Sorry, let me back peddle on that sentence, Todd is correct. Dropping that paragraph from my email does not stop the issue of perceived conflict of interest and Wikia from being a valid concern worth open discussion.
Fae On 28 Feb 2016 20:23, "Fæ" <fae...@gmail.com> wrote: > Todd, putting the caveats before the main thrust of Jimmy Wales' > email, is a strange way of reading it. I read the email the obvious > way, and I encourage others to read the original for themselves, > rather than relying on cherry-picked quotes towards the end. > > Thanks, > Fae > > On 28 February 2016 at 20:17, Todd Allen <toddmal...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Fae, > > > > Your second citation didn't at all match what I recall Jimmy saying on > the > > subject, so I went and read it. Even the specific email you cite is not, > in > > any way, "...arguing the case against > > introducing charges for commercial reusers of WMF services...". Some > quotes > > from the email you cited: > > > > "...my general view is 100% in agreement with him on the core issue - > where > > commercial re-users are getting enormous value from our work, they should > > be paying for the engineering resources required for their support." > > > > "...I come down firmly on the side of being careful about falling into a > > trap of doing lots of expensive work for commercial re-users without > having > > them pay." > > > > He does say that there would be some caveats and it would be something to > > step lightly on, but I don't think it could be any clearer that he does > > want commercial reusers to pay for WMF services in at least some cases. > > > > I'm all for discussion and identification of potential conflicts of > > interest. But if you're going to accuse someone of that, you really do > need > > to make sure you've got your facts straight. Misrepresenting someone, or > > some things they said, will not get anyone to take you seriously. > > > > Todd > > > > On Sun, Feb 28, 2016 at 12:47 PM, Fæ <fae...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> ISSUE > >> > >> Jimmy Wales has never declared a conflict of interest or loyalty when > >> acting as a WMF trustee. He is co-founder of Wikia Inc, set up in > >> 2004, a commercial company that often benefits from new MediaWiki > >> developments, and clearly he benefits financially from resulting > >> profitability of Wikia. The original vision for Wikia was as a > >> "Google-killer" open search engine, so it would seem highly prudent > >> for Jimmy to have declared a conflict of interest and avoided WMF > >> board discussions and votes in relation to new development projects > >> around open Knowledge Engines / Search Engines. > >> > >> I welcome some feedback as to whether the general perception of > >> Wikimedians is that WMF trustees should be seen to do more to declare > >> and manage their potential conflicts of interest, and whether Jimmy > >> Wales is perceived to have a conflict of loyalties when steering the > >> WMF board member in areas which overlap with Wikia Inc.'s marketing > >> strategy, and that they might otherwise fund commercially. > >> > >> BACKGROUND > >> > >> With regard to his potential conflict of loyalties when serving as a > >> voting unelected trustee on the WMF board, Jimmy Wales has stated: > >> "I did not have any conflict of loyalties during that process. > >> Spending a reasonable portion of our IT budget on an ambitious project > >> to improve search and discovery, and to conduct research and community > >> consultation on that, is a great idea for Wikipedia and for the > >> broader Wikimedia movement and I strongly support it."[1] > >> > >> Most recently Jimmy Wales has been arguing the case against > >> introducing charges for commercial reusers of WMF services, with an > >> obvious reuser of MediaWiki code improvements and WMF supported open > >> project data being Wikia Inc.[2] > >> > >> There is no record in the WMF board minutes for 2015 of Jimmy Wales > >> having ever declared a conflict of interest or loyalty for Wikia Inc > >> or for any other reason, nor of any other trustee doing so. In order > >> to comply with standard company law, these are expected on the > >> standing agenda for board meetings, and it is worrying for a > >> Foundation with control of $100m assets to never have a trustee or > >> director ever declare an interest as a reason to abstain from a vote > >> or discussion.[3] > >> > >> Jimmy does not appear to see there may be a public perception of > >> conflict of interest or loyalties[6] when he is involved in steering > >> the WMF strategy for prioritizing new developments that are likely to > >> benefit Wikia Inc. The Knowledge Engine / Search Engine project was > >> discussed by the board during 2015 and Jimmy has been a public > >> advocate of the project since it was publicly leaked. The overlap of > >> what is thought to have been the original proposal to the Knight > >> Foundation with Jimmy Wales' original vision for wikia.com, being > >> "Search Wikia", described as a "Google-killer search engine", is an > >> obvious concern. Jimmy Wales: "Obsession: Currently, it’s wikia.com. > >> It is meant to take on Google by creating a search engine where all > >> the editorial decisions are made by the general public and all the > >> software is open."[5] > >> > >> Nine years later Jimmy is promoting the same ideas but with the WMF > >> investing charitable donated funds to support a development that will > >> benefit Wikia, rather than it being commercially funded while using > >> much of the same rhetoric, such as the importance of transparency.[4] > >> > >> Links > >> 1. > >> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082678.html > >> 2. > >> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082721.html > >> 3. https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Meetings > >> 4. Search Wikia interview > >> http://searchengineland.com/qa-with-jimmy-wales-on-search-wikia-10171 > >> 5. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/magazine/18wwln-domains-t.html > >> 6. Company directors and trustees are expected to declare both > >> "conflicts of interest", normally interpreted as having a direct or > >> indirect financial interest, and "conflicts of loyalty" where their > >> non-financial interests may be seen to potentially influence their > >> judgement as a board member. There may be no demonstrable conflict for > >> this to be an issue, it only needs to be potentially be seen to be an > >> issue by others, in order to require a declaration. > >> 7. "Take advantage of Wikia's custom research solutions to achieve > >> campaign objectives, including brand lift studies, target audience > >> insights, and more!", "Reach the right audience with the right message > >> using Wikia's multitude of targeting opportunities, including > >> demographic, psychographic, geographic, contextual, genre, devices, > >> conquesting, and more!" http://www.wikia.com/mediakit > >> > >> Fae > > -- > fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
