Dear Shyamal, and everyone,
I apologize for not responding in a timely manner to your question on the
Wikimedia Forum[1]. Since that thread is now archived, and because I don't
want to "bury" my respond, I'm responding here, on this list where most of
the people who care will read it.
To your question: Vishnu did ask me -- at the time (the delay is all mine)
-- about sharing the WMF and CIS agreement publicly. We will not be
sharing that agreement, on principle: not because there's anything secret
or damning in it, but because we do not want to create a misleading
precedent that may set the expectation that all WMF contracts are subject
to community review. This isn't, and cannot be, the case. We likewise do
not expect chapters or other partners to publicly share contracts.
That said, I am happy to answer the question that prompted you to want to
look at the agreement, viz. whether the community "really has the right to
complain about things like lack of discussions / transparency etc." -- the
answer is: yes, of course! The community is our ally in ensuring
meaningful work gets accomplished, in India as in elsewhere in the world.
We not only "allow", but _want_ the community to review CIS-A2K's work,
just like it reviews WMF's work (on more global/technical matters, e.g. the
visual editor), Wikimedia India's work, and any other group operating in or
around the Wikimedia projects.
I believe Vishnu and the rest of the A2K team have been receptive to
feedback (even when it included abuse and accusations of bad faith), and it
seems to me they have been working to address those parts of that feedback
that pointed to genuine deficiencies or oversights on their part.
CIS is a grantee of the Wikimedia Foundation; it is an independent
organization carrying out work that we want to see done in India, according
to an approved work plan. I am the person at WMF responsible for the
partnership with CIS, and I am regularly in touch with Vishnu to hear about
progress, challenges, and successes.
I encourage all community members to continue to engage with the A2K team
in good faith (and patience), on Meta, the different language Wikipedias,
and mailing lists, as appropriate, to keep the feedback cycle going.
IF anyone finds that they have reached a dead end in direct dialogue with
the A2K team, I certainly want to hear about it, and, if I find merit in
the issue, I can certainly bring it up in my periodic calls with Vishnu and
ask for it to be addressed. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me
personally in such a case, but only if you've first tried discussing it
directly with no result.
I hope that answers your question.
Cheers,
Asaf
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Forum/Archives/2013-08#Terms_.2F_…
--
Asaf Bartov
Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org
Dear all,
This is a news worth sharing for the entire wikimedia community. Kudos to Malayalam Wikimedians for their effort!
Best!
Subha
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Sandeep N Das <sandeepndas(a)gmail.com>
> Date: 6 November 2013 10:01:57 pm IST
> To: permissions-commons(a)wikimedia.org
> Cc: Malayalam Wikimedia Project Mailing list <wikiml-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: [Wikiml-l] Fwd: Re: Request for publishing Asan's Gurudeva Jeevacharithram's Anubandham under common licence in Wikipedia
> Reply-To: Malayalam Wikimedia Project Mailing list <wikiml-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>
> Mr.
> Niranj S/o Dr. T Bhaskaran have given consent to use Asan's Gurudeva Jeevacharithram's Anubandham under common licence in Wikipedia.
>
> Please see the attachment as content below.
> Thanks to all members of Bhaskaran Memoril Trust.
>
> I hereby affirm that: M/s.Dr.T.Bhaskaran Memoril Trust, represented by T B Niranj, S/o, Dr.T.Bhaskaran and Managing Trustee of Dr.T.Bhaskaran Memorial Trust, is the sole owner of the exclusive copyright of Anubandham: 1090 to Great Samadhi by Dr. T Bhaskaran.
> I agree to publish that work under the free license "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported"
> I acknowledge that by doing so I grant anyone the right to use the work in a commercial product or otherwise, and to modify it according to their needs, provided that they abide by the terms of the license and any other applicable laws.
> I am aware that this agreement is not limited to Wikipedia or related sites.
> I am aware that I always retain copyright of my work, and retain the right to be attributed in accordance with the license chosen. Modifications others make to the work will not be claimed to have been made by me.
> I acknowledge that I cannot withdraw this agreement and that the content may or may not be kept permanently on a Wikimedia project.
>
> T B Niranj
> S/o Dr.T.Bhaskaran, Managing Trustee, M/s Dr.T.Bhaskaran Memorial Trust ‘Ameya’, Chakalappadam Road, Kaloor, Cochin, 682017.
>
> Regards,
> Sandeep N Das
> Sr. Positioning Specialist
> WesternGeco Intl.
