Re: [Wikimedia-l] Announcing the Hardware donation program

[Michael Maggs]

Thank you Asaf.  Did you know that there is already a Commons page for 
Community donations?


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons_talk:Equipment_exchange

It would be worth linking your new Meta page to the existing one.

Michael


Asaf Bartov 
17 March 2017 at 6:06 am
Dear Wikimedians,

The Wikimedia Foundation is pleased to announce a small new program called
the Hardware Donation Program. In a word, it is a program designed to
donate depreciated (but fully working) hardware from the WMF office to
community members who would put it to good use.

The program, including instructions on how to apply, is described on Meta,
here:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hardware_donation_program

Please read the information carefully. I especially encourage you to pay
attention to the program's design considerations, which determine most of
the decisions we'll be making.

We currently have approximately 20 laptops ready to be donated.
Applications are welcome.

The upcoming Wikimedia Conference in Berlin (in about two weeks) would be
an excellent opportunity to deliver some of those laptops in person to
approved applications, so if you think you might be interested, I'd
encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Please also help spread the word about this program, by forwarding this
e-mail to other Wikimedia lists you're on, and posting the link to the
program page on village pumps and *community* (not public) social media
channels or other communication forms you use.

Special thanks to User:Anntinomy from Wikimedia Ukraine, who had the idea
of asking about possible donation of older machines from WMF, and inspired
this program.

Mini-FAQ:

Q: Why are you doing this?
A: WMF's Office IT determines a lifetime for work machines, and regularly
replaces older machines. This creates a stock of older, working machines,
that are available for donation. We can donate them locally to San
Francisco charities, but figure that if we can find low-cost ways to
deliver them to our own community members, that's so much better.

Q: Am I eligible?
A: Read the fine program documentation.

Q: If I'm eligible, am I guaranteed a donated laptop?
A: no.

Q: Once these 20 laptops are donated, will there be others?
A: yes, eventually.

Q: How can you ensure people would use the machines for Wikimedia 
purposes?

A: We can't. We'll be making a good-effort assessment of the likelihood of
Wikimedia use, and make a decision to donate (or not) the equipment. Once
donated, the equipment no longer belongs to WMF. We encourage, but can't
enforce, reporting on impact achieved using the equipment.

Q: I need a few laptops for my event in two weeks! Can I get them through
this program?
A: No. Read the fine program documentation.

Q: I'm really happy about this!
A: So are we! :)

Q: I'm really angry about this!
A: So it goes.

Q: I have more questions!
A: Hit 'Reply'. :)

Cheers,

Asaf
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Update on Discovery search efforts and upcoming releases

[Michael Maggs]

Hi

You've mentioned searching on "Wikipedia" there. Did you mean 
"Wikimedia", or are there still no Commons search improvements as yet?


Michael


Deborah Tankersley 
6 April 2017 at 11:15 pm
tl;dr: Search continues to expand functionality by displaying more
information on the search results page

Ever started searching for something on Wikipedia and 
wondered—*really*, is

that all that there is? Does it feel like you’re somehow playing hide and
seek with all the knowledge that’s out there? And...wouldn’t it be 
great to

see articles or categories that are similar to your search query and maybe
some related images or links to other languages in which to read that
article? Or, maybe you just want to read and contribute to projects other
than Wikipedia but need a jump start with a few short summaries from 
sister

projects.
The Discovery Search team has been testing out some really cool new
features that will enable some fun and fascinating clicking—down the 
rabbit
hole of Wikipedia.[1] But first, let’s recap what we’ve been doing 
recently.


We've been doing tons of work creating, updating, and finessing the search
back end to enhance search queries. There have been many complex things
that have happened, things like: adding ascii-folding and stemming,
detecting when a visitor might be typing in a language that is different
than the Wikipedia that they are on, switching from tf-idf to BM25,
dropping trailing question marks, and updating to ElasticSearch version 5.
[2][3][4][5][6][7] Whew!

We have much more planned in the coming months—machine learning with
‘learning to rank’, investigating and deploying new language analyzers,
and, after exhaustive analysis, removing quotes within queries by
default.[8][9][10][11] We’ll also be working closely with the new
Structured Data team in their brand new work on Commons.[12][13]

We also want to improve the part that our readers and editors interface
with: the search results page! We started brainstorming during the late
summer of 2016 on what we could do to make search results better—to easily
find interesting, relevant content and to create a more intuitive viewing
experience.[14] We designed and refined numerous ideas on how to improve
the search results page and received lots of good feedback from the
community.[15]

Empowered by the feedback, we began testing starting with a display of
results from the Wikimedia sister projects next to the regular search
results.[16] The idea for this test was to enable discovery into other
projects—projects that our visitors might not have known about—by
displaying interesting results in small snippets. The sidebar display of
the sister projects borrows from a similar feature in use on the Italian,
Catalan and French Wikipedias. We've run two A/B tests on the sister
project search results with detailed analysis and, after a bit of final
touches to the code, we will release the new functionality into production
on all Wikipedias near the end of April 2017.

Our next A/B test will be to add additional information and related 
results

for each search query. This will be in the form of an ‘explore similar’
link that, when someone interacts with the link, an expanded display will
appear with related pages, categories and links to the article in other
languages—all of which might lead to further knowledge discovery.[17] We
know that not every search query will return exactly what folks were
looking for, but we feel that adding links to similar, but related
information would be helpful and, possibly, super interesting!

We also plan on doing a few more A/B tests in the coming year:
* Test a new display that will show the pronunciation of a word with its
definition and part of speech—all from existing data in Wiktionary.
Initially this will be in English only.
* Test placing a small image (from the article) next to each search result
that is displayed on the page.
* Test an additional future using a new auto completion metadata 
display in
the search box that is located on the top right of most pages in 
Wikipedia,

similar to what happens on the Wikipedia.org portal.[18]

For the more technical minded, there is a way to test out these new
features in your own browser. To display the sister project search 
results,

it will require a bit of URL manipulation; but for the explore similar and
Wiktionary widget, you can modify your common.js file to test an early
version of the features. Detailed information is available on
MediaWiki.org.[19]

Once the testing, analysis and feedback cycle is done for each new 
feature,

we’d like to slowly implement them into production on all Wikipedias
throughout the rest of the year. We’re really hoping that these
enhancements to how search works will further the usefulness of search and
make our readers and editors more productive.

Cheers from the Discovery Search team!

[1] https://xkcd.com/214/
[2] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:TJones_(WMF)/Notes/R

[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia genealogy and historical research software - a proposal for HRE

[Michael Maggs]

There has been quite bit of discussion over the years about how the 
Wikimedia movement could engage with those who have research interests 
in family history or genealogy, and a centralised discussion page [1] 
has been set up on Meta.


I am posting to ask whether there would be Wikimedian developers who 
would be interested in joining an open source project to create a free 
platform independent application called History Research Environment [2] 
(‘HRE’) for the serious genealogist or historical researcher.  
Considerable effort has been put into high-level planning over several 
years, and we are now ready to start writing code.


While the proposed software is not currently an official Wikimedia 
project, if there is enough interest we are open to it becoming 
integrated or affiliated in some way. The plan is, in any event, that 
the software should be interoperable with Wikidata to allow (subject to 
the agreement of the Wikidata community) the exchange of a variety of 
structured data including verified and fully sourced family trees.


I'd be happy to answer queries.

Michael Maggs


[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_genealogy_project

[2] https://historyresearchenvironment.org

(please excuse cross-posting for greater visibility, as the 
[wikimedia-genealogy] mailing list still has very few subscribers)


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia genealogy and historical research software - a proposal for HRE

[Michael Maggs]

Hi John

HRE is not simply a front-end to an online database, but is a 
fully-featured open source desktop research application which 
incorporates its own database. The primary use is genealogy, and to that 
end it's designed to take over and extend the features of the most 
capable but unfortunately no-longer-supported commercial program The 
Master Genealogist (TMG).  However, the principles behind the study of 
genealogy are equally applicable to a wide range of historical fields.  
Historians are very poorly served by the commercial software market, and 
frequently find themselves locked into expensive or inflexible academic 
or cultural sector packages.


We have identified the following high-level principles applicable to 
generic historical research software:


 *   The data that needs to be stored for history research has a
   largely common structure usually falling into one of two broad types:
1. a description of something, or
2. how that thing relates to other things (for example via a
   person, date, time or location)

 * A researcher may want to view and analyse the same data from a
   variety of different perspectives

 * Rules can help to validate the veracity of an assertion of a
   relationship

 * High quality research requires an analysis of the evidential base
   for any assertions that are made, and the ability to be able to
   report on that analysis.


Traditionally, historians have divided their research into targeted 
areas such as genealogy, anthropology, ecology, archaeology, military 
history and so on. The fundamental data and analysis requirements are 
the same, and can be dealt with in software in a common way even if the 
things being measured and the rules for validation may differ.


By embracing these ideas the History Research Environment project aims 
to create a research platform of wide historical and cultural utility.


We would like to encourage Wikimedians to get involved, especially in 
coding, with a view to interoperability and/or integration with the 
Wikimedia sites.


More details can be found by following the links from here:  
https://historyresearchenvironment.org/articles/


Michael
(User:MichaelMaggs on Commons)

GitHub: 
https://github.com/History-Research-Environment/HRE--History-Research-Environment/blob/master/README.md

John Levin <mailto:anterote...@gmail.com>
25 May 2017 at 10:13 am


Ah, sorry, missed the screenshots page:
https://historyresearchenvironment.org/screens

John

John Levin <mailto:anterote...@gmail.com>
25 May 2017 at 10:10 am
As a PhD student & hstorian, this looks like a really useful idea.

