It is perfectly understandable that people on this list are curious to know what is happening with QRpedia and its transfer to Wikimedia UK. I'll do my best to clarify as much as I am able.

First of all it is not about money or payments. Roger and Terence have been absolutely clear about this from the start – there is no financial consideration and the transfer of ownership is a donation to Wikimedia UK and the community from Terence and Roger. The delays have been many over the last eighteen months but we are almost there.

This has not been a simple process and we had to make sure we got it right. The heads of agreement that we signed with Roger in February was an expression of mutual trust and a desire to make the QRpedia platform available to the whole world and sustainable to those already using it. The recent statement of the Wikimedia Foundation about “wiki towns” (http://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/03/08/wmf-trademark-practices-for-qr-codes-and-wikitowns/) is a step forward in making the availability greater.

So what are the delays?

Firstly, holding our hands up here, we have been relying on pro-bono legal advice to do most of the work in getting the full arrangements in place. There have been some delays owing to the lawyer concerned having a rush of his paid work. We have been holding off saying more until that was signed. It is important for everyone concerned, particularly the charity, that we get this right.

Secondly - and this scares anyone who understands such things, which doesn't include me - there is a issue concerning a possible patent troll that needs to be resolved as it could be a risk to the charity. The concerns arising here are complicated - it's possible that Saad may be able to say more when he gets a chance - and they do need to be properly examined. To complete the transfer before doing this I believe would be negligent.

The technical issues have been addressed so we are ready to move forwards on that side of things. There is an concern that has been raised about whether the use and storage of information to produce the statistics at http://qrpedia.org/stats.php is fully compliant with EU privacy legislation. We're seeking advice on whether this is an issue that requires a change in the current use of data, but it is expected that agreeing a privacy policy and updating our data registration will be enough. Our technical consultants are confident they can implement whatever is needed, if required.

I hope we will have more news to report soon. I appreciate everyone wants to see the transfer finalised - myself as much as anyone, considering the amount of time I've invested in this - but I hope you'll agree that it is worth the wait in order to be certain that the transfer is done properly.

Doug Taylor
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On 11 March 2013 09:25, Roger Bamkin <victuallers@gmail.com> wrote:
The question was how "how long is this going to take" ..... I have estimated weeks. It appears I was wrong to offer this estimate. So "any minute now" must be correct then.

Well that was my last update. "Thank you (not)" for the reception of information honestly offered. The tech committee debated the transfer of the domains and many offering their wisdom now could have attended that meeting and found out what the problems were. You could have asked questions .... and got answers.

There is no real privacy issue. Do we have people who were not at that tech meeting running around and debating "the privacy issue" ..... yes. Do they know what they are talking about? .... ???. Are they causing delays .... yes. Hence my comment about volunteers and meetings.

Sharing your exasperation here is not going to help. Implyng that this has anything to do with money is very unhelpful and belittles all of us. .... and I do mean all of us. If you are not willing to AGF then I can obviously offer no reply that will satisfy you.

Now if I or Terence had control it would be transferred already, but we don't. We have made three agreements so far with the board or their representatives. You may notice that there are few informative postings here from board or staff. They are obviously wiser than me. If anyone wants to write to me in a civil tone and agf then I'd be happy to talk to them.

Oh and thanks to Mike who presumably took my advice and did a WHOIS enquiry rather than posting here. Thank you particularly Mike for offering thanks for renewing the domain. Civility and good faith are appreciated.





On 11 March 2013 08:10, Gordon Joly <gordon.joly@pobox.com> wrote:
On 10/03/13 22:17, Michael Peel wrote:
qrpedia.org appears to have been renewed for a year - its expiry date is now 13-Mar-2014. Many thanks to Terence and Roger for renewing it.


All those qr codes pasted on buildings and the like with nowhere to go?

The Meaning of Liff for the 21st Century on 11th March 2013?

Douglas Adams would have been 61 years of age today........

Gordo



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WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org