As the Quartz article from Jens's email discusses, the decision in Chile is very unfortunate.[1] It's an example of when net neutrality — which is an important principle for the free and open internet — is poorly implemented to prevent free dissemination of knowledge. Although Wikipedia Zero is not yet available in Chile, it is a country of interest for the program, so we are thinking about what options are available in light of this decision.
That said, I would like to clarify a couple of points about the implementation of Wikipedia Zero that were raised in this thread: 1. The newer Wikipedia Zero partnerships have provided the full Wikipedia sites (m.wikipedia) free of data charges for some time now and we are phasing out the reduced version (zero.wikipedia) from the older partnerships. 2. While earlier Wikipedia Zero partnerships only zero-rated Wikipedia, we are working on getting carriers to zero-rate all the Wikimedia projects. 3. We are also working on getting editing functions zero-rated, though there are some technical hurdles for that right now. But, eventually, Wikipedia Zero will not only make knowledge more accessible, but also empower more people in the Global South to contribute to the projects. 4. Finally, WMF does *not* pay carriers to zero-rate Wikipedia under Wikipedia Zero. Carriers zero-rate the sites because they want to make a commitment to access to knowledge as a corporate social responsibility.[2] I believe this question has already been answered in this thread since Scott raised it earlier, but I just wanted to confirm that Wikipedia Zero does not involve payments. Hope this is helpful! Best, Yana [1] http://qz.com/215064/when-net-neutrality-backfires-chile-just-killed-free-access-to-wikipedia-and-facebook/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility -- Yana Welinder Legal Counsel Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext. 6867 @yanatweets <https://twitter.com/yanatweets> NOTICE: As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>. On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 5:52 AM, Jens Best <jens.b...@wikimedia.de> wrote: > News from Chile > > Chile’s Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones just decided that zero-rating > is a promotion tool which is against net neutrality. Therefore all > zero-rated-related marketing deals have to stop at the 1st of June. > According to a WMF-list in Chile no provider has been offering Wikipedia > Zero. Also I'm not sure if this dismissal reflects only on zero-rated > offers where payment of money is done by the content provider. So it still > needs to be checked how/if this decision is influencing our intent to > spread Wikipedia Zero. > > All in all it shows that we have to improve our arguments in a broader > scale if we don't want to get caught by promoting Free Knowledge" but in > fact 'only' pushing the use of a reduced version of one (very well known > and superb) website which stand exemplary for this idea. We are caught in a > dilemma which imho only can be solved when reaching out to more partners > which stand for Free Knowledge and Free Education. Not sure how this could > work, but fortunately that never was a reason to stop. > > News from Chile: > > > http://qz.com/215064/when-net-neutrality-backfires-chile-just-killed-free-access-to-wikipedia-and-facebook/ > > > http://www.subtel.gob.cl/noticias/138-neutralidad-red/5311-ley-de-neutralidad-y-redes-sociales-gratis?_ga=1.143290485.1915805894.1400742323 > > Overview Wikipedia Zero: > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mobile_partnerships > > > > 2014-05-30 6:59 GMT+02:00 rupert THURNER <rupert.thur...@gmail.com>: > > > participation is another aspect. wp zero allows free reading. it does > > not allow free participation. write emails, search for references, > > download and adjust code. just as a side note, the oxford university > > stated: until 2012, europe, i.e. 10% of the worlds population, > > produced 50%+ of wikipedias geotagged contents [1]. > > > > imo it is not necessary to terminate wikipedia zero, it "just" needs > > to be negotiated differently: if a telco wants to support our case, > > give every person 200mb free internet access. unrestricted. or, if we > > need to break some law like now or be in the grey area, we could > > support additionally a viral model, like: if somebody is a wikipedia > > contributor (as defined in election criteria, or like in ghana, 3 > > edits per week), give them 2 GB free internet traffic for free, > > unrestricted. > > > > if the WMF legal department would be able to negotiate _this_ e.g. in > > nigeria or india, i would have _big_ respect for them, and with > > pleasure say in future: you guys are worth every cent of the 5 million > > we pay you a year. > > > > [1] > > > http://geography.oii.ox.ac.uk/?page=the-geographically-uneven-coverage-of-wikipedia > > > > On Fri, May 30, 2014 at 12:43 AM, Jens Best <jens.b...@wikimedia.de> > > wrote: > > > "Giving access to educational resources" isn't the same statement as > > > "zero-rating wikipedia" - If the mobile providers are willing to give > > more > > > open educational ressources (incl. video) a zero-rated access to the > > people > > > THEN you can say "giving access to educational ressources for free" - > > right > > > now it 'only' means "giving free access to wikipedia" (which is great > and > > > awesome for the wikipedia and the people). > > > > > > Let's not be naive on the point that mobile providers have different > > > motivations for zero-rating services as the movement has for fighting > for > > > free knowledge around the globe. > > > > > > In the beginning it was mainly zero.wikipedia (text-only), now more and > > > more providers giving access to m.wikipedia (some-pictures), but where > > are > > > their restrictions and what will these restrictions mean for further > > > development on free knowledge and free education? - And above that what > > > will be our argument when other free knowledge/free education > > organisations > > > don't get zero-rated? When it becomes clear that the marketing scoop of > > > giving "free wikipedia" wasn't at all meant as the start of giving free > > > access to free knowledge around the world? > > > > > > I'm all in to make all open knowledge and all open educational > ressources > > > zero-rated available around the globe - but I'm also quite sure that > this > > > is not the deal the mobile providers are looking forward to. I prefer > to > > > stay critical and not giving up an important principle like net > > neutrality > > > just because some mobile providers made a nice marketing deal with us > > which > > > seemed to serve our own goals in short-term, but isn't reflected enough > > on > > > its deeper implications on a free web and its liberated use. > > > > > > > > > best regards > > > > > > Jens Best > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 2014-05-29 23:31 GMT+02:00 Marc A. Pelletier <m...@uberbox.org>: > > > > > >> On 05/29/2014 05:24 PM, Jens Best wrote: > > >> > A noble cause > > >> > doesn't necessarily make breaking an important principle > > unproblematic. > > >> > > >> In my opinion, if the definition of the principle makes the obviously > > >> perverse conclusion that a beneficial thing like giving access to > > >> educational resources for free to the world's least economically > > >> fortunate people "a bad thing", then the definition is obviously > broken. > > >> > > >> > It could be the time to start talking > > >> > globally about an in-the-future exit strategy on the surely noble > > >> > initiative e.g. when certain milestones are reached in participating > > >> > countries/regions. > > >> > > >> So you're telling me that there is a point where we can say "Oh, you > > >> can't afford access? Too bad." and it's not a bad thing because some > > >> /other/ metric has been reached? > > >> > > >> -- Marc > > > -- > > > Jens Best > > > Präsidium > > > Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. > > > web: http://www.wikimedia.de > > > mail: jens.best <http://goog_17221883>@wikimedia.de > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > > -- > -- > Jens Best > Präsidium > Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. > web: http://www.wikimedia.de > mail: jens.best <http://goog_17221883>@wikimedia.de > > Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V. > Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts > Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig > anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, > Steuernummer 27/681/51985. > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