I'm not entirely clear how it would work: is it a GUI for are there 
any screen mock-ups or such like? Is it a sort of front end for 
databases like Wikidata?


And the strapline on the site "Towards a history of almost anything" 
is kinda scary. That's applying a single tool to a huge number of 
things. Is history that similar to genealogy, and then to biology as 
well?


John





Michael Maggseatured generalogy and history reserach
<mailto:mich...@maggs.name>
24 May 2017 at 3:58 pm
There has been quite bit of discussion over the years about how the 
Wikimedia movement could engage with those who have research interests 
in family history or genealogy, and a centralised discussion page [1] 
has been set up on Meta.


I am posting to ask whether there would be Wikimedian developers who 
would be interested in joining an open source project to create a free 
platform independent application called History Research Environment 
[2] (‘HRE’) for the serious genealogist or historical researcher.  
Considerable effort has been put into high-level planning over several 
years, and we are now ready to start writing code.


While the proposed software is not currently an official Wikimedia 
project, if there is enough interest we are open to it becoming 
integrated or affiliated in some way. The plan is, in any event, that 
the software should be interoperable with Wikidata to allow (subject 
to the agreement of the Wikidata community) the exchange of a variety 
of structured data including verified and fully sourced family trees.


I'd be happy to answer queries.

Michael Maggs


[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_genealogy_project

[2] https://historyresearchenvironment.org

(please excuse cross-posting for greater visibility, as the 
[wikimedia-genealogy] mailing list still has very few subscribers)


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia-genealogy] Wikimedia genealogy and historical research software - a proposal for HRE

[Michael Maggs]

t 
consider each and every step towards the vision of a wikimedia 
genealogy website as positive, why your question may actually push us 
all into next step..


Please fill us in a bit more, and keep in mind, that most users on the 
list are not programmers, why technical details, may be needed to be 
presented in an easy way to understand.


I will be excited to get some input from you all on this list, as well 
as weather we need to wait more, or should go to next step, and start 
to creat the user group, in order to contact the wikimedia for further 
questions to move on with the project.


Dan Koehl


Michael Maggs <mailto:mich...@maggs.name>
24 May 2017 at 3:58 pm
There has been quite bit of discussion over the years about how the 
Wikimedia movement could engage with those who have research interests 
in family history or genealogy, and a centralised discussion page [1] 
has been set up on Meta.


I am posting to ask whether there would be Wikimedian developers who 
would be interested in joining an open source project to create a free 
platform independent application called History Research Environment 
[2] (‘HRE’) for the serious genealogist or historical researcher.  
Considerable effort has been put into high-level planning over several 
years, and we are now ready to start writing code.


While the proposed software is not currently an official Wikimedia 
project, if there is enough interest we are open to it becoming 
integrated or affiliated in some way. The plan is, in any event, that 
the software should be interoperable with Wikidata to allow (subject 
to the agreement of the Wikidata community) the exchange of a variety 
of structured data including verified and fully sourced family trees.


I'd be happy to answer queries.

Michael Maggs


[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_genealogy_project

[2] https://historyresearchenvironment.org

(please excuse cross-posting for greater visibility, as the 
[wikimedia-genealogy] mailing list still has very few subscribers)


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[Wikimedia-l] Please welcome new chair for Wikimedia UK

[Michael Maggs]

Dear friends

At today's AGM, three trustees (Doug Taylor, Nick Poole and me) were re-elected 
to the board.

I have today retired as chair, and the role has been taken by my colleague 
Josie Fraser. I'll be remaining on the board as an ordinary board member to 
support Josie until my new term expires in two years time. 

Our board lineup is now:

Josie Fraser - Chair
Carol Campbell - Vice-chair
Greyham Dawes - Treasurer
Kate West  - HR trustee
Nancy Bell - Trustee
Lorna Campbell  - Trustee
Jordan Landes  - Trustee
Nick Poole - Trustee
Doug Taylor - Trustee
Michael Maggs - Trustee

Please join me in welcoming Josie as our new Chair. 

Michael


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[Wikimedia-l] Please welcome new chair for Wikimedia UK

[Michael Maggs]

Dear friends

At today's Wikimedia UK AGM, three trustees (Doug Taylor, Nick Poole and 
me) were re-elected to the board.


I have today retired as chair, and the role has been taken by my 
colleague Josie Fraser. I'll be remaining on the board as an ordinary 
board member to support Josie until my new term expires in two years time.


Our board lineup is now:

•Josie Fraser - Chair
•Carol Campbell - Vice-chair
•Greyham Dawes - Treasurer
•Kate West  - HR trustee
•Nancy Bell - Trustee
•Lorna Campbell  - Trustee
•Jordan Landes  - Trustee
•Nick Poole - Trustee
•Doug Taylor - Trustee
•    Michael Maggs - Trustee

Please join me in welcoming Josie as our new Chair.

Michael


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Windows 10 lockscreen images

[Michael Maggs]

Rogol

Why the randomly-chosen names beginning with R?

Michael


Rogol Domedonfors wrote:

Perhaps a randomly chosen image every time the user logs in?

Rudigerd

On Sun, Aug 20, 2017 at 12:18 PM, Dariusz Jemielniak
wrote:


it does not hurt to ask - Microsoft does some CSR, after all, and using
beautiful images under an open license is in their interest, too anyway. I
would not be overly optimistic though.

dj

On Sun, Aug 20, 2017 at 12:07 PM, Tomasz Ganicz
wrote:


In some geographies this feature is used as an advertising tool - I guess
promoting of Commons via this feature could be quite costly.

2017-08-20 1:08 GMT+02:00 Andy Mabbett:


Those of you running Windows 10 will be familiar with the
regularly-changing "lockscreen" images showing things like beautiful
scenery and scenes from nature:

 https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/find-windows-spotlight-lock-
screen-images-windows-10/

The last one I just saw was labelled "copyright [photographer name]
and Shutterstock"

Is there someone at WMF, with contacts at Microsoft, who could
persuade them to use some featured images from Commons, with a small
piece of text explaining that people may upload their own images?

That would seem to be a simple way to do a massive piece of outreach,
to a new audience.

--
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

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--
Tomek "Polimerek" Ganicz
http://pl.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Polimerek
http://www.ganicz.pl/poli/
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--
__

  prof. dr hab. Dariusz Jemielniak
kierownik katedry MINDS (Management in Networked and Digital Societies)
Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego
http://NeRDS.kozminski.edu.pl

associate faculty w Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society,
Harvard University

Wyszła pierwsza na świecie etnografia Wikipedii "Common Knowledge? An
Ethnography of Wikipedia" (2014, Stanford University
Press) mojego autorstwa (Dorothy Lee Award 2015, Nagroda
Naukowa Prezesa PAN 2016)  http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=24010
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] New style banner - A heads up

[Michael Maggs]

When viewed on my iPhone the 'New Native Feel' version has *five* full 
screens of text headed 'To all our readers in the US'.  To be honest, 
unless I had known about this in advance I would have thought I'd been 
directed to the wrong page.  I'd never bother to scroll down that far to 
get to the actual content, as I would have no reason to believe I was 
even in the right place to see it.


The reason it takes so many screenfuls is that all the text from 'We 
will get straight to the point ..' onwards is crowed into a narrow 
column on the left hand side, with the rest of the screen being blank.


Hope that helps.

Michael

Joseph Seddon wrote:

Hey Wikimedia-l

Apologies for the short notice.

I wanted to give you a heads up on a banner test that will soon be going
live.

We've been working on a new style of banner that is specifically designed
to have the same native look and feel as the rest of the site and
interface. It's intended to be understated and you'll see is very different
to our currently best performing banner:

Current:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein?banner=B1718_0823_en6C_dsk_p1_lg_dsn_cnt&force=1&country=US&uselang=QA

New Native feel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein?banner=B1718_0823_en6C_dsk_p1_lg_dsn_native&force=1&country=US&uselang=QA

Any feedback is welcome.

Regards




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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Conference 2018: Program themes, eligibility criteria and reporting deadlines

[Michael Maggs]

Agreed. This would change the conference significantly. Its purpose has always 
been to discuss matters of common interest to movement *organisations*.  
Organisations attend on their own behalf and not as representatives for any 
wider groups such as speakers of a specific language, or editors of any 
particular Wikipedia. 

