<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hi, </span><br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In
the legal department at the Wikimedia Foundation, we have been
examining for some time whether, as the 5th largest website in the
world, we need a new terms of use agreement. Given our size and the
need to ensure good communication with our users, I think we do, so
we’ve put ourselves to drafting a new version with the hopes that we
could get your review, comments, and ideas. </span><br><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><ul>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You can find the current version of our terms of use here: </span><a href="http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Terms_of_use" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Terms_of_use</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> . </span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You can view the new draft here: <a href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use" target="_blank">http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use</a> <br>
</span></li></ul><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As
I see it, right now our present terms of use is not much more than a
licensing agreement. It does not address a number of other subjects
that are normally found in terms of use of other community-driven
websites and that are often relevant for both legal and community
reasons. See, as examples, the Mozilla Terms of Use (</span><a href="http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Terms%20of%20Service" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Terms%20of%20Service</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">) and Creative Commons Terms of Use (</span><a href="https://creativecommons.org/terms" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">https://creativecommons.org/terms</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">) .</span><br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What
we would like to do is to invite you to read the draft, reflect on it,
and leave your comments and feedback on the discussion page. We plan to
leave this version up for at least 30 days; indeed, a 30-day comment
period for changes is built into the new draft. </span><br><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Our
plan is to review the comments and feedback, make appropriate changes
and edits, return with a revised version, and, if appropriate, propose
that draft to the Board of Trustees for adoption and translation. </span><br><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Generally,
we sought to craft a document that is more even-handed, shorter, and
easier-to-read than most user agreements. Although we encourage you to
read the entire draft, here are some key provisions to give you some
flavor: </span><br><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><ul>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Security:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
The proposed agreement prohibits a number of actions - like malware -
that could compromise our systems. We thought we should be clear as to
what is unacceptable in this area, though most of these restrictions
will not be surprising.</span></li><li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Roles and responsibilities:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
We feel we need to be honest with the community on a number of issues,
including user liability. We have heard a number of community members
asking for guidance on this topic. The proposed agreement also seeks to
provide guidelines to help users avoid trouble.</span></li><li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Community feedback: </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">With
this version, and with each major revision afterwards, we want the
community to be involved … obviously. So the proposed agreement gives
users a 30-day comment period before a major revision goes into effect
(with Board approval). There is a 3-day exception for urgent legal and
administrative changes.</span></li><li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Free Licensing: </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
felt our present agreement is somewhat confusing on the free licensing
requirements. The proposed agreement attempts to explain more clearly
those requirements for editors.</span></li><li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Harassment, threats, stalking, vandalism, and other long-term issues:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
The proposed agreement would make clear that such acts are prohibited.
Novel for us, the agreement also raises the possibility of a global
ban for extreme cross-wiki violations, a need that we have heard
expressed from a number of community members. We will share that policy
with the community in draft form shortly. Dealing with such matters is a
process that we hope volunteers will continue to lead on a day-to-day
basis.</span></li><li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Other Legal Provisions:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
We do have other legal provisions...we are lawyers after all. Most
notably, the proposed agreement incorporates legal sections that are
commonly used to help safeguard a site like ours, such as disclaimers
and limitations on liability. <br></span></li></ul><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thank you in advance for your review and comments. Your input will be invaluable. </span><br>
<br>Geoff<br clear="all">
<br>-- <br>Geoff Brigham<br>General Counsel <br>Wikimedia Foundation<br>149 New Montgomery Street<br>San Francisco, CA 94105<br><a href="tel:%2B1%20%28415%29%20839-6885%20ext.%206750" value="+14158396885" target="_blank">+1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6750</a><br>
<a href="mailto:gbrigham@wikimedia.org" target="_blank">gbrigham@wikimedia.org</a><br>
<br><i>California Registered In-House Counsel</i><br><br>Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment. <a href="http://www.wikimediafoundation.org" target="_blank">www.wikimediafoundation.org</a><br>
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