[Wikimedia-l] WMF Policy and Political Affiliations Guideline

[Stephen LaPorte]

On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 6:07 PM, MZMcBride <z at mzmcbride.com> wrote:
> My question, more directly, is: if the SOPA action from January 2012
> were held in August 2012 (following the implementation of this new statement
> from the General Counsel's office), would it be considered a "community
> initiative" or not?

The community's decision to blackout a project would not be within
this guideline, but any additional WMF resources would require legal
and financial review. There are strict laws in the U.S. that limit
when a non-profit organization may engage in political and legislative
activity, and it is the General Counsel and CFA's duty to ensure that
the WMF complies with those laws. The community has procedures for
determining consensus for action, and most of the time the community
can implement that action without any additional resources from the
WMF.

-- 
Stephen LaPorte
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation