Hey List,
just to play around, here some thoughts on the validity of a fork from
the german-speaking content-sites. To clarify - I don't want that and
would not advise anyone to go that way but it's importat to know:
## Hosting
Central Europe still has some of those large Universities which are
larger than PenState (e.g. Uni Wien - University of Vienna). To play
it through with Uni Wien as an Example: they sit directly at the
backbone, have a large and open server infrastructure and could (at
least that's what they told me) easily take the additional
visitors.
## Finance
The "Vereinsrecht" (NGO-Laws) and the Lax Laws offer a lot of
options. Donations given to the local "Verein" for a purpose might not
be allowed to easily be transferrd to a third-party (see the
LIONS/ROTARY controversies between the US HQ and EUROPE as legal
precedent).
Further, and in the context of our University-hosting example, a lot
of indirect funding through grants and content that is prepared by
official state archives/unis for wikipedia could be redirected through
such actions (actually that would be the main purpose).
Lastly, through the publicity generated, Users would be more aware and
able to choose.
## Strategy
As seen by download-jurisdiction, it is important to generate public
awareness for the alternative while at the same time disabling access
to the content on the main site... If one side would start legal
proceedings, access to the site in question could now - after we
idiots allowed blocking to be enacted in Europe - be frozen for the
duration - great for alternative sites - a horror vision for the
movement.
don't.let.your.egos.make.decisions.on.both.sides.