IANAL, but assuming there is a liability issue. We
should create a business list or perhaps a "content
re-user" list and leave it unmoderated. Re-affirm in
the sign-up message for this list that it is an open
discussion list and that official requests should be
sent to Foo@wikimedia or whereever they should go. I
strongly disagree with the Foundation paying someone
to moderate a public email list.
Birgitte SB
--- "Jeff V. Merkey" <jmerkey(a)wolfmountaingroup.com>
wrote:
Michael Bimmler wrote:
On 9/6/06, Jeff V. Merkey
<jmerkey(a)wolfmountaingroup.com> wrote:
(...) That sort of thing.
And why can't this be open to the community as
well? You know, the
wiki principle (at least that's what I
thought), is
"keep everything
transparent which does not need to be
secret". The
aims of this list
as described by you do not seem to need any
special
privacy/secret
status.
Michael
You know, I did not want to address this on this
list, but it appears I
will have to in order
for folks to get it.
Business 101
1. Businesses have goals with involve creating
revenue and positive
growth, in almost all ways identical to
the communities eventual goals.
2. Businesses are protected by laws and have legal
obligations to their
customers, partners, the Foundation,
and other entities and they MUST comply with and
protect the rights of
these parties.
3. Businesses make decisions based upon goals which
are designed to
promote their objectives.
4. Wikipedia centric businesses would be expected to
have goals which
promote wikipedia content
in education, business, and attempt to promote the
spread of Wikipedia's
pervasive content and create
opportunties to grow Wikipedia in a positive
financial growth model to
create and support new communities
and expand the power and reach of the existing
communities.
5. The goals of the Community will be expected to be
at odds with the
goals of financial growth at times.
6. The community is in fact an "entity" of sorts,
separate and distinct
from the Foundation, and any
business ventures which attempt to promote its
goals.
7. Businesses and ventures promoting Wikipedia will
have a fiduciary
duty to protect the investments of the
Foundation and any investors funding such efforts.
8. Millions of dollars may in time be invested in
such endeavors.
9. When a faction of the community decides it does
not like a particular
business venture or someone involved, and
resorts to disruptive behavior or other actions to
derail or interfere
with the Foundations projects in the real world,
it's not disruption, it's "tortious inteference" and
it's actionable
will expose the foundation and community to problems
with investors or stakeholders in these efforts. In
other words, it
would call into conflict a balancing of the ventures
fiduciary duty vs. their stated goals in support of
the community
iteself. Many ventures would simply back away and
make
a decision dealing with the Community is too great a
business risk and
simply stop supporting it or fork Wikipedia and try
to
steam roller over the Foundation. This is not
condusive to positive
growth or the ultimate goal of promoting Wikipedia
and creating opporunities for explosive growth for
the foundation.
10. Companies do not make agreements with anonymous
email accounts on
gmail or accounts on Wikipedia, they make agreements
with organized entities and identifiable indivduals
and stake holders.
11. A business related list would be a good venue.
Certainly, the
community could provide input, but such a list would
need
moderation by a representative of the Foundation,
not a community member
who has no fiduciary duty or responsiblity
to the Foundations policies. Community members
should ABSOLUTELY be
allowed participation as they are the
heart and soul of the basic nature of the
opporutnities. They should not
be running the list or any other element beyond
their suggestions and contributions to creating new
ventures. In other
words, when a non-employee or person without
fiduciary
duty attempts to disrupt or lobby against such an
effort OUTSIDE of
FOUNDATION CHANNELs, they are out on a limb
and expose all the parties to liablity.
Hope that explains it.
All my love,
Jeff
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