We regularly take action against websites offering Wikipedia paid editing
services when they use the Wikipedia puzzle globe or other Wikimedia
trademarks <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikimedia_trademarks>[1]
in a way that could suggest to visitors that their services are offered or
sanctioned by Wikipedia. We receive reports of potential trademark
infringement, primarily through the trademark abuse form
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contact/licenseabuse>[2] and
emails to legal-tm-vio(a)wikimedia.org. We evaluate each report and take
action as appropriate. If it is a case of parody or nominative use
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Trademark_policy#policy-nominativeuse>[3],
we may send an email asking them to include a notice that they are
unaffiliated with Wikipedia and, if, necessary, to include proper Creative
Commons attribution. If it is a case of actual infringement that could
confuse the public, we contact them to ask that they remove the marks from
their websites. In our cease-and-desist messages to paid editing websites,
we remind them of the terms of use disclosure requirements. In some cases
of trademark infringement, we can also file complaints under the Uniform
Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Domain-Name_Dispute-Resolution_Policy>[4]
seeking to cancel or claim their domain name registrations.
Best,
Charles M. Roslof
[1]
==
Charles M. Roslof
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
croslof(a)wikimedia.org
(415) 839-6885
NOTICE: This message might have confidential or legally privileged
information in it. If you have received this message by accident, please
delete it and let us know about the mistake. As an attorney for the
Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical reasons I cannot give legal advice
to, or serve as a lawyer for, community members, volunteers, or staff
members in their personal capacity. For more on what this means, please see
our legal disclaimer
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.
On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 8:09 PM, James Heilman <jmh649(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Undisclosed paid promotional editing is one of the
biggest risks we face
not only to the quality of our content but to our reputation. We need to do
a more to address it.
No company editing Wikipedia for pay should be allowed to use the Wikipedia
logo or name IMO. I am not sure how much the law allows us to enforce
though. Is "wikipediawriters" a trademark infringement?
James
On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 4:58 PM, Jytdog at Wikipedia <jytdogtemp1(a)gmail.com
wrote:
Just want to note that in my OP I had linked to
an ANI thread (now
archived
here
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/
IncidentArchive942#Earflaps>)
about the discovery of a long term paid editor; the same editors who
found
that, have found another -- this time the editor
had 70K edits on
en-wiki.
> ANI thread is here
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:
> Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=758846199#
> Proposal_to_ban_FoCuSandLeArN_due_to_undisclosed_paid_editing>.
> They edited on behalf of Banc de Binary, Alcoa, and some other big
> players. It appears that this editor worked for
wikipediawriters.com.
> Is WMF in discussions with that
company, and companies like it, with
regard
> to following the ToU? If not, why not?
> What if WMF started a list similar to
Beall's list of Predatory
Publishers,
of companies that advertise editing WP for pay
for which there is no
evidence of them complying with the ToU? It would also be useful to list
editors associated with the companies who have been blocked or banned by
one or more WP communities (this would take some delicate work).
Beside
this sort of public list (which people who want
to hire paid editors
would
probably appreciate being able to check), such
companies could also be
sent
> a letter informing them of the ToU and telling them to stop using the WP
> name until they start complying with the ToU - including the
> blocking/banning policies - and you could link that letter in the list.
> There are things the WMF could be
doing that the community cannot.
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 3:31 PM, Jytdog at Wikipedia <
jytdogtemp1(a)gmail.com
>
> wrote:
> > Thanks for your note, Jacob.
>
> > It is great to know that
WMF is happy to help with specific on-Wiki
> > issues, working from the ground up, as it were. Yes members of the
> > community are constantly playing whack-a-mole to deal with specific
> > incidents.
>
> > The reason I asked the
original question, is that from the point of
view
> of myself and some other editors, the WMF
could do a lot to address
paid
> > editing by acting where *only* it can - from the top down. Namely,
> > taking efforts to prevent companies from using the Wikipedia name to
> > advertise services that are performed in violation of the Terms of Use.
> > That would go for both companies that provide editing services and
> > companies that allow freelancers to connect with customers.
>
> > With those companies freely
(and often mockingly) advertising their
> > services, the spigot is opened wide - they constantly get more
customers
> > and send people here to edit. I would like to know if legal is
> > authorized to take action to cut that flow off from the top. To close
> the
> > spigot.
>
> > If legal is not authorized
to take such action, I would like to know
why.
> Is it that the board and management have not
talked through this, or
that
> > they have talked through and decided not to do it?
>
> > Thanks.
>
>
>
> > On
Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 12:41 AM, Jacob Rogers <jrogers(a)wikimedia.org>
> > wrote:
>
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> I want to share a few thoughts on the paid editing issue. First of
all,
we
> do have the ability to enforce our terms of
use. If there are cases
where
> you're encountering a severe problem with
paid editing and community
> efforts are not able to solve it, please get in touch with us via
> legal(a)wikimedia.org and we can discuss how we can provide support
> depending
> on the details of the case. With apologies, I'm not able to discuss
> details
> of any specific cases here because we don't want to reveal information
> about ongoing or future investigations or legal actions.
>
> In general, I do want to say a few words about the role of legal tools
in
> these kinds of cases. Legal actions are a
blunt instrument: courts use
the
>> same solutions to every problem, and have not kept up with the speed
of
>> modern technology. So we are interested
in helping to improve
community
>
systems and technological tools (like tools to help admins investigate
and
> block problematic users) that can make it so
that legal action isn't
> necessary in many cases.
>
> I also want to note that we've been working on a longer statement
> outlining
> some of our thoughts about our role in dealing with paid editing
concerns
>> and some ways the communities can effectively approach these issues as
>> well. We plan to post this on-wiki soon.
>>
>> Lastly, let me say thank you to all the community members who help out
>> with
>> these issues. We really appreciate everyone who reports cases to us
and
>> helps us take action where we are able,
such as reporting some job
>> postings
>> on third-party sites.
>>
>> Best,
>> Jacob Rogers
>>
>> --
>>
>> Jacob Rogers
>> Legal Counsel
>> Wikimedia Foundation
>>
>> NOTICE: This message might have confidential or legally privileged
>> information in it. If you have received this message by accident,
please
>
delete it and let us know about the mistake. As an attorney for the
> Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical reasons I cannot give legal
advice
>> to, or serve as a lawyer for, community members, volunteers, or staff
>> members in their personal capacity. For more on what this means,
please
>> see
>> our legal disclaimer
>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.
>> _______________________________________________
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--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
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