A link http://stats.grok.se/en/200812/Virgin_Killer
Ant Jay A. Walsh wrote: > Many of you have probably noticed the considerable media coverage over the > weekend about > blocking of WP content in the UK, and much more alarming, the blocking of WP > editing for > most UK internet users. > > The Wikimedia Foundation is concerned about this situation. We are in > communication with > the responsible self-regulatory authority in the UK, the IWF. To explain our > position to > the media and among our community of volunteers we will be distributing the > following > press statement later tonight. > > Thanks, > > --- > Jay Walsh > Head of Communications > WikimediaFoundation.org > +1 (415) 839 6885 x 609 > > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Censorship_of_WP_in_the_UK_Dec_2008 > > --- > > Censorship in the United Kingdom disenfranchises tens of thousands of > Wikipedia editors > > Wikimedia Foundation opposes action by internet watchdog group to blacklist > encyclopedia > article > > San Francisco CA, December 7, 2008: As of December 6, 2008, most Internet > users in the > United Kingdom no longer have full access to Wikipedia. Due to censorship by > the UK > self-regulatory agency the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), most UK residents > can no > longer edit the volunteer-written encyclopedia, nor can they access an > article in it > describing a 32-year-old album by German rock group the Scorpions. Wikipedia > visitors in > the UK have also reported performance issues accessing the site. > > The IWF has confirmed to the Wikimedia Foundation that it has added Wikipedia > to its > blacklist, which also had the unintended consequence of rendering UK-based > internet users > unable to edit the encyclopedia, and possibly harming the site's performance > inside the UK. > > The IWF says its blacklist is used, on a voluntary basis, by 95% of UK-based > residential > Internet Service Providers. A statement on the IWF website says it added the > Wikipedia > article to the blacklist after the article was reported by a user, and an IWF > assessment > found it to be “potentially illegal.” > > “We have no reason to believe the article, or the image contained in the > article, has been > held to be illegal in any jurisdiction anywhere in the world,” said the > Wikimedia > Foundation's General Counsel, Mike Godwin. “We believe it's worth noting that > the image is > currently visible on Amazon, where the album can be freely purchased by UK > residents. It > is available on thousands of websites that are accessible to the UK public.” > > “The IWF didn't just block the image; it blocked access to the article > itself, which > discusses the image in a neutral, encyclopedic fashion,” said Sue Gardner, > Executive > Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. “The IWF says its goal is to protect UK > citizens, > but I can't see how this action helps to achieve that – and meanwhile, it > deprives UK > internet users of the ability to access information which should be freely > available to > everyone. I urge the IWF to remove Wikipedia from its blacklist.” > > The Wikimedia Foundation is proud of the work done by its volunteer editors, > who have > created an encyclopedia which external studies repeatedly validate as equal > or better in > quality compared with conventional encyclopedias. Wikipedia's editors take > care to ensure > the quality of the content of the encyclopedia, and to safeguard the core > community values > of freedom, independence, and neutrality. > > The Wikimedia Foundation will continue its discussions with IWF to resolve > this matter. > > Q/A can be found here: > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Censorship_of_WP_in_the_UK_Dec_2008QA > > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