Michael 

> On 23 Oct 2017, at 19:54, Isaac Olatunde  wrote:
> 
> I share Lodewijk's concerns here. My understanding is that local chapters
> have no control/authority over any language community. Unless we want
> language communities to be under the control of local chapters or user
> groups,  language communities should be allowed to choose their
> representatives if they must be represented.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Isaac.
> 
> On Oct 23, 2017 7:16 PM, "Lodewijk"  wrote:
> 
> That all depends on the goals that the conference sets itself, as always :)
> 
> As I understood it, the conference is intended for structured and organized
> groups, rather than to be a representative forum for the whole movement. In
> 2017, I understood there to be mostly two events taking place in the same
> location - with some overlap in program. In that sense, this was quite a
> unique situation because of the strategic process.
> 
> The first question would be whether you accept each challenge as a goal. If
> being representative of the whole movement becomes the goal, the structure
> probably needs to be overhauled much more, and the default invitation for
> all groups may have to be reconsidered. One representative from the
> Japanese community wouldn't cut it, then (for example).
> 
> On the other side, I could also imagine a different goal, which would be to
> fill certain gaps in input diversity from the participants. This could be
> input from certain language communities, or from certain cultures where we
> even lack readership. This would make more sense to me - as it would not
> imply a representation as much. In part it would lead to a similar
> consideration and outcome, but it would force you to also consider other
> areas where input is lacking from. For example, allied movements or project
> communities beyond Wikipedia (for example, the collective of developing
> language communities in Africa or communities that are government-blocked -
> of which I'm uncertain if they are covered by affiliates). This would also
> send the message to the communities you ask to send a representative what
> you expect of such participant (if that would indeed be your goal).
> 
> There could be many other goals of course, that you (plural) could have in
> mind. I'm not sure which applies best. I would suggest not to deviate from
> the official line that chapters don't represent language communities,
> though. That is, unless this official line has changed.
> 
> Warmly,
> Lodewijk
> 
> On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 10:56 AM, Cornelius Kibelka <
> cornelius.kibe...@wikimedia.de> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Lodewijk, hi JP,
>> 
>> Over the last years, we received the feedback that the Wikimedia
> Conference
>> would not be as (globally) representative as it could or should be. For
> the
>> Wikimedia Conference 2017, several “Community Leaders” were invited to the
>> conference to be heard for the Movement Strategy process, but the
>> selection/invitation process was not as clear as it could have been.
>> 
>> To be more representative on a global scale and to have more different
>> people from different regions present at the conference, we needed clear,
>> transparent and non arbitrary criteria. However, there is no solution that
>> covers every possible challenge. Therefore, we chose to give this approach
>> – with clear criteria – at least a try for the Wikimedia Conference 2018.
>> Also, as we expect more changes in the Movement in the upcoming year, this
>> approach is a try for 2018 only, as an overhaul of the whole concept of
> the
>> Wikimedia Conference will be needed anyway.
>> 
>> Additionally, I want to highlight this, because this was criticized in the
>> past as well, all regularly eligible affiliates may send at least two
>> representatives.
>> 
>> I’m aware that this approach implies challenges, though. I’m happy to
>> receive suggestions on how to come up with equally clear and transparent
>> criteria.
>> 
>> Best regards,
>> 
>> Cornelius
>> 
>> 
>> On 23 October 2017 at 19:37, Jean-Philippe Béland 
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> I share the questions of Lodewijk
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Oct 23, 2017, 19:22 Cornelius Kibelka, <
>>> cornelius.kibe...@wikimedia.de> wrote:
>>> 
 Of course, I meant:
 
 "The registration process will start on November 24, *2017* and will
>> end
 sharply (no exceptions), on January 15, 2018."
 
 Thank you
 Cornelius
 
 --
 
 Cornelius Kibelka
 
 Program and Engagement Coordinator (PEC)
 for the Wikimedia Conference
 
 
 
 Am 23.10.2017 18:04 schrieb "Cornelius Kibelka" <
 cornelius.kibe...@wikimedia.de>:
 
> Dear Wikimedians, d

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Welcoming María Sefidari as a Foundation consultant. :)

[Michael Maggs]

Maggie

I am astounded.

Unless this is a non-remunerated role, taking on a board member immediately 
after they step down is an absolutely flagrant breach of one of the basic 
tenets of good corporate governance, the avoidance of conflict of interest. You 
and the WMF board must be very well aware of that, as you have spent years 
(rightly) insisting on absolute probity for the affiliates. 

Please tell me that this is an unpaid position. 

Michael


> On 23 Jun 2021, at 21:46, Maggie Dennis  wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello, all. :) 
> 
> I hope and trust that everyone is keeping well during these times! 
> 
> I’m Maggie Dennis, Vice President of the Community Resilience & 
> Sustainability group of Wikimedia Foundation, within the Legal department. I 
> wanted to announce with pleasure that Maria Sefidari has agreed to consult 
> with the Foundation on Movement Strategy and the ongoing Board evolution for 
> the upcoming year. Many of us know María from her role as the chair of the 
> Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, from which she provided invaluable 
> leadership in governance, oversight, and fundraising. Others may know her 
> from her volunteer work as User:Raystorm, in which she has a broad range of 
> experience.
> 
> María, based in Spain, commenced her assignment with the Foundation this 
> week. We intend to tap into her expertise and knowledge of the Foundation to 
> support a successful implementation of the Movement’s Strategy and to tap 
> into new opportunities. (With her Board work, she will be supporting Quim 
> Gil’s team with the Board election and helping Margo Lee in improving 
> onboarding, documentation practices, and training.) María will report to me 
> as part of our Community Resilience & Sustainability group. I’m excited that 
> she accepted our offer for a more hands-on assignment, particularly given how 
> important all of the work she’ll be supporting is. :) With more than 15 years 
> of Wikimedia experience, her contributions in the next phase will be a 
> tremendous benefit to me and my team as we continue settling into our own 
> work on Movement Strategy.
> 
> Those of you who are involved with Movement Strategy are used to seeing her 
> at related meetings and still will. :) I anticipate María will be joining one 
> or more of the Movement Strategy global conversations this weekend. 
> Advertisement alert: maybe you can, too? Here’s more detail! I myself will be 
> attending at least one of those sessions and look forward to seeing some of 
> you there.
> 
> Warm regards,
> Maggie
> 
> 
> -- 
> Maggie Dennis
> She/her/hers
> Vice President, Community Resilience & Sustainability
> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
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[Wikimedia-l] Re: Welcoming María Sefidari as a Foundation consultant. :)

[Michael Maggs]

I’m afraid that’s a distinction without a difference so far as conflict of 
interest is concerned. 

Surely the board can’t have approved such a thing?

Michael 

> On 23 Jun 2021, at 23:01, Maggie Dennis  wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello, all.
> 
> I’m sorry for my lack of clarity! María is not Foundation staff. She is an 
> independent consultant. She did not discuss this role with me while she was 
> on the Board. She quite rightly would not. We talked about it after her 
> departure. 
> 
> Best regards,
> Maggie
> 
>> On Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 5:53 PM টিটো দত্ত Tito Dutta  
>> wrote:
>> Greetings,
>> This is an unfortunate situation. In general circumstances I would have been 
>> happy to see the addition.
>> "to draw clear lines between staff and board members " — I think this has 
>> been a practice in different organisation. In a different organisation I 
>> have seen a director was disallowed to join as a consultant immediately 
>> after his disassociation. 
>> But do we have any documented Wikimedia policy that allows or prohibits such 
>> an appointment? It would be good to know about such guidelines.
>> 
>> ইতি,
>> টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta
>> 
>> 
>> বৃহস্পতি, ২৪ জুন, ২০২১ তারিখে ৩:০৩ AM টায় এ Philip Kopetzky 
>>  লিখেছেন:
>>> Hi Maggie,
>>> 
>>> to be honest this is really difficult to understand. While the WMF, through 
>>> it's various committees, pushed affiliates to clearly draw the lines 
>>> between board and staff by introducing stringent governance measures (and 
>>> rightly so), which also include paragraphs about introducing a cooldown 
>>> period before switching between board and being employed by the same 
>>> organisation, the WMF is ignoring all of that governance advice it has 
>>> given over the last few years.
>>> 
>>> I feel quite silly now having been on the simpleAPG committee for three 
>>> years and having advised affiliates who wanted to hire staff for the first 
>>> time to draw clear lines between staff and board members, to now have to 
>>> see this exact scenario I warned against play out at the WMF. Maria's 
>>> departure from the BoT, even before her tenure was over and subsequent 
>>> hiring really calls into question what the WMF thinks good governance 
>>> should look like, notwithstanding the fact that the BoT now has one 
>>> community elected seat less at a critical time in the strategy 
>>> implementation process.
>>> 
>>> All in all I can only call for a governance overhaul at the WMF so that 
>>> murky situations like this don't happen again.
>>> 
>>> Quite frustrated regards,
>>> Philip
>>> 
>>> 
 On Wed, 23 Jun 2021 at 21:46, Maggie Dennis  wrote:
 Hello, all. :) 
 
 I hope and trust that everyone is keeping well during these times! 
 
 I’m Maggie Dennis, Vice President of the Community Resilience & 
 Sustainability group of Wikimedia Foundation, within the Legal department. 
 I wanted to announce with pleasure that Maria Sefidari has agreed to 
 consult with the Foundation on Movement Strategy and the ongoing Board 
 evolution for the upcoming year. Many of us know María from her role as 
 the chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, from which she 
 provided invaluable leadership in governance, oversight, and fundraising. 
 Others may know her from her volunteer work as User:Raystorm, in which she 
 has a broad range of experience.
 
 María, based in Spain, commenced her assignment with the Foundation this 
 week. We intend to tap into her expertise and knowledge of the Foundation 
 to support a successful implementation of the Movement’s Strategy and to 
 tap into new opportunities. (With her Board work, she will be supporting 
 Quim Gil’s team with the Board election and helping Margo Lee in improving 
 onboarding, documentation practices, and training.) María will report to 
 me as part of our Community Resilience & Sustainability group. I’m excited 
 that she accepted our offer for a more hands-on assignment, particularly 
 given how important all of the work she’ll be supporting is. :) With more 
 than 15 years of Wikimedia experience, her contributions in the next phase 
 will be a tremendous benefit to me and my team as we continue settling 
 into our own work on Movement Strategy.
 
 Those of you who are involved with Movement Strategy are used to seeing 
 her at related meetings and still will. :) I anticipate María will be 
 joining one or more of the Movement Strategy global conversations this 
 weekend. Advertisement alert: maybe you can, too? Here’s more detail! I 
 myself will be attending at least one of those sessions and look forward 
 to seeing some of you there.
 
 Warm regards,
 Maggie
 
 
 -- 
 Maggie Dennis
 She/her/hers
 Vice President, Community Resilience & Sustainability
 Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
 ___

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Update #4: Upcoming call for participation in Working Groups

[Michael Maggs]

Well, apart from Copyright law issues in the UK and (with other 
chapters) in the EU.


