Hi James,

I understand that WMF can't do much content work without risking its DCMA safe harbor, and I understand that fact checking even if paid might be a net benefit to the project. But I'm not sure how that relates to the Education mailing list, what funding model you are proposing for this work, why the Wiki Ed Foundation would want to include this kind of fact checking within its scope of work even if the funding was readily available, and why Lila would be involved in this discussion. Can you clarify those points?

Thanks,

Pine


On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 9:42 AM, James Salsman <jsalsman@gmail.com> wrote:
P.S. Report is at http://people.aifb.kit.edu/ffl//wikiwho/fp715-floeck.pdf
and further docs at http://f-squared.org/wikiwho/


On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 10:25 AM, James Salsman <jsalsman@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Aaron and Pine,
>
> Please see https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2015-May/031684.html
>
> I was thrilled to see Maribel Acosta's WikiWho check-in for
> Mediawiki-Utilities today, and I hope you are, too:
> https://github.com/maribelacosta/wikiwho/pull/3
>
> I intend to raise money independently so that someone such as Maribel
> or perhaps one of her colleagues recommended by Fabian Flöck can work
> on https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Accuracy_review
>
> Once that is complete, the project calls for human fact checkers to
> work on the suggested passages for proofreading and fact checking
> review. I intend to raise money for them, too, but I understand that
> the WMF can't have any part of hiring them to preserve the safe harbor
> DMCA provisions. Earlier in the year, I administered qualifying
> examinations to hundreds of fact checker candidates, and have
> transferred the results of those examinations to Lila and Dario, in
> case I get run over by a bus, and also so that they can independently
> confirm the quality of the examination process, questions, and
> responses which they should have.
>
> Aaron, can you please confirm that Lila and Dario have those and don't
> need anything more from me to read them? I would love to do this
> myself, but I will be very busy through the end of the year.
>
> Best regards,
> James
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 6:09 AM, Aaron Halfaker <aaron.halfaker@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi James,
>>
>> I've been away traveling for the last couple of weeks.  Regretfully, I don't
>> know what you are talking about.  I see that a link was censored from a
>> previous email in the thread.
>>
>> What exactly are you hoping for?  That we'll dedicate some researcher time
>> to a specific project?  Maybe you're just looking for feedback.  I see you
>> mention hiring people -- but for what purpose?
>>
>> -Aaron
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 9:11 PM, James Salsman <jsalsman@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> P.S. I mean, the WMF can't hire them but the WEF can, and I hope they do
>>> soon to complement the accuracy metric without expenditure.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wednesday, June 3, 2015, James Salsman <jsalsman@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi Aaron,
>>>>
>>>> Could you please confirm that Lila and Dario are in receipt of the
>>>> fact-checker candidate list and associated materials? Please remember that
>>>> the WEF can't hire them but the WikiEd Foundation has not yet achieved
>>>> IdeaLab technology, so your assistance may still be required. Thank you for
>>>> your patience.
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>> James Salsman
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>> From: James Salsman <jsalsman@gmail.com>
>>>> Date: Sunday, May 31, 2015
>>>> Subject: comments on Annual Plan
>>>> To: Lila Tretikov <lila@wikimedia.org>
>>>> Cc: Dario Taraborelli <dtaraborelli@wikimedia.org>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dear Dario and Lila,
>>>>
>>>> Are you both able to see the human fact checker and proofreader
>>>> candidates in
>>>>  [censored] ?
>>>>
>>>> Please keep the contents of that file confidential, as I promised I would
>>>> not share it with commercial interests.
>>>>
>>>> Please let me know your thoughts on the next best steps.
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>> James
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, May 28, 2015 at 10:05 PM, James Salsman <jsalsman@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Lila,
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank you so much. I will help Dario as much as I can. You are both so
>>>>> great.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>> Jim
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thursday, May 28, 2015, Lila Tretikov <lila@wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi James,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not sure we can "take this away" better than another volunteer, but we
>>>>>> do plan to focus on quality measurements. I am CCing Dario who is in charge
>>>>>> of Analytics Research to look into the specifics of what's involved here and
>>>>>> how it may link to the general quality metrics.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Lila
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, May 28, 2015 at 7:54 AM, James Salsman <jsalsman@gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Lila,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Please take this away from me. I do not want to be in a position where
>>>>>>> my influence over it can unduly enrich my new client by degrading the
>>>>>>> quality of the encyclopedia.  Please let me know your decision.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>>>> James
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>>>>> From: James Salsman <jsalsman@gmail.com>
>>>>>>> Date: Thu, May 28, 2015 at 8:52 AM
>>>>>>> Subject: comments on Annual Plan
>>>>>>> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Regarding
>>>>>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2015-16#Engineering
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Will key quality metrics for reading include accuracy of articles on
>>>>>>> the Simple English Wikipedia?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> To that end, will the Wikimedia Foundation please take over this
>>>>>>> project in full as stated here:
>>>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2015-May/031684.html
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have a new contract through the end of the year and will be unable
>>>>>>> to devote the time I had planned. Thank you.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>>>> James Salsman
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>