On 6/11/06, Phil Sandifer Snowspinner@gmail.com wrote:
A separate, but related issue to the Daniel Brandt thread.
It's common enough sense that Wikipedia is going to get sued someday. And I know we've been preparing financially for that.
But with the rise of Brandt, Wikipedia Review, and whatever is going to come after them in this progression, the fact of the matter is that admins and regular editors are in danger too. Not just legal danger (As I assume the Foundation would use its legal resources to protect an admin who was sued), but personal danger.
Our photos, names, and cities are being published. People are stalking us. Eventually, something bad is going to happen.
When it does, there should be a fund to help - whether its helping with the medical bills of someone who's physically attacked, helping with the legal bills of someone who's trying to stop a stalker, or helping defray the costs of someone who's fired because of harassment at their workplace, Wikipedia needs to be able to help the volunteers who are put in danger by helping Wikipedia.
I believe that we should, as soon as possible, start a special fundraiser to build this fund, and after that should devote a regular portion of the Foundation budget to it.
Supporting Wikipedia is acquiring a high price. Simply put, Wikipedia needs the ability to support us.
-Phil
Now this is an idea I can get behind. Wikimedia really should defend it's users, a user fund would be a good way to do this.
How much money are we talking though? As we all know, wikimedia ain't the richest organisation in the world, we are barely scraping by. And a solid legal defense can be very expensive.
--Oskar