Nevertheless, that's a good start. If this idea caught on, then slowly other departments might join in (particularly anything related to health because they want maximum exposure to the public) Andrew "Fill the world with children who care and things start looking up." Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:39:43 -0400 From: fastalan(a)gmail.com To: wikimedia-ca(a)lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-Canada] A non-bylaw related meeting? I was trying to get the Ontario parliament to release the photos of the politicians under a GPL type license. I was able to get some traction, but I didn't follow-up with them to ensure it was completed. The latest idea was to get the members to choose yes/no for a free license when their photos are taken after the next election. The queen's printer office agreed this would be a fair idea, but I don't think anything happened with it. 2009/7/15 Jeffery Nichols <arctic.gnome(a)gmail.com> If people are interested, I would like to get together in an online meeting to discuss what our first project may be. I would especially like to hear some ideas from some of the people who say they are interested in WMC but don't want to work on the bylaws. Before the bylaws can be completed, we need a more specific idea about what we will first do after being established. I have argued that we should try to set up an online database and gallery of Canadian historical and artistic media, but I would like to hear everyone else's ideas, as well as discuss the logistics of setting up that kind of website. Would current participants and people who have not yet attended a meeting be interested in chatting for an hour or so next week on the topic? If so, let me know and I'll set a time. -Jeffery Nichols (Arctic.gnome) _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-ca mailing list Wikimedia-ca(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-ca -- View Alan Walker's profile on LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/in/walker1] _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live helps you keep up with all your friends, in one place. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9660826

Jeffery Nichols wrote: Of course, I'm never interested in online meetings. They are just not suited to a ponderous person who often pauses before responding to comments. That said, it's important to remember that Wikipedia was active for more than three years before WMF was incorporated. In those earliest years Jimbo was footing the bills. The online database is a great idea. What's more important than a discussion of possibilities is for individuals to commit to certain projects and tasks. It's fair enough to say, "I'm not interested in writing by-laws," but at the same time is that person committing to something else. Now it is important for someone to accept personal responsibility for setting up the online database. Setting up a website is great, and presumably it will employ Mediawiki software. That takes someone to commit to paying for bandwidth, starting the site at a technical level, and installing the basic software. Using wikisource.ca for this is OK by me as the current owner of the domain name. I will raise the point when I'm at Wikimania, and unless more constructive ideas are raised there will make it available in September to someone who wants to start the website. Ec

I'm not sure if they maintain archives, but I do know getting them to GPL previously taken photographs would be a lot more difficult than getting them to release those taken after an election where the members consented. If we could get them to do this during the next election it would give everyone a reading where the politicians stood on the matter. I can't see how we could let public officers get away with saying no, but until we have this implemented we won't know. Is there anyone interested in working with me on pursuing this matter? 2009/7/15 Ray Saintonge <saintonge(a)telus.net> -- View Alan Walker's profile on LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/in/walker1]

Jeffery Nichols wrote: This proposal doesn't seem particularly political. I assume, of course, that all candidates are being treated equally. Approaching government departments to obtain information would not be political; lobbying that department to implement policy changes likely would. Nothing prevents individuals from acting on their own. Amounts that are small in proportion to the organization's budget can still be used for some political activities. Thus if we saw fit to take a stand on proposed copyright legislation it would be likely OK to produce a position paper or have someone appear before the relevant committee of Parliament, but it might be excessive to pay the expenses for people to come to Ottawa to do it. One of the duties of the directors will be to review any proposed project that might be considered political before approving it as an official project of the organization. For anything that crosses the line we will need to make clear that no funds of the organization are to be spent on that project, and that anyone involving himself in it is doing so as an individual. Ec

It doesn't have to be a meeting, though I do find that meetings can get quite a bit of work done if enough people show up. To get the ball rolling on this project, I have posted my two cents about how this site might look at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Canada/Wikisource_Canada and I encourage everyone to go to that page and tell me what you think Wikisource Canada should be like. As for the technical side, I don't know much about how to set up a wiki, but I would gladly contribute to paying for some part of the bandwidth until the organization get incorporated or can get a grant from WMF. Do you have an estimate of how much it costs per size of the size and number of hits? -Jeffery Nichols (Arctic.gnome) On 15-Jul-09, at 9:19 PM, Ray Saintonge wrote:

"I'm not sure if they maintain archives, but I do know getting them to GPL previously taken photographs would be a lot more difficult than getting them to release those taken after an election where the members consented. " I doubt that. The Queen's Printer holds the copyright, so it's really up to them as to how they licence it. In the same vein, I would be massively interested in getting the Canadian Heraldic Authority to release copyright of coats of arms (or at the very least CoAs of cities, provinces, and the country) so that we may use proper versions legally onwiki. I'd also be interested in having the GG office release copyright of images of Canadian medals and decorations. The recent release of archived media from the German government could provide a template for Canada to do the same thing. enwiki: [[User:Roux]] • wikiroux(a)gmail.com 2009/7/16 Geoffrey Plourde <geo.plrd(a)yahoo.com>om>:

Agreed. enwiki: [[User:Roux]] • wikiroux(a)gmail.com 2009/7/17 Ray Saintonge <saintonge(a)telus.net>et>:

One point I just thought of though... we may need it to be hoted by WMF for SUL purposes. enwiki: [[User:Roux]] • wikiroux(a)gmail.com 2009/7/17 wayne <cpa(a)sympatico.ca>ca>:

The point of SUL is for a single login to be usable across *every* Wikimedia project. Applying it later in the game just creates massive headaches. enwiki: [[User:Roux]] • wikiroux(a)gmail.com 2009/7/17 Ray Saintonge <saintonge(a)telus.net>et>:

This wouldn't be a Wikimedia project, it would be a Wikimedia Canada project. The WMF has made it clear that they want chapters to be completely independent organizations, not just branches of the American organization. -Jeff On 18-Jul-09, at 12:10 AM, roux wrote:

Jeffery Nichols wrote: Not necessarily. We are trying to set up a Wikimedia chapter, not a Wikisource chapter. In due course, maintaining a Canadian Wikisource is not the only thing that WMC could be doing; it's only the one that can be most easily identified. Most of the principal issues are indeed settled, though I think we could still do considerable work on specific wording. Ec

Slightly offtopic, I now have a contact/mole/inside woman at the Ontario Archives who may be able to help us getting stuff released. enwiki: [[User:Roux]] • wikiroux(a)gmail.com 2009/7/26 Jeffery Nichols <arctic.gnome(a)gmail.com>om>: