its support of Tretikov's leadership and retained a management consultant to mentor her. In addition, a number of senior WMF staff (including Deputy Director Erik Möller) departed, some making critical public remarks as they left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2016/02/26/unicorns-are-a-myth-lila-tretikov-resigns-as-wikimedia-foundation-executive-director/#comment-44801|title=Unicorns are a Myth: Lila Tretikov resigns as Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director|date=Feb. 26, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref> It is easy to imagine KE to evolve into an attempt to provide the equivalent of a FICO score for every domain name, perhaps every known person on Earth, that third-party software would likely utilities to influence how second-rate search engines would rank information. Wales frequently uses software features at his web sites to discredit or silence the communications anyone he disapproves of. Wales had previously welcomed the idea of having a biography for every person on Earth but the "deletionist" element of his "community" (who simply lust after the destroying of information about low-fame entities) rejected the notion.
[[File:James Heilman.png|thumb|left|200px|James Heilman, M.D. was removed from the Board]] In July 2015, James Heilman, MD was elected to the WMF Board by the editing community after starting working at WP in 2008 and being a very active ("many hours a day") and highly qualified non-anonymous editor and later administrator. He made many mass media presentations promoting the project and worked to improve its reliability especially for those seeking medical information. He attempted to recruit other physicians to help in the effort. Heilman brought staff dissatisfaction with Tretikov's leadership to the Board and pressed for more information on the Knowledge Engine and the Knight Foundation grant. On December 28, 2015, on the eve of two members leaving the Board, the Board held an emergency meeting and removed Heilman from the WMF Board by a vote of 8 to 2. The Board released a statement that Heilman "lacked the confidence" of his fellow trustees. The Community responded to his dismissal by pressing for the release of the Knowledge Engine grant application resulting in a public apology from Tretikov for pushing the project without first gaining consensus. Heilman continues to spend many hours a day contributing to WP as an editor and an admin and continues to make media appearances promoting the WP project.<ref>http://thewikipedian.net/tag/james-heilman/</ref><ref>http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/08/501087493/should-i-trust-wikipedia-with-my-health</ref>
[[File:James Heilman.png|thumb|left|200px|James Heilman, M.D. was removed from the Board]] In July 2015, James Heilman, MD was elected to the WMF Board by the editing community after starting working at WP in 2008 and being a very active ("many hours a day") and highly qualified non-anonymous editor and later administrator. He made many mass media presentations promoting the project and worked to improve its reliability especially for those seeking medical information. He attempted to recruit other physicians to help in the effort. Heilman brought staff dissatisfaction with Tretikov's leadership to the Board and pressed for more information on the Knowledge Engine and the Knight Foundation grant. On December 28, 2015, on the eve of two members leaving the Board, the Board held an emergency meeting and removed Heilman from the WMF Board by a vote of 8 to 2. The Board released a statement that Heilman "lacked the [[confidence]]" of his fellow trustees. The Community responded to his dismissal by pressing for the release of the Knowledge Engine grant application resulting in a public apology from Tretikov for pushing the project without first gaining consensus. Heilman continues to spend many hours a day contributing to WP as an editor and an admin and continues to make media appearances promoting the WP project.<ref>http://thewikipedian.net/tag/james-heilman/</ref><ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/08/501087493/should-i-trust-wikipedia-with-my-health</ref>
The WMF Board appointed two new people to fill outside Board slots effective January 1, one of which was a Google executive, Arnnon Geshuri who was a central figure in an antitrust case. Community outrage over this improperly vetted appointment resulted in his resignation from the WMF Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/editors-demand-ouster-of-wikimedia-board-member-involved-in-no-poach-deal/|title= Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents Wikipedia editors revolt, vote "no confidence" in newest board member|date=Jan. 25, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 25, 2016}}</ref> On February 25, 2016, Tretikov announced her resignation as the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director.<ref name=ltresign/> She continued until March 31.
The WMF Board appointed two new people to fill outside Board slots effective January 1, one of which was a Google executive, Arnnon Geshuri who was a central figure in an antitrust case. Community outrage over this improperly vetted appointment resulted in his resignation from the WMF Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/editors-demand-ouster-of-wikimedia-board-member-involved-in-no-poach-deal/|title= Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents Wikipedia editors revolt, vote "no confidence" in newest board member|date=Jan. 25, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 25, 2016}}</ref> On February 25, 2016, Tretikov announced her resignation as the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director.<ref name=ltresign/> She continued until March 31.
