Hi, On Sat, May 8, 2010 at 4:52 PM, Stuart West <s...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > - Due to the failure of the community process, something extraordinary had to > be done. A small step was our Board statement we hoped would focus attention. > A bigger step was the work by Jimmy and other individuals on Commons who took > bold and decisive action. Clearly it is messy
Stu, thank you for sharing your thoughts in detail. There are precedents in the Wikimedia movement's history where the community process « failed » and the Board decided to take action. They did so thoughtfully, by crafting a resolution that was refined a lot (I seem to recall then-Board members who spent a lot of volunteer time wording it carefully). The Board gave the community appropriate time to implement the policy, and a deadline. The topic of this policy was not very different from the topic we are discussing now, since it was about Free and Non-free content: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Licensing_policy From what I can see, this process, based on mutual respect and « guidance » of the community, was highly successful: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Non-free_content And I would even say it is a model of collaboration between the Board and local communities. If I understand correctly, the reason why this approach was not followed this time is because there was apparently a feeling of urgency. I am not privy to the discussions between Jimmy and Fox News, but I understand Fox's story is the source of Jimmy's « bold and decisive action », as you put it. It is not unprecedented for the Board to « guide » the community that fails to address an issue (and we have processes for that that have proved successful). However, I believe it is quite unprecedented for a Board member to exercise editorial control under the pressure of another organization (however « fair and balanced » it might be). -- Guillaume Paumier [[m:User:guillom]] _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
