Hi all,
I want to share a few thoughts on the paid editing issue. First of all, we
do have the ability to enforce our terms of use. If there are cases where
you're encountering a severe problem with paid editing and community
efforts are not able to solve it, please get in touch with us via
legal(a)wikimedia.org and we can discuss how we can provide support depending
on the details of the case. With apologies, I'm not able to discuss details
of any specific cases here because we don't want to reveal information
about ongoing or future investigations or legal actions.
In general, I do want to say a few words about the role of legal tools in
these kinds of cases. Legal actions are a blunt instrument: courts use the
same solutions to every problem, and have not kept up with the speed of
modern technology. So we are interested in helping to improve community
systems and technological tools (like tools to help admins investigate and
block problematic users) that can make it so that legal action isn't
necessary in many cases.
I also want to note that we've been working on a longer statement outlining
some of our thoughts about our role in dealing with paid editing concerns
and some ways the communities can effectively approach these issues as
well. We plan to post this on-wiki soon.
Lastly, let me say thank you to all the community members who help out with
these issues. We really appreciate everyone who reports cases to us and
helps us take action where we are able, such as reporting some job postings
on third-party sites.
Best,
Jacob Rogers
--
Jacob Rogers
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
NOTICE: This message might have confidential or legally privileged
information in it. If you have received this message by accident, please
delete it and let us know about the mistake. As an attorney for the
Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical reasons I cannot give legal advice
to, or serve as a lawyer for, community members, volunteers, or staff
members in their personal capacity. For more on what this means, please see
our legal disclaimer
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.