[[File:Katherine Maher.jpg|thumb|right|Katherine Maher, Executive Director]]
[[File:Katherine Maher.jpg|thumb|right|Katherine Maher, Executive Director]]
Katherine Maher was announced as the interim ED was announced and later it was announced that she was appointed permanently to the position.<ref name=ltresign>{{cite web|url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082472.html|title=Executive transition planning|date=February 25, 2016|accessdate=February 25, 2016}}</ref>
Katherine Maher was announced as the interim ED was announced and later it was announced that she was appointed permanently to the position.<ref name=ltresign>{{cite web|url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082472.html|title=Executive transition planning|date=February 25, 2016|accessdate=February 25, 2016}}</ref>
The female Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Directors is married to Laura Hale. Ms. Hale has a long history, dating back to 2011 of incompetent edits and abusing male editors. A long-time male administrator, Fram, followed Ms. Hale around making corrections to her problematic edits. In turn, Ms. Hale complained to the Trust & Security staff of the Wikimedia Foundation, rather than to the volunteer-staffed complaint mechanisms on Wikipedia. Although the Trust & Security staff has previously banned a few editors for problems involving illegal conduct such as pedophilia, in June 2019, for the first time, they suspended Fram for one year for "incivility". In response, an English Wikipedia administrator lifted the block and was in turn stripped of his administratorship, and several other administrators resigned in protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_response_to_the_Wikimedia_Foundation%27s_ban_of_Fram|title=Wikipedia:Community response to the Wikimedia Foundation's ban of Fram|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref> In response to a Buzzfeed article about the controversy,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/wikipedia-ban-editor-culture-war|title=The Culture War Has Finally Come For Wikipedia|date=July 27, 2019|accessdate=July 28, 2019|work=Buzzfeed News}}</ref> Maher sent a tweet calling the article "s***ty.".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/krmaher/status/1144394019893460993|title=tweet|accessdate=June 28, 2019}}</ref> As more Wikipedia Administrators and Bureaucrats resign or go on strike, the crisis has also been reported by Breitbart.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/06/28/wikipedia-editors-revolt-over-sites-ban-of-veteran-administrator/|title=Wikipedia Editors Revolt over Site’s Ban of Veteran Administrator|date=July 28, 2019|work=Breitbart|accessdate=July 28, 2019}}</ref> Despite the Fram-Laura Hale scandal, on August 15, 2019, the WMF Board re-elected Laura Hale's wife to serve another year as Board chair.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/08/16/wikimedia-foundation-announces-shani-evenstein-sigalov-as-new-trustee-as-well-as-leadership-appointments-at-fifteenth-annual-wikimania/
|title=Wikimedia Foundation announces Shani Evenstein Sigalov as new Trustee, as well as leadership appointments at fifteenth annual Wikimania|date=August 16, 2019|accessdate=August 17, 2019}}</ref>
There is a fundamental rift at Wikipedia. On the one hand, editors from the global north advocate that knowledge is produced by the scientific method, and that Wikipedia should only document verifiable facts. On the other hand, editors from the global south believe that Western civilization is the product of old or dead white men and that Wikipedia should give voice to suppressed people who have personal experiences that may not meet the accepted standards currently imposed by the traditional views of knowledge. These people advocate a "post-modernist" definition of knowledge, including folk remedies supplanting Western medicine and counteracting the historic bias that views males as holding key roles in history, when they serve as military or political leaders. This later group views the current governing structure and resource allocation of the Foundation as illegitimate and wants to rebuild both Wikipedia and the Foundation into something very different so that when internet access spreads throughout the world by 2030, people in the global south will be involved with Wikipedia instead of some other website that might become established to serve their own communities.
To assure that all views were heard, the WMF devoted millions of dollars on a strategic planning exercise that held workshops in the global south and provided very few opportunities for input from editors in Europe or the United States. The result was a large set of self-contradictory recommendations. Next, the WMF hosted a "harmonization sprint" in Tunis which was attended by Laura Hale's wife and Maher to try to unify the recommendations. Finally, a writing group was appointed to write a self-consistent set of recommendations, for which public comment will be collected in January-February 2020.