Michael


Chris Keating 
7 June 2018 at 3:28 pm

I don't think the Movement Roles discussion had any impact on
Wikimedia UK achieving charity status (which in any case happened
before the movement roles conversation concluded), and in any case
Wikimedia UK does virtually no lobbying

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James Salsman 
7 June 2018 at 2:31 pm
Oh, it's this discussion again. This is my favorite discussion.
Movement roles discussion is how we got the UK chapter recognized as a
charity capable of political lobbying. That was satisfying.

Maybe we can get the letter to donors back.
https://twitter.com/SuePGardner/status/998302792946102273

Don't forget to edit the matrix:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_roles/Roles_Matrix#Roles_matrix


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Gnangarra 
7 June 2018 at 11:23 am
to quote
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Working_Groups

*During the Wikimedia Conference 2018, the Working Group “Roles &
Responsibilities” proposed “Power Dynamics” as a title instead. As 
power is

only a part of the broader conversation around global, regional and local
responsibilities and roles, and we wouldn’t want the group to only
concentrate on this aspect, the Strategy Core Team decided to keep the
original name. *

To me power dynamics gives a poor interpretation and sets up the work 
group

to focus as individual hierarchical building, rather than equity and
distribution of responsibilities

On 7 June 2018 at 17:47, Peter Southwood 



Peter Southwood 
7 June 2018 at 10:47 am
Roles and responsibilities may be a better term, It has a meaning that 
is more likely to be understood than "power dynamics", which frankly 
sounds more like rocket science than what people in a group are 
expected to do.

Cheers,
Peter

-Original Message-
From: Wikimedia-l [mailto:wikimedia-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] On 
Behalf Of Natacha Rault

Sent: 07 June 2018 06:08
To: Wikimedia Mailing List
Cc: Staff (All); EDs mailing list
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Update #4: Upcoming call for participation 
in Working Groups


Dear Katherine,

Thank very much you for this update. I was working in the “role and 
responsibilities” group in Berlin and the outcome was that we had 
decided to rename it “power dynamics” if I recall correctly.


Now I see this name has not been used, so I feel a little surprized?

Kind regards,

Natacha / Nattes à chat




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Natacha Rault 
7 June 2018 at 5:08 am
Dear Katherine,

Thank very much you for this update. I was working in the “role and 
responsibilities” group in Berlin and the outcome was that we had 
decided to rename it “power dynamics” if I recall correctly.


Now I see this name has not been used, so I feel a little surprized?

Kind regards,

Natacha / Nattes à chat




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Katherine

[Wikimedia-l] Wiki Loves Monuments UK 2018 winners

[Michael Maggs]

I’m pleased to let you know that the winners of the Wiki Loves Monuments 
contest in the UK have been announced this afternoon.  You can find 
details on the WLM website [1] and on Commons [2].


Michael

[1] https://www.wikilovesmonuments.org.uk
[2] 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2018_in_the_United_Kingdom/Winners

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Reviewing our brand system for our 2030 goals

[Michael Maggs]

The OpenWiki Foundation?

Michael 

> On 10 Apr 2019, at 21:51, Galder Gonzalez Larrañaga  
> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Andrew for the insights. I agree with most of what you have proposed.
> 
> Actually there's a way to make everything easier: The Wiki Foundation. But it 
> would create new problems with non-WMF-wikis.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] New Board of Wikimedia Canada

[Michael Maggs]

WMUK has also had a majority of women on the board since earlier this year. 
Glad to hear of wider progress in that direction. 

Michael 

> On 22 Oct 2019, at 17:55, Anders Wennersten  wrote:
> 
> 
>> Den 2019-10-21 kl. 17:39, skrev Jean-Philippe Béland:
>> Wikimedia Canada is proud to have a majority of women on its Board. We
>> believe that we are the only Wikimedia chapter in this situation, please
>> correct me if I'm wrong.
> 
> Well, WMSE has had a majority of women on its board since March 2015, this 
> year 5-4
> 
> Anders
> 
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why renaming to Wikipedia will wreak havoc on other projects

[Michael Maggs]

This has nothing to do with Commons only supporting Wikipedia. Commons supports 
ALL of the Wikimedia projects, and always has. 

As is quite clearly set out in the Commons SCOPE policy, “a file that is used 
in good faith on a Wikimedia project is always considered educational”, and 
hence is in scope. Of course, that includes Wikidata. 

Under the same policy, Commons does not editorialise on behalf of any of the 
projects, and an image that is acceptable to Wikidata is by design acceptable 
to Commons. 

If the Wikidata community considers that an item on an individual is not 
acceptable (for  example because it has been added solely for self-promotion), 
Wikidata can - under its own rules - delete it, and hence the link to the image 
on Commons. 

Commons would then delete the image as not in use (and not otherwise 
educational).  

None of this relies in any way on the specific definition of ‘notable’ as used 
on the Wikipedias; that’s simply not relevant. 

The problem here seems to be an additional hurdle that has apparently been 
added to the guidance given to OTRS volunteers.  OTRS has so far as I know no 
mandate to decline images that fall within Commons Scope, and if they are 
indeed doing that, the guidance should be changed.

Michael

> On 25 Feb 2020, at 16:11, Gerard Meijssen  wrote:
> 
> Hoi,
> Apparantly at Commons they have standardised themselves to only support
> Wikipedia.
> 
> At Wikidata we have people who are notable according to our standards. We
> are actively asking them for images to illustrate our information. The best
> suggestion we get is: do not ask for images because they are deleted at
> Commons.
> 
> When this is what awaits us when we standardise on one label Wikipedia, it
> is obvious that this is the worst scenario for the "other" projects. The
> projects who operate to different standards who have notability criteria
> different from English Wikipedia.
> Thanks,
>  GerardM
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Meeting in Berlin (was: Executive transition planning)

[Michael Maggs]

Hi Dariusz

Thanks for that.  As you know, WMUK has over the last three years itself 
gone through a lengthy process of governance review, reflection, and 
change and I would be happy to join with Tim in offering my support and 
the benefit of our own experiences, if that would be useful. It will be 
good to take the opportunity to discuss governance and transparency 
issues in Berlin, in addition of course to the public discussions that 
are already going on.


Best regards


Michael


Wikimedia_UK_logo_40px.png

Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK



Dariusz Jemielniak wrote:

Hi,

Since the whole Board is in heavy overload right now, I'm writing basically
to acknowledge this proposal and thank for it. Since I've been discussing
the WMDE governance with its Board in the past, I think there are
definitely useful learning points, and it is great that you take this
initiative. The major obstacle is timing and bandwidth. Still, we
definitely should discuss governance in Berlin.
29.02.2016 10:19 "Tim Moritz Hector"
napisał(a):


Dear fellow Wikimedians,

I have been closely following the developments of the previous weeks. A lot
of things have been said, concerns and frustration have been raised, hope
has been voiced, and many many questions have been brought up. It’s hard to
keep up with all the voices on all the different digital channels these
days, and hard to find solutions and agreement in an unfacilitated stream.

The first chance for many of us to personally meet, vent, and look ahead
will be the the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin. Wikimedia Deutschland is
hosting the event, and welcoming movement affiliates, committees and board
and staff of the Wikimedia Foundation from April 20-24.

The movement is standing at a crossroad, but I am confident we can find the
best path if we work together. Wikimedia Deutschland has gone through
turbulent times in the past as well, and we would like to offer our
experience and full support as host and facilitator of an essential part of
this process. With your participation and contribution, Wikimedia
Conference can be a platform for exchange and progress.

Let us use this opportunity to jointly figure out how we want to move
forward as a network of partners. The conference is the ideal platform to
discuss and define next steps to find answers to questions like: How do we
imagine a movement striving for free knowledge and what structure and
framework best serve these needs? How do the WMF and affiliates define
their role and responsibilities on a global and local level? How shall an
revamped search process for a new executive leadership of the WMF look
like, and what are the main qualifications new candidates should bring? How
will the strategy process for the WMF evolve and how can affiliates
contribute? How do we involve our stakeholders from within and outside of
the movement in this process? How do we manage to look ahead rather than
repeating the old narratives?  How do we create consensus on all these
questions?

In light of the current situation, we would like to dedicate a whole
conference track to these issues. Of course, the initial conference topics
of impact and capacity building are still important and will be covered as
well.

We have set up a page on meta and encourage you to share your questions,
ideas, and concerns[1]. We intend to work closely with WMF and affiliate
representatives in the coming eight weeks and create the program along
their input.

Looking forward to seeing you in Berlin in April,
Tim Moritz Hector

[1]

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2016/Program_Design_Process/Track
:
How to move forward

--
Tim Moritz Hector
Chair of the Board

Wikimedia Deutschland e. V.
Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | D-10963 Berlin
http://www.wikimedia.de
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] election for 2 seats on WMF board of trustees ends May 7...

[Michael Maggs]

Consistent with our commitment to openness, WMUK published our vote on 
our website last Friday, the day it was agreed by the board. It's at
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Minutes_2016-04-29 for anyone who may be 
interested.


Best regards


Michael


Wikimedia_UK_logo_40px.png

Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK



Liam Wyatt wrote:

It seems like people are talking about two separate things at the same time:

- Some people are taking about publishing *the votes* (either before, or
after the election has finished)

- Some people are talking about publishing *the list of who has voted*
right now.

It is this second thing that I understood to be the request being made, and
it is also completely consistent with the way the community-election works
(where the voter, but not their vote, is published immediately). I also
wouldn't think that publishing the names of the Chapters that have voted
(and therefore identifying which ones have not yet) is still consistent
with the preference that the *vote itself* remain private.

So, in order for the community (and those of us who are members of Chapters
in particular) to encourage the chapters have not yet voted to do so, would
it be possible to please publish a table on Meta of the list of
voting-eligible organisations, and a "tick" next to their name if they have
indeed already submitted their vote. [NOT who they voted for]

Thanks,
-Liam




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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimédia France board update

[Michael Maggs]

Congratulations, Emeric and Samuel!

Looking forward to working with you, and of course with Christophe in 
his new role.


Best regards

Michael


Wikimedia_UK_logo_40px.png

Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK



Dear fellow Wikimedians,

As you may know Christophe Henner, the Chair of Wikimédia France, has
resigned from the board, as he is moving on to his next challenge at the
Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation. We won't even try to
summarise in a few sentences everything Christophe has brought to Wikimédia
France in his 10 years stint as a board member ; let us just deeply thank
him for his service!

Our board of trustees had a meeting last week-end, during which we elected
new officers of the board, following the resignation of Christophe.

* Samuel Le Goff is our new Vice-chair,
Samuel is 42 years old and lives in Paris. He works as a journalist, former
parliamentary assistant for many years. He has been in the board since late
2014. He helps volunteers to deal with French governmental and public
organization relationships, public consultations, and to expose Wikimedia
positions in public debates. He will be in charge of internal organization
and governance too.

* Emeric Vallespi is our new Chair,
Emeric is 29 years old and lives in Montpellier (south of France). He works
as a Branch director in a bank. He has been at the board since late 2012,
serving as Vice-chair since 2014. He's involved in internal organization,
governance and international affairs and is interested in internal control,
finance and strategy topics.

Pierre-Selim Huard, our Secretary, will be in charge of the international
affairs too. Other current officers are continuing in their functions.

Our board is now structured as follow:

 * Emeric Vallespi, Chair
 * Samuel Le Goff, Vice-chair
 * Guillaume Goursat, Treasurer
 * Sébastien Beyou, Deputy treasurer
 * Pierre-Selim Huard, Secretary
 * Jean-Frédéric Berthelot, Deputy secretary
 * Edouard Hue, Board member
 * Benoît Prieur, Board member
 * Florian Pepellin, Board member

Cheers,
--
Jean-Frédéric Berthelot
Secrétaire-adjoint | Wikimédia France
jean-frederic.berthe...@wikimedia.fr
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Board appointment of Executive Director

[Michael Maggs]

Welcome Katherine, from all of us at Wikimedia UK.  That's fantastic news!

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, WMUK

Patricio Lorente wrote:


Dear all,


It is our great pleasure to share that during the Board meeting at 
Wikimania 2016 in Esino Lario, we unanimously voted to appoint 
Katherine Maher as Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. 
This is effective as of our resolution dated Thursday, 23 June.



Katherine served as interim Executive Director for the past three 
months, during which time she consistently and repeatedly demonstrated 
the kind of leadership our organization needs. She is deeply committed 
to our movement’s values, and brings expertise in civic technology and 
international development that will be an asset to the Wikimedia 
Foundation and the movement.



We came to this conclusion after an intensive discovery process led by 
the ED search committee. Our decision was also informed by direct 
feedback from staff and community, and our own experience working 
closely with Katherine.



In March, we assembled an Executive Director search committee[1] 
consisting of four Board members¹ who were chosen to represent 
different perspectives and capacities.² Additionally, the Board asked 
the Foundation’s Chief Advancement Officer Lisa Gruwell to represent 
the executive team, and Foundation staff member Katie Horn was 
selected by her peers as someone who could represent staff 
perspectives. The committee was charged with keeping the process on 
track and on time, engaging important stakeholders, and facilitating 
transparency in communications. Their first tasks were to identify a 
search firm, and define the position description. You can review the 
committee’s updates on Meta.[2]



The committee recruited Viewcrest Advisors,³ to identify our 
leadership needs and design a hiring process. Kathleen Yazbak of 
Viewcrest worked with the committee to conduct interviews with every 
Foundation department, the executive, the Board, and nearly 20 
additional one-on-one interviews with staff. Kathleen attended the 
Wikimedia Conference in Berlin, collecting feedback from community 
members and affiliates. The committee launched a community survey in 
June, receivingmore than 1,600 responses about the qualities needed in 
the next ED; they also asked for feedback on Meta.[3] Taking all of 
this into account, the transition team developed a profile and 
requirements for the next Executive Director that reflect our values 
and our communities.



Throughout this process, the Board and the transition team received 
very clear and often unsolicited feedback from both staff and 
community members that Katherine embodies the values of our movement 
and the traits needed in our next ED. This feedback was only 
reinforced by the latest Foundation engagement survey results, which 
showed a strong shift toward renewed trust in leadership. After taking 
this all into account, and considering what the organization needs at 
this moment of transition, we moved to appoint Katherine now.



In just three months as interim ED, Katherine worked with the 
organization and community to make huge strides in management, 
execution, and transparency. She brought much-needed clarity to our 
strategic direction, and mobilized the organization to clearly 
communicate that direction through this year’s annual plan.



After her appointment, she worked with the leadership team to swiftly 
identify the organization’s priorities during the transition period 
and execute against them, setting ambitious but reachable targets. 
Under Katherine’s leadership, the Foundation submitted its annual plan 
to the Funds Dissemination Committee, leaving ample time for community 
feedback and discussion.



Katherine is an excellent fit for our movement. She is longtime 
advocate for global open communities, culture, and technology. She was 
the Foundation’s Chief Communications Officer from April 2014 until 
she was appointed interim ED in March. Throughout her career she has 
focused on freedom of expression, access to information, and digital 
rights; supporting the efforts of people around the world to deepen 
participation, advance transparency, and strengthen their communities 
through her work with UNICEF, National Democratic Institute for 
International Affairs, and the World Bank.  If you don’t already know 
Katherine, you can learn more about her on Meta.[4]



With this appointment, we feel strongly that the Foundation has the 
leadership and clarity to move forward. We wish Katherine the very 
best in this role, and the Board looks forward to continuing to work 
with her.



We would also like to thank the many community members and Foundation 
staff who actively shared thoughtful, highly valuable feedback. 
Without that, we would not have been able to come to this decision.



Please join us in congratulating Katherine!


Patricio Lorente, outgoing Board Chair

Christophe Henner, incoming Board 

Re: [Wikimedia-l] With my thanks to everyone ...

[Michael Maggs]

Hi Geoff, I would like to add my personal thanks and appreciation for 
the exceptional work you have done in developing and professionalising 
the Foundation's legal services over the past five years.  Probably most 
editors don't realise that the long-term viability of the type of open 
communities that we enjoy can be secured only by keeping an eagle eye on 
the   underlying legal framework, and ceaselessly pushing back against 
those who would seek to restrict our rights of free expression or who 
would turn our projects into lawless zones where authors' and artists' 
rights and copyright licences can simply be ignored.


The fact that the work that you and your team have been doing over the 
years is often in the background makes it no less crucial.  I want in 
particular to thank you for encouraging your team to engage with the 
community, both in the development of simplified licences for the 
Foundation's trademarks, and also in providing helpful Wikilegal 
research papers on a wide variety of complex legal issues that the 
community has struggled with, including many copyright issues of 
importance to Wikimedia Commons.


With my very best regards, and best wishes in your new role,

Michael


Geoff Brigham wrote:

Hi all,

Over the past five years, I’ve been honored to serve as the General Counsel
and Secretary of the Wikimedia Foundation. This job has been amazing, and
I’m grateful to everyone who has made it so rewarding. It's now time for my
next step, so, in the coming days, I will be leaving the Foundation to
pursue a new career opportunity.

I depart with such love for the mission, the Foundation, the Wikimedia
communities, and my colleagues at work. I thank my past and present bosses
as well as the Board for their support and guidance. I stand in awe of the
volunteer writers, editors, and photographers who contribute every day to
the Wikimedia projects. And I will hold special to my heart my past and
current teams, including legal and community advocacy. :) You have taught,
given, and enriched me so much.

After my departure, Michelle Paulson will serve as interim head of Legal,
and, subject to Board approval, Stephen LaPorte will serve as interim
Secretary to the Board. I can happily report that they have the experience
and expertise to ensure a smooth and professional transition.

The future of the Foundation under Katherine's leadership is exciting.
Having had the pleasure of working for her, I know Katherine will take the
Foundation to its next level in promoting and defending the outstanding
mission and values of the Wikimedia movement. Although I'm delighted about
my next opportunity, I will miss this new chapter in the Foundation's
story.

My last day at the Foundation will be July 18th. After that, I will take a
month off to recharge my batteries, and then I start my new gig at YouTube
in the Bay Area. There, I will serve as Director of YouTube Trust&  Safety,
managing global teams for policy, legal, and anti-abuse operations. As with
Wikimedia, I look forward to learning from those teams and tackling
together a new set of exciting, novel challenges.

For those who want to stay in touch, please do! My personal email is:
geoffrey.r.brig...@gmail.com.

With respect, admiration, and gratitude,

Geoff
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMDE-update: Christian Rickerts might become Undersecretary of State

[Michael Maggs]

What excellent news! Many congratulations to Christian.

Michael
Chair, WMUK

>>> Dear Wikimedians,
>>> 
>>> On Saturday, the Green Party has resolved the coalition agreement for the
>>> future Berlin government and nominated their future government officials.
>>> The
>>> new designated Minister of economics, Ramona Pop, asked Christian to
>> become
>>> her Undersecretary of State for the new Berlin ministry of economy,
>> energy
>>> and enterprises. Now things are going to happen quite quickly: The future
>>> senate is scheduled to be constituted on December 8th. Right after that,
>>> Christian would take on the new responsibility.
>>> 
>>> The Supervisory Board of Wikimedia Deutschland and Christian agree that
>>> this is a great opportunity that he should accept. I also see this as a
>>> huge compliment to our work at Wikimedia Deutschland.
>>> 
>>> We are aware that this opportunity brings a lot of change for our
>>> organisation for the near future as well. Christian and I are currently
>>> working on the next steps together with our staff and community. We will
>>> provide you with regular updates regarding the transition process.
>>> 
>>> Thank you very much and kind regards
>>> 
>>> Tim Moritz Hector
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Tim Moritz Hector
>>> Chair of the Board
>>> Wikimedia Deutschland e. V.
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Regards,
> Tanweer
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Deutschland: Abraham Taherivand appointed permanent Executive Director

[Michael Maggs]

Congratulation Abraham!

Michael
Chair, WMUK

> On 30 Jan 2017, at 15:57, Tim Moritz Hector  
> wrote:
> 
> Dear Wikimedians,
> 
> It is our great pleasure to announce that during last weekend’s Board
> retreat, we voted to appoint Abraham Taherivand as Executive Director of
> Wikimedia Deutschland with immediate effect.
> 
> Abraham has joined Wikimedia Deutschland in 2012, has been the director of
> our Software Development department, and interim ED in the past two months.
> In all his roles he has shown vast experience and qualifications as well as
> the much needed, deep commitment for Free Knowledge. We are convinced that
> Abraham is the right person at the right time for Wikimedia Deutschland and
> have great confidence that the management of the office is in good hands
> with him. Abraham will continue to lead the Software Development department
> on an interim basis until we have been able to fill this position with a
> new permanent director.
> 
> Together with Abraham, WMDE staff, our members and communities as well as
> other interested parties, the board will analyse and – where applicable –
> revise the composition of leadership and decision making structures at WMDE
> in 2017. Kurt Jansson, Sebastian Moleski and myself will be steering this
> process and are available for your questions and feedback via email (
> praesid...@wikimedia.de).
> 
> We wish Abraham the very best in this role, and the Board looks forward to
> continuing to work with him. Please join us in congratulating Abraham!
> 
> For the Supervisory Board
> Tim Moritz Hector
> Chair
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[Wikimedia-l] Welcoming Lucy Crompton-Reid as new CEO of Wikimedia UK

[Michael Maggs]

Dear all

I am very pleased to be able to announce today that Wikimedia UK has 
been been fortunate enough to secure as our new CEO Lucy Crompton-Reid, 
currently Director of the national live literature charity Apples and 
Snakes. Lucy brings extensive experience in volunteer engagement, 
organisational development, working with strategic partners, media, 
education, and securing external fundraising from trusts and foundations.


Over the course of her career Lucy has worked in both the charitable and 
public sectors, including most recently Head of Outreach at the House of 
Lords where she was strategic and operational lead for education and 
outreach activities. Before that, she worked at Arts Council England, 
initially developing strategic partnerships before setting up a new area 
office with local government and schools partnerships. As Refugee Week 
National Co-ordinator for the British Refugee Council, Lucy chaired the 
UK steering group of NGOs and charities, led on media activities, and 
facilitated hundreds of volunteer cultural events each year. Lucy is 
passionate about education and learning and is deeply committed to 
ensuring open access to knowledge and information.


Lucy will be joining us in early October. In the meantime, our interim 
CEO, D'Arcy Myers, will remain in post and will be working with Lucy to 
ensure a smooth handover.


Please join me in offering Lucy a very warm welcome.

Lucy says

/I'm delighted to be joining Wikimedia UK this October as the charity's 
new Chief Executive, and look forward to working with the staff team, 
board and volunteer community -- as well as national and international 
partners -- to develop the work of the organisation. This is a 
significant time for Wikimedia and for the open knowledge sector more 
broadly, with the potential to create unparalleled access to educational 
content, coupled with threats to limit public access to information and 
knowledge. With nearly 18 years' experience in the arts, charitable and 
public sectors, I'm passionate about participation, and excited about 
the opportunity to facilitate greater public engagement with online 
content and information through Wikipedia and its sister projects, and 
other Wikimedia UK initiatives./


____

Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK


[The Wiki version of this announcement can be found here: 
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Engine_room#Welcoming_Lucy_Crompton-Reid_as_CEO]


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[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia UK's members elect new trustees

[Michael Maggs]

I am very pleased to announce that at our annual general meeting on 
Saturday 25 July the members of Wikimedia UK elected three new trustees 
to the board from a very strong slate of candidates.


Please join me in offering a very warm welcome to Doug Taylor, Nick 
Poole and Josie Fraser.


Doug Taylor will be well known to many readers as a long-standing active 
Wikimedia volunteer and Lead Trainer for WMUK. He previously served on 
the board during 2012-13. Doug is a retired teacher and IT professional.


Nick Poole is the Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of 
Library and Information Professionals. His previous roles include 
serving as CEO of the Collections Trust and Chair of the Europeana 
Network. He brings extensive knowledge of and influence in the 
international GLAM community, and has strong connections to policymakers 
and funders in the UK and Europe.


Josie Fraser has for the past five years worked in local government as 
the strategic technology lead of one of the country's largest and most 
accelerated school building programmes. She is an expert in the 
relationship between education and technology and a vocal advocate for 
free and open knowledge.


Existing trustees Greyham Dawes (treasurer) and myself (chair) were 
re-elected.


Three trustees have stepped down from the board: Alastair McCapra, Saad 
Choudri and Joseph Seddon. We thank them for their exceptional 
expertise, commitment and diligence, and we wish them well for the future.


With these changes, the new board is as follows:

Michael Maggs (board chair, and chair of governance committee)
Simon Knight (vice chair)
Greyham Dawes (treasurer, governance committee, audit and risk committee)
Chris Keating (audit and risk committee)
Carol Campbell (chair of audit and risk committee)
Kate West (governance committee, audit and risk committee)
Gill Hamilton
Doug Taylor
Nick Poole
Josie Fraser

The new board will formally meet for the first time on Saturday 12 
Septemberat the Bodleian Library, Oxford, where officer roles will be 
reviewed.


Please join me in welcoming the new board.

Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK



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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Departure

[Michael Maggs]

Dear Garfield

It has been a real pleasure to work with you and I wish you every 
success in your new venture.  I'd like to thank you not only for your 
personal support, but the advice and support you have provided to 
Wikimedia UK both during the two years I have been involved, and for 
several years before that.


All the very best

Michael
Chair, Wikimedia UK


Garfield Byrd wrote:

All,

For the last four years, I’ve led the Wikimedia Foundation’s finance,
administration, and office IT teams. I've had the opportunity to work
closely with many of you through collaboration with the Wikimedia
affiliates. They have been remarkable experiences, and I am grateful for
all I’ve learned from you during my time here. Therefore it is with some
sadness that today I am letting you know that I’ve decided to take a new
opportunity outside the WMF, at a California-based foundation focused on
public education.

It has been a privilege to work with so many exceptional people over the
years. I’ve watched the WMF mature and take on many new challenges, and our
community grow and diversify. Our commitment to our free knowledge mission
is as strong as ever, and now shared by even more people. While I’ll no
longer be on staff, I plan to find ways to stay involved in the Wikimedia
community. I look forward to seeing the movement continue to do its
important work.

My last day will be September 30. I look forward to staying in touch and
continuing to support our mission.

Best,

Garfield




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[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia UK Trustee Treasurer excellence recognised

[Michael Maggs]

Treasurer highly Commended at Financial Leadership Awards

Press release issued by Wikimedia UK, 18 September 2015:  

Greyham Dawes was awarded Highly Commended by the judges at the Financial 
Leadership Awards last night. 

The judges recognized that Greyham Dawes, who has been Wikimedia UK’s treasurer 
since February 2013, had completely changed both the charity's financial 
reporting and its planning. His pragmatic approach has helped the charity focus 
on the future, and his overwhelming positivity moves difficult conversations 
towards solutions.

Carol Cambell, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee said “Wikimedia UK is a 
high profile charity within the open knowledge movement and Greyham has been an 
important and influential part in enabling the organisational transparency that 
is an essential part of our work."

Wikimedia UK is a young charitable organisation that is at the forefront of the 
open knowledge movement. They are the UK chapter of the global Wikimedia 
movement, and work with volunteers and a range of national organisations to 
help create and preserve open knowledge and to provide easy access for all. 
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[Wikimedia-l] UK IPO updates advice on copyright in digitised public domain works

[Michael Maggs]

There are at long last indications that UK copyright law is moving in 
the direction of the WMF and Commons policy [1] that "faithful copies of 
public domain works are themselves in the public domain" - in other 
words that faithful photographic reproductions of old, out of copyright 
artworks such as paintings do not create an enforceable new copyright 
for the photographer. The UK Intellectual Property Office has recently 
updated its copyright advice notice [2] to include the following:


Are digitised copies of older images protected by copyright?

''Simply creating a copy of an image won't result in a new copyright in 
the new item. However, there is a degree of uncertainty regarding 
whether copyright can exist in digitised copies of older images for 
which copyright has expired. Some people argue that a new copyright may 
arise in such copies if specialist skills have been used to optimise 
detail, and/or the original image has been touched up to remove 
blemishes, stains or creases.''


''However, according to the Court of Justice of the European Union which 
has effect in UK law, copyright can only subsist in subject matter that 
is original in the sense that it is the author's own 'intellectual 
creation'. Given this criteria, it seems unlikely that what is merely a 
retouched, digitised image of an older work can be considered as 
'original'. This is because there will generally be minimal scope for a 
creator to exercise free and creative choices if their aim is simply to 
make a faithful reproduction of an existing work.''


