[Foundation-l] Blackout at Italian Wikipedia

[Federico Leva (Nemo)]

Ray Saintonge, 08/10/2011 11:11:
> I'm happy that the Italian language Wikipedia is back in business, and I
> hope that in the future projects will find better ways to protest than
> suicide strategies.  The key point is that Wikipedias are based on
> languages, not countries. For Italian there is a high correlation
> between language and country, but that does not mean that there are no
> readers in neighboring countries nor in the larger Italian diaspora.
> Other major languages are official in several important countries, and
> it would not do to shut one of them down in response to a bad proposed
> law in only one country.

I'm quite surprised that you reiterate this argument, Ray. There are 
many reasons why the blackout can be considered an excessive reaction, 
but I don't understand this. Following the same argument, you could say 
that Lybia workers can't go on strike if this affects foreigners ability 
to have oil or gas. But perhaps I didn't understand you; I don't quite 
get the discussion about the alleged "right to strike vs. right to be 
informed" thing.

The Italian language Wikipedia couldn't work without its contributors 
living in Italy. Period. Are you challenging this?

> Protesting bad laws should be a responsibility that belongs at the
> chapter level, under the assumption that it is the chapter that is most
> familiar with the laws of its country, and what can be done with the
> least harm to those around them.

This is the normal scenario, but doesn't prove than an exceptional one 
may arise (as in this case).

Nemo