[Commons-l] Some reflections about the governance of Commons

[Gnangarra]

2009/6/15 David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com>

> 2009/6/15 Rama Neko <ramaneko at gmail.com>:
>
> > The "service project angle" worries me too. I have noticed that many
> > articles of Wikipedia, the service project that makes it easier to
> > find media in Commons by providing encyclopedic context to our
> > content, utterly lack the proper links to our galleries and
> > categories.
> >        Furthermore, I sometimes have the feeling that contributors of
> > Wikipedia expect us to host all sorts of unacceptable media in return
> > of the service that they provide; while we of course appreciate the
> > service projects, this is a problem, particularly when these files are
> > copyright violations.
> > In the particular case of Pikiwiki, it would of course be very
> > caricatural to say that all their images are copyvios. There are lots
> > of out-of-scope party snapshots, too.
>
>
> I'd hope this isn't a summary of the views of other Commons admins.
>
> Anyone else? Or is the Commons admin community this insular and derisive?


Commons foundation is as a service project, its also more than just that its
also a community where some very talented artistic people choose to use
their skills to improve many projects at once.  This community is probably
the most aware when it comes to an artists rights, the protection of those
rights and its also the most exposed to violation of those rights. There is
no grey area to work in if its a violation then its deleted end of story, if
an account is to frequently a source of such problems then it gets going to
get blocked, but a block on Commons isnt as stigmatised as it is on other
projects that is because the community does realise that sometimes a block
is a necessary evil while we find someone to help translate and ensure that
person undestands whats happening.

Commons admins Insular not really, derisive definately absolutely not,
cynical absolutely especially with claims of I've got the permission of my
neighbour but its not in english so you cant read it anyway.

Do we need a big talkfest on how Commons should be managed, of course we
need it because at the moment there is a general lack of understanding in
the wider 'pedia community about copyright and its variants between
countries. We also need to approach bulk upload issues with a less bold
approach we need to have a way of ensuring copyright is addressed at source
before the files arrive on our(foundation) servers when it does it meets US
laws. The Pikiwiki incident shows that our communitcation in this area is
lacking, it also shows our admins are cautious and err on the side of
protecting the project. In the end if we are going to fix the problems
highlighted by this incident we need to work together, we dont need insults,
witch hunts, crusades etc.

Commons is unique for many reasons its multilingual, it supports all other
projects directly, an action there could be seen in every project within
moments, its the only project in this situaution it would benefit from a
Foundation person like Cary is to OTRS. For these bulk collection type
events this foundation person could provide a point of contact to ensure
that the copyright and source details are sorted before uploads occur, this
would also give a degree of privacy to the source making public
announcements a possible publicity event. If an issue is observed then the
uploading account has a notice directing the Commons admin as to what is
happening, who to speak with and in what language again offering some
privacy and continuaty in communications. It also means that an admin can
let the Foundation person know theres an issue so that someone is able to
ensure things get resolved in a timely fashion and isnt dependent on the
admin or some public specticle like Pikiwiki experienced.




>
>
>
> - d.
>
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-- 
GN.
http://gnangarra.redbubble.com/
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