Re: [Wikimedia-l] Jimmy Wales' potential conflict of loyalties for Wikia Inc. versus WMF

On Mon, Feb 29, 2016 at 5:35 AM, Fæ wrote: > > Ownership of Wikia is a relationship where loyalty will be perceived > by the public as questionable, and there may be indirect financial > gains, even though there is no traceable direct benefit. > > Fae, Is there any evidence

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Jimmy Wales' potential conflict of loyalties for Wikia Inc. versus WMF

After an offlist correspondence with Gergő, we agree it is quite hard to get to grips with the beginnings of Wikia unless you lived through it and casual interviews may be confusing.[1] This remains a tangent to the issue of whether ownership of Wikia is seen in the public eye as a conflict of

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Jimmy Wales' potential conflict of loyalties for Wikia Inc. versus WMF

I've been advised by more than one community member not to engage further on this, but I need to correct what I see as a potentially dangerous falsehood. On 2/28/16 11:47 AM, Fæ wrote: > ISSUE > > Jimmy Wales has never declared a conflict of interest or loyalty when > acting as a WMF trustee.

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Jimmy Wales' potential conflict of loyalties for Wikia Inc. versus WMF

On Sun, Feb 28, 2016 at 11:47 AM, Fæ wrote: > The original vision for Wikia was as a "Google-killer" open search engine, so it would seem highly prudent for Jimmy to have declared a conflict of interest and avoided WMF board discussions and votes in relation to new

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Jimmy Wales' potential conflict of loyalties for Wikia Inc. versus WMF

Sorry, let me back peddle on that sentence, Todd is correct. Dropping that paragraph from my email does not stop the issue of perceived conflict of interest and Wikia from being a valid concern worth open discussion. Fae On 28 Feb 2016 20:23, "Fæ" wrote: > Todd, putting the

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Jimmy Wales' potential conflict of loyalties for Wikia Inc. versus WMF

Todd, putting the caveats before the main thrust of Jimmy Wales' email, is a strange way of reading it. I read the email the obvious way, and I encourage others to read the original for themselves, rather than relying on cherry-picked quotes towards the end. Thanks, Fae On 28 February 2016 at

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Jimmy Wales' potential conflict of loyalties for Wikia Inc. versus WMF

Fae, Your second citation didn't at all match what I recall Jimmy saying on the subject, so I went and read it. Even the specific email you cite is not, in any way, "...arguing the case against introducing charges for commercial reusers of WMF services...". Some quotes from the email you cited:

[Wikimedia-l] Jimmy Wales' potential conflict of loyalties for Wikia Inc. versus WMF

ISSUE Jimmy Wales has never declared a conflict of interest or loyalty when acting as a WMF trustee. He is co-founder of Wikia Inc, set up in 2004, a commercial company that often benefits from new MediaWiki developments, and clearly he benefits financially from resulting profitability of Wikia.