Hi Eric,
your last line expresses a direction which would enhance the spirit of the movement in an appropiate way. Let me repeat it: "Imagine a world where you can take a smartphone or tablet without a contract and immediately connect to an ever-growing library of free knowledge, without charge."
THIS is a great punchline, a good next big target which could put Wikimedia in the middle of a stronger and broader global movement. Free Public Knowledge is also great when you think of the goals of Wikidata - structured data connected to empower knowledge enabler and facilitators of Free Education around the world with good data and informations. Free Public Knowledge is putting the beacon named Wikipedia in front of a great campaign which would reach out far beyond being the greatest encyclopedia ever.
It is clear by now that imho it would also help to make something better out of the flaw which Wikipedia Zero is right now when it comes to net neutrality. (I'm still a little bit irritated by your rhetoric trickery, Mike, when calling the usual and established understanding of net neutrality repeatedly "absolutist". This cheap rhetorical maneuver doesn't fit you.) It would be good for WMF to admit that with the best intentions a mistake was made which scale wasn't really thought through before.
Wikipedia Zero is still primarily a marketing stunt for mobile providers (e.g. Orange) which build up on the great trust in the name "Wikipedia". Data is data, no user is thinking in terms like "good cause data" and "pure commercial data" - and this kind of familiarization with data on different rates (incl. zero rate) is what the mobile providers count on. I consider activists for other aspects of a free and open web partners in crime and not some other unrelated guys whose cause I'm willing to trade cheap when it fits the selfish interests of my brand.
But, as mentioned, there is no sense in looking the stable door after the horse has bolted - so let's think forward by reflecting activity-oriented on putting Wikimedia in the middle of a broader movement for all Free Public Knowledge and reduce ill-concieved partnerships with commercial players on the way.
best regards
Jens Best
PS: Eric, gimme a moment (aka another later mail) to write about draft of the definition of Free Public Knowledge (especially from the point of view of our movement).
@GerardM I don't wanna narrow your joy about WP0, but the thing with saving lifes/protecting against ebola is that in neither[1] of the countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea) mentioned by James Heilman Wikipedia Zero is active. So there is no proof that it wins laurels for that.
[1] according to http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mobile_partnerships
2014-12-09 8:25 GMT+01:00 Gerard Meijssen gerard.meijssen@gmail.com:
Hoi, When you consider that Wikipedia is the most used source of information in the countires where ebola is rife, it makes these countries particularly important to have Wikipedia zero. They are.
There is no way we should underestimate the importance of Wikipedia zero. It effectively saves lives. Thanks, GerardM
On 9 December 2014 at 07:28, Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org wrote:
On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 8:35 PM, Jens Best jens.best@wikimedia.de
wrote:
Wikipedia Zero should be newly framed as a leading example of Public Free Knowledge.
Hey Jens,
I think your line of argument here is reasonable, and we are generally thinking in the direction of how Wikipedia can be part of a broader coalition dedicated to free access to knowledge. Wikipedia Zero started off as an experiment to bring Wikipedia to millions of people who could otherwise not afford it. But now we should think (and are thinking) about the kind of coalition we want to create to bring free knowledge to every person on the planet, rather than primarily advocating for free access to Wikipedia.
I'd be indeed curious about your thoughts on how to define Public Free Knowledge. IMO the licensing status of the material ought to play some role in defining what kinds of resources should be made freely available in this manner. I don't know that this should be an absolutely non-negotiable criterion (even Wikimedia makes exceptions), but it should count for something.
Freely licensed material (in a manner compatible with the Definition of Free Cultural Works or the Open Knowledge Definition) is not tied to a specific website and host; the ability to fork free knowledge is a fundamental protection against the misuse of power. Moreover, if society creates a social contract that freely licensed and public domain information should be available free of charge, this creates further incentives to contribute to a true commons. It protects our heritage and reminds us to expand it. This is a position entirely consistent with our mission, as well.
I agree with Mike that WMF needs to take a practical stance to bring free knowledge to the largest number of people, and we need not apologize for Wikipedia Zero -- it's a program that serves the organization's mission well. But entirely practically speaking, building a greater coalition in support of access to knowledge could serve the mission to an even greater extent, if we manage to pull it off.
Imagine a world where you can take a smartphone or tablet without a contract and immediately connect to an ever-growing library of free knowledge, without charge. I couldn't think of a better 21st century equivalent to the foundation of public libraries, and frankly of a better way to even the odds for the survival of our species.
Erik
-- Erik Möller VP of Product & Strategy, Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe