On 01/10/2016 11:16 AM, James Alexander wrote:
Oh dear god everyone... [This is in general, not any specific person]
I think everyone knows there are a lot of legitimate concerns to be concerned about and certainly Arnnon's actions at Google are legitimate for question however this whole "google is controlling the board/wmf" line of thought is turning into a huge and enormous conspiracy theory and what seems to be a giant school of red herring
I completely agree with you James. But, I do think that besides the specific concerns over Arnnon, an overrepresentation of Google-affiliated members in the board is a problem. Not because there is a conspiracy, but because it is a lack of diversity.
In addition, it poses problems whenever the board has to decide anything Google related. As a matter of principle, for any vote, board members with a conflict of interest should abstain. If the majority of board members have to abstain, this leaves the decision to a minority and thus reduces its legitimacy.
Tobias