<div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000">Hi All,</font></span></p><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">I’m writing to let you know that today the Wikimedia Foundation[1] is filing suit against the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">National Security Agency</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Department of Justice</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, and the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">U.S. Attorney General</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">[2] in order to challenge certain mass surveillance practices carried out by the U.S. government. We believe these practices are impinging the freedom to learn, inquire, and explore on Wikimedia sites.</span></font></p><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Since the 2013 mass surveillance disclosures, we’ve heard concerns from the community about privacy on Wikipedia. </span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This lawsuit is a step towards addressing the community's justified concerns. We believe that the surveillance methods being employed by the NSA under the authority of the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act_of_1978_Amendments_Act_of_2008" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">FISA Amendments Act</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> negatively impact our users' ability and willingness to participate in our projects. Today, we fight back.</span></font></p><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">An <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/opinion/stop-spying-on-wikipedia-users.html?_r=0">op-ed</a> by Lila and Jimmy</span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"> about the lawsuit, and Wikimedia's stance on government surveillance, appeared in </span><span style="font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">The New York Times</span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"> this morning. Additionally, we just published a <a href="https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/03/10/wikimedia-v-nsa/">blog post</a> </span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">with more information about the suit. (The post will also up on Meta for translation).</span></font></p><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000">Best,</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><br></font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000">Michelle Paulson</font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000">Senior Legal Counsel</font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000">Wikimedia Foundation</font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><a href="mailto:mpaulson@wikimedia.org">mpaulson@wikimedia.org</a></font></span></p><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">[1] We are being represented by the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">American Civil Liberties Union</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"> (ACLU). Other plaintiffs include </span><a href="http://www.nacdl.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, </span><a href="http://www.hrw.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Human Rights Watch</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, </span><a href="http://www.amnestyusa.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Amnesty International USA</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, </span><a href="https://www.pen.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Pen American Center</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, </span><a href="http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Global Fund for Women</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, </span><a href="http://www.thenation.com/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">The Nation Magazine</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, </span><a href="https://www.rutherford.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">The Rutherford Institute</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, and </span><a href="http://www.wola.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Washington Office on Latin America</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">. </span></font></p><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">[2] Other named defendants include: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_S._Rogers" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Michael Rogers</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, in his official capacity as </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_the_National_Security_Agency" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Director of the National Security Agency</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"> and Chief of the Central Security Service; </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_National_Intelligence" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Office of the Director of National Intelligence</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">; </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_R._Clapper" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">James Clapper</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, in his official capacity as Director of National Intelligence; and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Eric Holder</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">, in his official capacity as </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Attorney General</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"> of the United States.</span></font></p><div><span style="font-size:7.5pt;color:black;font-family:Tahoma"><br style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"></span><span><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><i><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">NOTICE: This message may be confidential or legally privileged. If you have received it by accident, please delete it and let us know about the mistake. As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation and 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 </span><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">legal disclaimer</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">.</span></i></font></span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;color:black;font-family:Tahoma"><br></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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