This official advice from a UK Government agency is useful as it 
recommends a strikingly different approach from the one that has been 
taken over many years by the UK courts, namely that a new copyright can 
very easily be created merely by the 'skill and labour' involved in 
taking any sort of photograph (the copyright practitioner's text, 
Copinger & Skone James, says that "in terms of what is original for the 
purpose of determining whether copyright subsists in a photograph, the 
requirement of originality is low and may be satisfied by little more 
than the opportunistic pointing of the camera and the pressing of the 
shutter button.")


Although the IPO advice is not binding on the UK courts, it will be of 
useful persuasive value. It's interesting that the official view being 
taken is that the European Court of Justice has effectively replaced the 
very low bar of "Was sufficient skill and labour applied?" with the 
higher one of "Is it the author's own intellectual creation?''.  The 
2009 CJEU decision in Infopaq [3] is gaining traction.


Communia have published a blog post  [4] that is worth reading.


Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK


[1]  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:When_to_use_the_PD-Art_tag
[2]  
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481194/c-notice-201401.pdf

[3] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:62008CJ0005
[4] http://www.communia-association.org/2015/12/04/1761/


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Thank you, Jan-Bart and Stu

[Michael Maggs]

I'd like to add my word of thanks from Wikimedia UK, as well.  Both 
Jan-Bart and Stu as long-standing and experienced trustees have been 
notably welcoming, friendly and open, and both have been extremely 
helpful in maintaining good WMF board / chapter board relations.  I know 
I can speak for others at Wikimedia UK as well, who have had excellent 
relations with them over the years.


It has been a pleasure to work with you both, and I and my colleagues 
wish you all the best for the future.


Best regards


Michael


______

Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK



Lodewijk wrote:

While we have long discussions on this list about board composition, we
seem to almost ignore the fact that two long time veterans are leaving the
Wikimedia Foundation board, as scheduled. Jan-Bart de Vreede and Stu West
have been around longer than many regular editors nowadays, and I think
there are not many people who can recall the days that the board didn't
have them on it. I have never had the pleasure to serve on the board with
them, but a little thank-you from our community side, would seem in place.

Stu joined the board already in 2008 (filling Michael Davis' seat), and has
been a solid power on the board's audit responsibilities (I believe he
chaired the audit committee for quite a while) and was a force behind the
accountability of movement affiliates. While we often strongly disagreed on
affiliate issues, I appreciate the fact that he always remained
constructive and wanted to think about solutions rather than problems. He
served both as treasurer and vice chair.

Jan-Bart was on the board even longer, since early 2007, and I recall
already working with him through Kennisnet (a Dutch foundation for
education and IT) before that. Jan-Bart is one of those rare people who
went to ALL wikimania conferences, and can be easily recognised there with
his big smile. I can't remember a theme Jan-Bart didn't work on in the past
years (Affiliates, HR, searching a new Executive Director) and he served
the board in many positions, including as chair.

I'm sure that the WMF communications staff and/or board has a nice thankyou
coming up - with a more accurate description of the awesome work they did,
that I now made up from the top of my head. But in the mean time, I'd like
to do it myself: Thank you Jan-Bart and Stu for all the time, energy and
effort that you poured into our movement. I know that not all of us
appreciate this as much as we perhaps should, and sometimes you may even
have perceived us as hostile. I do sincerely hope that you had fun with us
though, and I'm confident that you made a big dent in our impossible
mission of sharing the sum of all knowledge with everyone.

I hope to meet you again soon, at least in Italy at Wikimania, and I hope
to see you around in our movement in many different ways.

Best,

Lodewijk
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF Conflict of Interest Policy

[Michael Maggs]

As a cross-reference it may be interesting to note here the Conflict of 
Interest and Code of Conduct policies that the Wikimedia UK board 
applies to its own trustees.  These have recently been updated to ensure 
compliance with current charity governance best practice recommendations:


Trustee Conflict of Interest policy:  
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Trustee_Conflict_of_Interest_Policy


Trustee Code of Conduct policy: 
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Trustee_Code_of_Conduct


Trustee commitments are based on the long-established Seven Principles 
of Public Life (the Nolan Principles) [1], but with a lot of additional 
detail.


__
Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK


[1] 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life/the-7-principles-of-public-life--2



Chris Keating wrote:

I was chair of Wikimedia UK at the time of our governance review, and yes,
the circumstances were quite different.

I also think based on that experience review of WMF governance wouldn't
give the answers I think some people want to hear. In particular no
governance expert is going to do any of;
- criticise a board for having  (and using ) the power to remove a trustee
whose presence makes it impossible for the board to do a good job
- suggest broadcasting board meetings live on the Internet
- jump down the Google rabbit hole that half of the posts on this list seem
to inhabit at the minute

Generally governance reviews are quite healthy things and WMF should
consider having one at some point. Equally the recommendations and
methodology used for Wikimedia UK are well worth reading for all movement
organisations as much of it is general. Am on my tablet at present so can't
post a link but you can Google it (so long as you declare the fact)

Regards,

Chris Keating


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in the Board

[Michael Maggs]

Thank you. This was the right thing to do in the circumstances.

Michael
(writing in my personal capacity)


Patricio Lorente wrote:

Dear All,

Throughout the discussion about the appointment of Arnnon Geshuri to the
Board of Trustees, the Board has carefully listened to you and discussed
internally. Earlier today, Arnnon decided to step down from the Board. To
paraphrase his words, he doesn't want to be a distraction for the important
discussions that the community and the Foundation need to face in the times
to come. We want to thank Arnnon for his ongoing commitment and for helping
us to move forward.

The Board Governance Committee is working to improve and update our
selection processes before we fill the vacancy left by Arnnon’s departure.
We are sorry for the distress and confusion this has caused to some in our
community, and also to Arnnon.

Patricio and Alice



Patricio Lorente
Chair, Board of Trustees

Alice Wiegand
Vice Chair, Board of Trustees
--
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[Wikimedia-l] Call for Candidates - Affiliate Selected members of the WMF Board

[Michael Maggs]

Forwarding to our local UK list, as requested by Chris. If anyone in the 
UK would like to put themselves up as a candidate, or knows of someone 
suitable, now's your chance.


Best regards


Michael


Wikimedia_UK_logo_40px.png

Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK


-- Forwarded message --
From: *Chris Keating* <mailto:chriskeatingw...@gmail.com>>

Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 9:29 AM
Subject: Call for Candidates - Affiliate Selected members of the WMF Board
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>>



Dear Wikimedia friends,

**Call for Nominations - Affiliate Selected Board Seats**

This year the Wikimedia chapters and Thematic Organisations will select 
two members of the Wikimedia Foundation Board.


We would like to invite nominations for candidates to be elected to the 
WMF board in this process.  Please help us by distributing this call for 
candidates as widely as possible through such forums as mailing lists, 
village pumps, and blogs.


*Role of WMF Board members*

The Wikimedia Foundation board provide governance and strategic 
oversight of the WMF. The role of Wikimedia Foundation board members is 
set out in detail here: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_member


Successful candidates will bring expertise and understanding to help the 
Board further its goals and ability to work effectively at a strategic 
and governance level. The work of the Board is conducted in English 
(though fluency in additional languages is an advantage) and the role 
involves a significant commitment, including travel to several in-person 
meetings in California or worldwide.


*Nominations and selection process*

Nominations should be posted using this form on Meta-Wiki:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2016/Nominations

If you need assistance completing the wiki-template, please contact one 
of the election facilitators who will be happy to assist.


Nominations are open until the end of 8 March 2016 (midnight UTC). To be 
entered into the ballot, a candidate's nomination must be accompanied by 
a statement of support from a Chapter or Thematic Organisation, which 
may accompany the nomination or be received no later than 22 March 2016.


The timeline for the selection process can be seen here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2016

There is also a selection FAQ here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats_election_FAQ

 Many thanks,

Chris Keating
Lorenzo Losa
Lane Rasberry
- Election Facilitators

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Seddon joins the Advancement team

[Michael Maggs]

Congratulations Seddon!  I'm really glad that's worked out, and I'm 
looking forward to continuing to work with you in your new role.


All the best

Michael


Lisa Gruwell wrote:

Hi All-


I am happy to announce that Joseph Seddon (User:Seddon) has joined the
Advancement team to lead up our Community Engagement! Many of you have been
asking for us to add a position like this to our team and we are thrilled
that Seddon agreed to join us because he has both a deep understanding of
the community and of our team’s work.

Many of you may already know Seddon, as he has been a Wikipedian since
2006, twice former WMUK trustee, and has helped the Fundraising team as a
contractor (on and off) since 2011. Seddon will be a first point of contact
for the community on all fundraising and partnerships work.  Rest assured,
all of us on the fundraising team will still be engaged with the community
on meta, this list, etc.  Seddon will simply be leading the effort in terms
communication and collaboration and making us better.


Welcome (back) Seddon!


Best,

Lisa Gruwell

P.S. For those of you who have never met him, here's an intro is his own
words:

Having been involved in the chapters, online community or working for the
foundation in some shape or form since 2007, I have stood on pretty much on
all sides of all the fences and even found myself straddling one or two in
that time. That has given me a pretty unique perspective in terms of
fundraising within the movement and one that I hope will serve both the
community and my colleagues well going forward. On a more personal note,
I’m based near London but originally from Wales. Interests include Rugby,
Formula 1 and Cooking and prefer the hills to the city.

If you ever have any questions relating to any of the work the Advancement
department does then feel free to drop me a message on my talk page [1], by
email [2] or right here on this list.