> +91 999 54 80 198
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Niranj" <niranj(a)loremine.com>
> Date: 6 Nov 2013 12:09
> Subject: Re: Request for publishing Asan's Gurudeva Jeevacharithram's Anubandham under common licence in Wikipedia
> To: "Sandeep N Das" <sandeepndas(a)gmail.com>
> Cc: "Nishkala Retnakumar" <nishkala(a)kel.co.in>, "Anu" <atheenamn(a)gmail.com>, "Ratnakumar Sreedharan" <sratnan(a)gmail.com>
>
>> Hi Sandeep,
>> Thank you for explaining about the license.
>> Please see attached consent.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Niranj
>>
>> Co-founder & Director
>> LoreMine Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
>>
>> Cell Phone: +919446031415
>> Website: www.loremine.com
>>
>> Office address:
>> LoreMine Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
>> H4, 4th Floor, Heavenly Plaza, Vazhakkala, Kakkanad,
>> Thrikkakara P.O, Kochi, PIN - 682021, Kerala India.
>> Phone: +91 484 2972798
>>
>> Home address:
>> CPRA 20, Ameya, Chakkalapadam Road, Off-Perandoor Road,
>> Kaloor P.O, Kochi,, PIN - 682017, Kerala, India.
>> Phone: +91 484 2531414
>>
>> Alternate email: niranjtb(a)gmail.com
>>
>>
>>> On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 10:21 AM, Sandeep N Das <sandeepndas(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Dear Niranj Sir,
>>>
>>> Hope you doing fine.
>>> This is Sandeep who meet you at your home last day regarding, "Request to get permission from Dr. T Bhaskaran's family to publish "Anubandham: 1090 to Great Samadhi" by Dr. T Bhaskaran in WikiSource."
>>> Below is the formal request. On your reply please include wikiml-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, which is Wikimedia project mailing group.
>>> Thanking you in advance.
>>>
>>> *************
>>>
>>> Respected Sir,
>>>
>>> My Name is Sandeep, a Malayalam Wikipedian who support Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
>>> We have published Great Kumaran Asan's "Gurudeva Jeeva charithram" in Wikipedia. - http://ml.wikisource.org/wiki/Sree_Narayana_Guru
>>> We can only publish anything in wikipedia which doesn' t hold any copy wright issue.
>>> According to India copy right rule - its gets free only after 60 years of writers death or the publisher is willing to publish it under free copy wright.
>>>
>>> Thonnakkal Kuramaranasan Committe has published "Gurudeva Jeeva charithram" as a book, which was published earlier in vivekodyam as an article.
>>> At the end there is and Anubandham which is written by Dr. T Bhaskaran.
>>>
>>> This is a request to get permission from Dr. T Bhaskaran's family to publish "Anubandham: 1090 to Great Samadhi" by Dr. T Bhaskaran in WikiSource.
>>> " xyz കൃതിയുടെ പകർപ്പവകാശ ഉടമസ്ഥനായ/ഉടമസ്ഥരായ ഞാൻ/ഞങ്ങൾ, xyz എന്ന ഈ കൃതി സ്വതന്ത്രപകർപ്പവകാശലൈസൻസിൽ (ഉദാ:CC-BY-SA) പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിക്കുന്നു എന്ന ഒരു സ്റ്റെറ്റ്മെന്റ് ആണ് ആവശ്യം."
>>>
>>> Hope you will take appropriate action for the request.
>>> Pl contact me for any clarification on this email for phone: 9995480198.
>>>
>>> Yours Faithfully,
>>>
>>> Sandeep
>>> Cherthala
>>> Mob: 9995480198
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Sandeep N Das
>>> Sr. Positioning Specialist
>>> WesternGeco Intl.
>>> +91 999 54 80 198
>>>
> <Anubandham 1090 to Great Samadhi by Dr.T Bhaskaran.doc>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikiml-l is the mailing list for Malayalam Wikimedia Projects
> email: Wikiml-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Website: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikiml-l
>
> To stop receiving messages from Wikiml-l please visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/options/wikiml-l
Cross-posting here, since it features some data, examples and videos from
India.
Best
Bishakha
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bishakha Datta <bishakhadatta(a)gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 6, 2013 at 10:34 AM
Subject: Listening to the dogs of data: Wikipedia and the gender gap
To: Increasing female participation in Wikimedia projects <
gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Dear all,
In June this year, I attended the Info-Activism
Camp<https://camp2013.tacticaltech.org/>run by Tactical Technology, on
the theme of Evidence and Influence.
Following this, I was asked to contribute a piece on wikipedia's gender
gap, which has just been published:
https://micromag.evidenceandinfluence.org/article/listening-to-the-dogs-of-…
All comments welcome, ideally on the post itself, so that non-listers can
also follow any discussion that may emerge.