Although a large number of non-profit groups issued virtue signaling statements following the death of George Floyd, Maher (speaking for the WMF) used the opportunity to announce a complete surrender to the faction that refocused the mission on knowledge equity and also announced that WMF websites would abandon their unbiased coverage of race relations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/06/03/we-stand-for-racial-justice/|title=We stand for racial justice.|date=June 3, 2020|accessdate=Sept. 17. 2020}}</ref> Maher described as a goal:
{{cquote|Our content: Building power, relationships, and resources to advance epistemic justice and redress the exclusion and omission of Black, indigenous, and communities of color within knowledge systems in general and the Wikimedia projects specifically.}}
==Site shut downs==
==Site shut downs==
On October 4, 2011, the WMF servers were reprogrammed to hide the contents of the [[Italian Wikipedia|Italian language version of Wikipedia]], as a protest against paragraph 29 of the "''[[DDL intercettazioni]]''" (Wiretapping Bill).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.camera.it/_dati/leg16/lavori/stampati/pdf/16PDL0038530.pdf |title=Camera dei Deputati: disegno di legge N. 1415-B |language=Italian |date=11 June 2010 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |publisher=Camera dei Deputati}} ([http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=it&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.camera.it%2F_dati%2Fleg16%2Flavori%2Fstampati%2Fpdf%2F16PDL0038530.pdf English translation])</ref> The proposed bill would empower anyone who believes themselves to have been attacked by the content of a web site to enforce publication of a reply, uneditable and uncommented, on the same web site, within 48 hours and without any prior evaluation of the claim by a judge or to face a €12,000 fine.
On October 4, 2011, the WMF servers were reprogrammed to hide the contents of the [[Italian Wikipedia|Italian language version of Wikipedia]], as a protest against paragraph 29 of the "''[[DDL intercettazioni]]''" (Wiretapping Bill).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.camera.it/_dati/leg16/lavori/stampati/pdf/16PDL0038530.pdf |title=Camera dei Deputati: disegno di legge N. 1415-B |language=Italian |date=11 June 2010 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |publisher=Camera dei Deputati}} ([http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=it&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.camera.it%2F_dati%2Fleg16%2Flavori%2Fstampati%2Fpdf%2F16PDL0038530.pdf English translation])</ref> The proposed bill would empower anyone who believes themselves to have been attacked by the content of a web site to enforce publication of a reply, uneditable and uncommented, on the same web site, within 48 hours and without any prior evaluation of the claim by a judge or to face a €12,000 fine.
On October 4 through 6, 2011, the WMF redirected all pages on the Italian language version of Wikipedia redirected to a statement opposing the proposed legislation.<ref>[http://www.businessinsider.com/italy-wikipedia-wiretapping-2011-10 "Wikipedia Shuts Down Italian Site In Response To Berlusconi's New Wiretap Act"], Adam Taylor, ''Business Insider'', 4 October 2011</ref> This was true for all users, not just those IP addresses based in Italy. On October 7, the Italian Wikipedia pages were again available, but a notice about the proposed legislation was still displayed at the top of pages.
On October 4 through 6, 2011, the WMF redirected all pages on the Italian language version of Wikipedia redirected to a statement opposing the proposed legislation.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/italy-wikipedia-wiretapping-2011-10 "Wikipedia Shuts Down Italian Site In Response To Berlusconi's New Wiretap Act"], Adam Taylor, ''Business Insider'', 4 October 2011</ref> This was true for all users, not just those IP addresses based in Italy. On October 7, the Italian Wikipedia pages were again available, but a notice about the proposed legislation was still displayed at the top of pages.
The success of the Italian shut down whetted the appetite of people seeking to influence legislation in the United States. In December 2011, Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]] discussed a possible coordinated blackout by Wikipedia and other United States websites to protest anti-piracy two bills pending before the United States Congress: [[SOPA]] and [[PIPA]]. After committing the WMF to join a larger boycott, Wales initiated discussion with editors about his plan. Editors and others<ref>Charlie Osborne, [https://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/would-a-wikipedia-blackout-be-such-a-bad-thing/13726 "Would a Wikipedia blackout be such a bad thing?"], ''iGeneration'' on [[ZDNet]], December 13, 2011, 11:04 am PST. Retrieved September 18, 2012.</ref> debated the alternatives of completely interrupting service for one or more days, or alternatively presenting site visitors with a blanked page directing them to further information before permitting them to complete searches.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jimmy-wales/8953273/Wikipedia-co-founder-threatens-blackout-over-anti-piracy-law.html |title=Wikipedia co-founder threatens blackout over anti-piracy law |work=The Telegraph |date=December 13, 2011 |author=Christopher Williams |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="itnews wikipedia mulls blackout">{{cite news |url=http://www.itnews.com.au/News/284285,wikipedia-mulls-blackout-to-protest-sopa.aspx |title=Wikipedia mulls blackout to protest SOPA |publisher=itnews |date=December 13, 2011 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |author=Brett Winterford |quote=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has threatened a knowledge "blackout" of the online encyclopedia to protest a US anti-piracy bill that could have serious ramifications for online service providers.}}</ref> On January 16, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that the English-language Wikipedia would be blacked out for 24 hours on January 18.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wikipedia to go dark in piracy protest |date=January 17, 2012 |work=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-17/wiki-to-go-dark-in-piracy-protest/3778452 |accessdate=September 18, 2012}}</ref> The Simple English Wikipedia voted to continue full service and did not join the blackout.<ref>https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Simple_talk/Archive_97#Potential_black-out_of_Simple_English_Wikipedia_in_the_US</ref> Many editors complained that the blackout decision was not made in a democratic fashion and undercut Wikipedia's objectivity and non-political mission.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/wikipedia-editors-question-sites-planned-blackout-15381673 | title = Wikipedia Editors Question Site's Planned Blackout | first = Peter | last = Svensson | date = January 17, 2012 | accessdate = September 18, 2012| agency = Associated Press }}</ref>
The success of the Italian shut down whetted the appetite of people seeking to influence legislation in the United States. In December 2011, Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]] discussed a possible coordinated blackout by Wikipedia and other United States websites to protest anti-piracy two bills pending before the United States Congress: [[SOPA]] and [[PIPA]]. After committing the WMF to join a larger boycott, Wales initiated discussion with editors about his plan. Editors and others<ref>Charlie Osborne, [https://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/would-a-wikipedia-blackout-be-such-a-bad-thing/13726 "Would a Wikipedia blackout be such a bad thing?"], ''iGeneration'' on [[ZDNet]], December 13, 2011, 11:04 am PST. Retrieved September 18, 2012.</ref> debated the alternatives of completely interrupting service for one or more days, or alternatively presenting site visitors with a blanked page directing them to further information before permitting them to complete searches.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jimmy-wales/8953273/Wikipedia-co-founder-threatens-blackout-over-anti-piracy-law.html |title=Wikipedia co-founder threatens blackout over anti-piracy law |work=The Telegraph |date=December 13, 2011 |author=Christopher Williams |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="itnews wikipedia mulls blackout">{{cite news |url=http://www.itnews.com.au/News/284285,wikipedia-mulls-blackout-to-protest-sopa.aspx |title=Wikipedia mulls blackout to protest SOPA |publisher=itnews |date=December 13, 2011 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |author=Brett Winterford |quote=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has threatened a knowledge "blackout" of the online encyclopedia to protest a US anti-piracy bill that could have serious ramifications for online service providers.}}</ref> On January 16, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that the English-language Wikipedia would be blacked out for 24 hours on January 18.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wikipedia to go dark in piracy protest |date=January 17, 2012 |work=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-17/wiki-to-go-dark-in-piracy-protest/3778452 |accessdate=September 18, 2012}}</ref> The Simple English Wikipedia voted to continue full service and did not join the blackout.<ref>https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Simple_talk/Archive_97#Potential_black-out_of_Simple_English_Wikipedia_in_the_US</ref> Many editors complained that the blackout decision was not made in a democratic fashion and undercut Wikipedia's objectivity and non-political mission.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/wikipedia-editors-question-sites-planned-blackout-15381673 | title = Wikipedia Editors Question Site's Planned Blackout | first = Peter | last = Svensson | date = January 17, 2012 | accessdate = September 18, 2012| agency = Associated Press }}</ref>
The SOPA/PIPA issue is so important to Sue Gardner, the WMF Executive Director, that in March 2013, she announced that she will be leaving her position to pursue the issue in another capacity.<ref name=bizinsider>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/wikimedia-foundations-sue-gardner-leaving-2013-3|work=Business Insider|date= March 28, 2013|title=The Woman Who Made Wikipedia Huge Is Stepping Down|accessdate=Arpril 27, 2013}}</ref> She left on June 1, 2014.
The SOPA/PIPA issue is so important to Sue Gardner, the WMF Executive Director, that in March 2013, she announced that she will be leaving her position to pursue the issue in another capacity.<ref name=bizinsider>{{cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/wikimedia-foundations-sue-gardner-leaving-2013-3|work=Business Insider|date= March 28, 2013|title=The Woman Who Made Wikipedia Huge Is Stepping Down|accessdate=Arpril 27, 2013}}</ref> She left on June 1, 2014.
