[Foundation-l] Politico: "Wikimedia foundation hires lobbyists on sopa, pipa"

[cyrano]

Le 22/01/2012 20:04, Mike Godwin a écrit :
> Another important lesson about arguing issues in Washington is that
> the fight is never over. The content companies have been at war with
> technology companies for decades over copyright issues. The fact that
> we were heard one day (or even one week) in 2012 is no basis for
> complacency.

I agree. Current times require a "wikifreedom" project whose objective
would be to fight censorship through sharing knowledge and raising
awareness. One of the main branches could be technological know-how to
build radios or bypass internet censoring. Giving access to tor-hidden
services like an encyclopedia or wikinews can change it ALL for censored
peoples.
> I believe Kat Walsh deserves credit for pointing out that, while we
> strive for NPOV in our encyclopedic content, the very existence of an
> encyclopedia -- and a freely available one at that -- signifies a
> political position. (Encyclopedists and librarians have known this for
> some time.) 

That's an important fact, but if the communities and donors are to
delegate their power to a representant, it must be through a referendum
amongst the 300 000 makers of Wikipedia. I think anyone who ever
registered should be contacted and informed about such elections.

Money is already  already dangerous for a cause, political power is even
more. « Beware the steward »

> This is not an either/or choice. Small, independent voices can be
> heard, if you know what you're doing.
I agree. In fact, I think the power of Wikipedia and sister projects is
not shown in the money, but in the huge and resourceful communities
commited to them.