Many thanks in particular to Sue Gardner and Joseph Reagle, for their most
insightful blog posts, which are linked.
And there's lots of interesting stuff in the MicroMag on Gender and
Violence, in which this piece was published:
https://micromag.evidenceandinfluence.org/?issue=gender-and-violence
Best
Bishakha
Hi folks,
Just heard back from the folks at the CC head office regarding
crowdsourcing of our new logo. We would like to Thank all designers who
took out their time to submit designs. In total 9 of the 17 designs
submitted are now open for voting, in addition to an option of retaining an
old logo forwarded to us by Prof. Jha (design 18).
We hereby request all community members to vote for the design of their
choice by 1pm IST on 20th October, 2013.
Link: wiki.wikimedia.in/Deciding_CC_India_logo
Thank You!
The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K)
Program invites applications from experienced Wikimedia community members
for a short-term assignment as a 'Community Communications Consultant'. The
duration of this assignment is for 3 months. The consultant will work with
the CIS-A2K team and report to the Program Director CIS-A2K.
*Profile:*
An ideal candidate should:
a) have been a Wikimedian for more than a year.
b) have good understanding of and contribution on Wikipedia, Wikisource,
Wiktionary and Wikimedia Commons projects.
c) have links with at least 5 Indian language Wikimedia community members
d) have good writing skills in English and at least in 2 Indian languages
e) be able to speak/read multiple (at least 3) Indian languages
f) be open to receiving community review of his/her work
Preference will be given to those who:
a) can use python
b) can use various tools for community metrics
c) can actively use social media
*Job Description*
The consultant will:
1.
Do about 60 profile stories on key Wikimedians (especially those who
have not received visibility beyond their language community) from all the
Indian language Wikimedia communities.
2.
Revive Indian community Wikimedia Newsletter.
3.
Undertake research and produce analytical reports based on community
wide metrics.
4.
Any other tasks that may be assigned by the Programme Director, Access
to Knowledge.
*Fee and Payment*
The consultant will be paid a consolidated sum of about Rs. 40,000/- per
month for three months. The consultancy fee will be paid after an
assessment of the work done by the Consultant. The consultancy fee could be
slightly negotiated based on the experience and expertise of a suitable
candidate.
*Other Information*
The position is based in Bangalore and the consultant will need to work
from CIS' Bangalore office.
Applicants are requested to send their detailed CV with a covering letter
(not exceeding 350 words indicating their motivation to take up this
assignment) to *vishnu(a)cis-india.org* . The last date to receive the
applications is November 1, 2013. Applicants are requested to use the
subject “CCC at A2K” while submitting the application
Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed either remotely or in-person.
Only short-listed candidates will be informed by e-mail about the interview
by November 5, 2013.
Vishnu
Dear all,
On a casual request, I was prompted to support some of the tasks the
India Chapter and the India community would benefit together, and I decided
to take up the responsibility of creating profiles for the 'Featured
Wikimedian' section in the Wikimedia India Chapter
wiki<http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Main_Page>.
This section aims to showcase the achievements of active Wikimedians who
have contributed significantly to the Wikimedia projects in English and/or
Indian languages. The featured profile for January is that of Mr. Balachandran
G <http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Featured_Wikimedian/Archive/2013//January> from
Malayalam Wikipedia.
If you know an inspiring Wikimedian whose profile hasn't been featured
yet, do let me know! Please also go through the profile of the featured
Wikimedian of this month and send your suggestions and comments for
improving this section.
Happy new year!
Regards
User: Netha Hussain
--
Netha Hussain
Student of Medicine and Surgery
Govt. Medical College, Kozhikode
Blogs : *nethahussain.blogspot.com
swethaambari.wordpress.com*
Hi,<br/><br/>WikiSource turns 10 this year and there are a few celebrations being planned that include an international proof reading competition. Any such plans in India?<br/><br/>Warm regards,<br/>Pradeep<a href="http://overview.mail.yahoo.com?.src=iOS"><br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone</a>
Dear Friends,
Wikimedia India in association with Acharya Narendra Dev College New Delhi
and Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore will be hosting the launch
of Creative Commons India in New Delhi on 12 November, 2013 with Minister
of State for Human Resource Development, Dr. Shashi Tharoor as Chief Guest.
It would be really nice if you could join us.
Details of the event can be found here:
wiki.wikimedia.in/Events/Creative_Commons_India_launch
Regards from Mumbai,
Karthik Nadar.
Secretary, Wikimedia India Chapter.
Bangalore, India.
http://wiki.wikimedia.in