==Finances==
==Finances==
The German chapter spends a portion of its funds on technology, but most of the other chapters focus on conferences, travel and other soft costs. Needless to say, with so much money being spent on non-technology / infrastructure items, the WMF and its chapters have drawn critics from within their own organization. However, internal dissent is quickly deleted.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Netball&diff=next&oldid=535697243|title=Talk:Netball|date=January 30, 2013}}</ref>
The German chapter spends a portion of its funds on technology, but most of the other chapters focus on conferences, travel and other soft costs. Needless to say, with so much money being spent on non-technology / infrastructure items, the WMF and its chapters have drawn critics from within their own organization. However, internal dissent is quickly deleted.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Netball&diff=next&oldid=535697243|title=Talk:Netball|date=January 30, 2013}}</ref>
The WMF has two chapters in the United States: Wikimedia New York (which has a 501(c)(3) status from the IRS) and Wikimedia District of Columbia, whose 501(c)(3) exemption application was abandoned. The Treasurer of the UK WMF chapter suddenly resigned in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/02/john-byrne-stands-down-as-the-treasurer-and-a-trustee-of-wikimedia-uk/|title=John Byrne Stands Down as the Treasurer and a Trustee of Wikimedia UK|date=February 3, 2013|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> The outgoing vice president of Wikimedia Australia (who was an unsuccessful candidate for President in its 2012 election) applied for a travel grant with two of her friends to visit Colorado ski resorts in December 2012 and sought the funding retroactively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Paralympic_Winter_Sports|title=Proposal:Paralympic Winter Sports|accessdate=February 4, 2013|work=Wikimedia Australia}}</ref>
The WMF has two chapters in the United States: Wikimedia New York (which has a 501(c)(3) status from the IRS) and Wikimedia District of Columbia, whose 501(c)(3) exemption application was abandoned. The Treasurer of the UK WMF chapter suddenly resigned in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/02/john-byrne-stands-down-as-the-treasurer-and-a-trustee-of-wikimedia-uk/|title=John Byrne Stands Down as the Treasurer and a Trustee of Wikimedia UK|date=February 3, 2013|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Laura Hale, the outgoing vice president of Wikimedia Australia (who was an unsuccessful candidate for President in its 2012 election) applied for a travel grant with two of her friends to visit Colorado ski resorts in December 2012 and sought the funding retroactively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Paralympic_Winter_Sports|title=Proposal:Paralympic Winter Sports|accessdate=February 4, 2013|work=Wikimedia Australia}}</ref>
The President of Wikimedia Australia has spend so much time traveling with the President of Wikimedia Indonesia that the two married.{{citation needed}}
The President of Wikimedia Australia has spend so much time traveling with the President of Wikimedia Indonesia that the two married.{{citation needed}}
==Lawsuits==
==Lawsuits==
In March 2015, the WMF and other groups filed a lawsuit against the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) challenging an upstream surveillance program that was revealled by [[Edward Snowden]], a former NSA contractor. The District Court granted the NSA's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but the WMF successfully appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. That decision left the WMF as the only remaining plaintiff in the case, and the case continued in District Court on remand.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nelson|first=Steven|title=Appeals Court: Wikimedia Can Fight NSA's 'Not Speculative' Internet Surveillance|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-05-23/appeals-court-wikimedia-can-fight-nsas-not-speculative-internet-surveillance|accessdate=24 May 2017|work=U.S. World and News Report|date=May 23, 2017}}</ref> On December 16, 2019, the District Court held that the WMF did not have standing to proceed with its claims. On February 14, 2020, the Wikimedia Foundation filed a notice of appeal in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.<ref>{{cite web|title=District Court rules for government in Wikimedia Foundation's mass surveillance case against the NSA |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/12/17/district-court-rules-for-government-in-wikimedia-foundations-mass-surveillance-case-against-the-nsa/ |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation |accessdate=September 20, 2020 |date=December 17, 2019}}</ref>
In 2019, cold fusion researcher Abd ul-Rahman Lomax who was banned from Wikipedia filed a lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation, seeking $200,000 in damages.<ref>https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.207020/gov.uscourts.mad.207020.1.0.pdf</ref>
In 2019, cold fusion researcher Abd ul-Rahman Lomax who was banned from Wikipedia filed a lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation, seeking $200,000 in damages.<ref>https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.207020/gov.uscourts.mad.207020.1.0.pdf</ref>
==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]
[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]