[Foundation-l] PD in Israel

Erik Moeller erik at wikimedia.org
Tue May 8 00:51:12 UTC 2007


On 5/8/07, Florence Devouard <Anthere9 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> A recent example for me was the DVD key issue. I got several emails of
> people requesting a Foundation feedback during the night. When I got
> online, more requests on irc and by skype. Request was made to
> immediately provide the position of the Foundation on the DVD matter.

We should not comment on such day-to-day policy and editorial
processes unless there is a critical need to do so (legal action and
sometimes threats, for example). Rather, we need to help the community
to fix its problems on its own. The question to answer is: Where do
community decision making processes get stuck and why? The project
closure issue is a good example.

Relying on consensus-building alone tends to lead to decisions by
attrition or no decisions at all in controversial cases. We should be
more open about letting the community vote, or applying the model of
"weighted arguments" used in other processes (community discussion
with closure by a self-selected sample of highly trusted individuals).

How can the Commons discussion on this particular copyright issue be
closed in a fair manner _by the community_, rather than by means of a
top down prescription from the Board?

We (Board) have many high level problems to think about. And helping
the community to govern itself is exactly one of them.
-- 
Peace & Love,
Erik

DISCLAIMER: This message does not represent an official position of
the Wikimedia Foundation or its Board of Trustees.

"An old, rigid civilization is reluctantly dying. Something new, open,
free and exciting is waking up." -- Ming the Mechanic



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