Why not just officially support Wikipedia on IPFS, which has been hosting the Turkish Wikipedia in Turkey, unlike the Foundation, for almost two years now?
https://blog.ipfs.io/24-uncensorable-wikipedia/ https://github.com/ipfs/distributed-wikipedia-mirror On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 3:10 PM Philippe Beaudette <phili...@beaudette.me> wrote: > > Nathan, when you write "the very nature of Wikipedia is > maybe the best protection there could be, even against the absurdly > unlikely circumstance of a United States government takeover of Wikipedia", > it's very easy for me to fully and totally agree -- as I would have, three > years ago. But in those three years, I've seen things in the US that I had > never thought I would see. I've seen the rights that I considered > inviolable... violated. I've seen the resurgence of a brand of > conservatism that I find alarming. > > I find myself, reluctantly, agreeing with Fae that there should be a backup > plan. However.... I choose to believe this is also an opportunity. What > about a fully distributed version that's hosted everywhere, and nowhere? > What other options, besides the traditional, can the WMF's bright staff and > creative volunteers come up with? Surely there's something .... > > Failing that, there's always Iceland. :-) > > Philippe > > On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 3:05 PM Nathan <nawr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hi Fae, > > > > I'm curious what nation you have in mind for your stable Plan B. Is it > > Brexit Britain? France of the Yellow Vests and Front National? Perhaps > > Orban's Hungary, Putin's Russia, or Germany with its recent right-wing > > resurgence? > > > > Maybe you'd prefer Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil? I suppose in Italy we'd worry > > about Beppe and criminal libel statutes, while BJP would hardly seem > > welcoming in India and I can't imagine you'd suggest a home on the other > > side of the Great Firewall. > > > > Maybe you're hinting at Canada, but otherwise, I'd love to understand what > > island of liberal stability and legal safeguards you think is safe from the > > vagaries of electoral politics or rigid authoritarianism. > > > > The countries I list above have their own flaws (although in each case, I > > believe, many desirable traits as well) as does any other alternative. > > Anyone could reasonably argue it's unfair to stigmatize any of them by > > glaringly public flaws. > > > > To my mind Steve Walling has it right - the very nature of Wikipedia is > > maybe the best protection there could be, even against the absurdly > > unlikely circumstance of a United States government takeover of Wikipedia. > > > > Nathan > > > > On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 12:17 PM Fæ <fae...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Dear fellow Wikimedians, please sit back for a moment and ponder the > > > following, > > > > > > For those of us not resident in the US, it has been genuinely alarming > > > to see highly respected US government archives vanish overnight, > > > reference websites go down, and US legislation appear to drift to > > > whatever commercial interests have the loudest current political > > > voices. Sadly "populism" is happening now, and dominates American > > > politics, driving changes of all sorts in response to politically > > > inflated and vague rhetoric about "security" and "fakenews". It is not > > > inconceivable that a popularist current or future US Government could > > > decide to introduce emergency controls over websites like Wikipedia, > > > virtually overnight.[1][2][3][4] > > > > > > The question of whether the Wikimedia Foundation should have a hot > > > switch option, so that if a "disaster" strikes in America, we could > > > continue running Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons from other countries > > > has been raised on this list several times over many years. The WMF > > > and its employees are heavily invested in staying in Silicon Valley, > > > and that will stay true unless external risks become extreme. > > > > > > However, there has never been a rationale to avoid investing in a Plan > > > B. A robust plan, where the WMF can switch operations over to a > > > hosting country with a sufficiently welcoming with stable national > > > government and legislation, that our projects could continue to meet > > > our open knowledge goals virtually uninterrupted and without risk of > > > political control. A Plan B would ensure that if the US Government > > > started to discuss controlling Wikipedia, then at least that published > > > plan would be a realistic response. If they tried doing it, we could > > > simply power off our servers in the USA, rather than compromise our > > > content. > > > > > > If anyone knows of committed investment in a practical WMF Plan B, it > > > would be reassuring to share it more widely at this time. If not, more > > > of us should be asking about it, politely, persistently but perhaps > > > less patiently than indefinitely. :-) > > > > > > Links: > > > 1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46739180 > > > 2. http://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/research/updates/populism > > > 3. > > > > > https://www.cnet.com/news/obama-signs-order-outlining-emergency-internet-control > > > "... this order was designed to empower certain governmental agencies > > > with control over telecommunications and the Web during natural > > > disasters and security emergencies." > > > 4. > > > > > https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418 > > > "The president could seize control of U.S. internet traffic, impeding > > > access to certain websites and ensuring that internet searches return > > > pro-Trump content as the top results." > > > 5. Bizarro, as used in the title of this email: > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_World > > > > > > Thanks, > > > 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 and > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > 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> > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > 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> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > 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> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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>