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jseddon_(WMF)
[2] jseddon at wikimedia.org
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[Wikimedia-l] US Copyright Law Forces Wikimedia to remove Public Domain Anne Frank Diary

[Michael Maggs]

I haven't seen any mention on this list of this recent news:

This year The Diary of Anne Frank entered into the public domain in the 
Netherlands, allowing millions of people around the world to read it for 
free.
However, under U.S. law the book remains copyrighted, which prompted the 
Wikimedia Foundation to remove a copy of the book from its servers, 
under protest.


It's worth noting, if only to increase awareness of the excessive length 
(95 years) of some US copyright terms.


Some people outside the Wiki world have noticed: see blog post here:  
https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-law-forces-wikimedia-to-remove-public-domain-anne-frank-diary-160211/ 



Michael
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Katy Love to direct WMF Resources team

[Michael Maggs]

This is really excellent news. Congratulations Katy!

Michael 

> On 26 Feb 2016, at 00:02, Maggie Dennis  wrote:
> 
> Hello, all.
> 
> I am delighted to announce that Katy Love has agreed to step into the role
> of Director of Resources in the Community Engagement department, picking up
> the baton so ably carried by Siko Bouterse before her. Katy has been with
> the Wikimedia Foundation since January 2013, beginning as the first program
> officer to work with the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC). I’m grateful
> to her for moving into this role and am looking forward to collaborating
> with her closely in WMF’s Community Engagement department.
> 
> We will be hiring her replacement to oversee the FDC/full annual plan
> grants program in the weeks ahead.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Maggie
> 
> P.S. Their page! https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources
> 
> -- 
> Maggie Dennis
> Interim Sr. Director of Community Engagement
> Director, Support and Safety
> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group

[Michael Maggs]

Congratulations to all!

Michael

On 14 September 2014 at 12:52:06, Jon Davies (jon.dav...@wikimedia.org.uk) 
wrote:

Great stuff, well done. You can count on WMUK support.

On 14 September 2014 02:51, Kirill Lokshin  wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm pleased to announce that the Affiliations Committee has recognized
> Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group [1] as a Wikimedia User Group [2]. The group is
> focused on developing the community of LGBT Wikimedians and LGBT content
> within Wikimedia projects, and plans to be active around the world.
>
> Let's welcome them to the family of Wikimedia affiliates!
>
> Regards,
> Kirill Lokshin
> Affiliations Committee
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_LGBT/Portal
>
> [2]
>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Wikimedia_LGBT%2B_User_Group_-_Liaison_approval,_September_2014
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-- 
*Jon Davies - Chief Executive Wikimedia UK*. Mobile (0044) 7803 505 169
tweet @jonatreesdavies

Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
Telephone (0044) 207 065 0990.

Visit http://www.wikimedia.org.uk/ and @wikimediauk
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Au Revoir from WMUK CEO

[Michael Maggs]

Further to Jon's announcement that he will be leaving Wikimedia UK at the end 
of this year to pursue new challenges, I would like on behalf of the board to 
express our thanks for the exceptional levels of passion and commitment that 
Jon has brought to his role as CEO over the last three years. 

Jon has been instrumental in urging WMUK and our sister chapters to aim for 
higher levels of professionalism, and has demonstrated the results of 
professionalism and hard work by delivering WMUK's widely-respected 
contribution to Wikimania London.  We are proud of what was achieved at 
Wikimania, and Jon can justifiably be proud of his invaluable personal 
contribution to that success.

The WMUK board will be taking some time to consider Jon's replacement, and will 
be consulting widely over the next few months.  To provide continuity we will 
in the meantime be appointing an interim CEO, and we are extremely pleased that 
Jon has agreed to the interim CEO starting work this month to allow a smooth 
hand-over period up to the end of the year.

We wish Jon all the best in his new chosen role, and we look forward to 
continuing to collaborate with him as a friend and volunteer.

Regards

Michael

____
Michael Maggs
WMUK Chair


> On 11 Nov 2014, at 09:10, Jon Davies  wrote:
> 
> With some sadness I have to tell you that I will be leaving Wikimedia UK,
> as an employee, if not as a volunteer, at the end of the year. I have
> achieved what I set out to do and leave WMUK in a good state. I now need to
> look for new challenges.
> 
> I was the first chief executive and it has been an amazing three years
> watching the chapter grow and develop. It has not always been smooth
> sailing but we have come through it together in good shape. Wikimania
> proved how professional we had become and the positive feedback from the
> participants makes all the work we put in worthwhile.
> 
> My heartfelt thanks to everyone in the community, particularly the
> volunteers who are at the heart of all we do, my great colleagues at the
> Foundation and the loyal and hardworking staff at WMUK who have supported
> me so ably and with such good humour over the years.
> 
> My best wishes go to my successor in all they seek to achieve.
> 
> Cyhoeddiad gan Jon
> 
> Gyda pheth tristwch rwy'n eich hysbysu y byddaf yn gadael Wikimedia UK, fel
> cyflogai, os nad
> 
> fel gwirfoddolwr, ar ddiwedd y flwyddyn. Dw i wedi cyflawni'r hyn roeddwn
> wedi'i obeithio a dw
> 
> i'n gadael WMUK ar delerau da. Edrychaf ymlaen rwan am sialensau newydd. Fi
> oedd y Prif Weithredwr cyntaf ac mae'r dair blynedd diwethaf wedi bod yn
> hollol anhygoel,
> 
> wrth i mi weld y siaptr yn tyfu a datblygu. Doedd y daith bob amser ddim yn
> llyfn, ond daethom drwyddi'n y diwedd yn ddianaf! Profodd Wikimania inni
> aeddfedu mewn modd proffesiynol a chafwyd adborth adeiladol gan y cyfranwyr
> oedd yn gwneud yr holl waith yn bleser.
> 
> Carwn ddiolch o waelod fy ngalon i bawb o fewn ein cymuned, yn enwedig y
> gwirfoddolwyr sy'n sylfaen i'n gwaith, fy nghydweithwyr bendigedig yn
> Sylfaen Wikimedia a'r staff sydd wedi bod mor driw i mi, wedi fy nghefnogi
> mor effeithiol ac wedi gweithio mor arbennig o galed dros y blynyddoedd ­ a
> hynny gyda hiwmor iach. Dymunaf pob llwyddiant i f'olynydd ym mhopeth y
> ceisiant ei gyflawni.
> 
> Jon.
> 
> -- 
> *Jon Davies - Chief Executive Wikimedia UK*.  Mobile (0044) 7803 505 169
> tweet @jonatreesdavies
> 
> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
> Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
> Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
> United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
> movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
> operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
> Telephone (0044) 207 065 0990.
> 
> Visit http://www.wikimedia.org.uk/ and @wikimediauk
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fundraising in the UK

[Michael Maggs]

I regret that Fae has thought it necessary to bring his personal 
grievance against the UK chapter and one specific individual over to the 
Wikimedia-l mailing list now that he is unable to make such comments on 
the Wikimedia-UK list or the WMUK website.   I would hope that the 
moderators will consider whether providing a platform for this type of 
attack is conducive to the health of the Wikimedia movement.


Best regards

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK

Fæ <mailto:fae...@gmail.com>
5 December 2014 14:30

No, I and another trustee made that exceedingly clear.

Though I was a trustee, I was excluded by the then Chairman from the
vote on how we proceeded. It was a truly nasty way to conduct the
matter. A procedurally and legally recorded vote of the board was
never held, something that I strongly complained about at the time.
This was never corrected nor was there ever a personal apology. I
would hope that the current board behaves differently with trustees
who might oppose the "party line", though as that same trustee is
still on the board, I guess meaningful governance reform has yet to
happen. Every indication shows that politics and PR are still
considered more important than public transparency and honesty to the
community.

I have raised this before, but I think it's too "non-positive" a
"non-success" to get anywhere with the way the charity that I helped
to create works today. My reward for being concerned about the
organization, is that I am no longer allowed to be a voting member of
the UK charity.

Fae
Fæ <mailto:fae...@gmail.com>
5 December 2014 10:56

Actually, under Sue Gardner, the offer was that if the chapter did
change its ways, it would become a payment processor again. As a
trustee at that time, who was sent all the correspondence, this was
exactly what was put in writing.

Presumably the WMF still have serious concerns about WMUK, otherwise
this would have happened in 2014. Perhaps a current trustee could
confirm the situation openly and transparently?

Fae



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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fundraising in the UK

[Michael Maggs]

Hi Nick

Over the last few years the Foundation has decisively moved away from 
allowing local chapters to take part in the on-screen fundraiser, 
preferring to centralise the work in spite of the loss of the available 
local tax reliefs (such as Gift Aid in the UK).  Many chapters, 
including the UK, would have liked to have been part of the fundraiser, 
but the previous ED, Sue Gardner, determined that that would not be 
permitted.  WMUK regretted that decision, and we responded to it here: 
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Open_letter_to_Sue_Gardner.


We accept that decisions such as these are entirely within the WMF's 
remit, and we are now actively working on improving our ability - as 
recommended by the Foundation and the FDC -  to seek charitable funds 
directly from local sources, on which we can reclaim Gift Aid.


Best regards

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK


Nick Birse <mailto:w...@nbir.se>
5 December 2014 17:28
I don't want to be seen to be taking sides and don't intend to become
embroiled in WMUK internal politics (which is why I've never joined the
chapter).

I've never received an explanation as to why around $500,000 of Gift 
Aid is

out of reach and unavailable to either WMUK or WMF, despite asking this be
dealt with at Wikimania 2014.

Are there easily explainable circumstances, legislation changes or new
rules which prevent donations to WMF to be processed in such a way as 
to be

eligible to collect Gift Aid ?

If not, why hasn't WMF set up a British office to collect this money 
in the

UK and/or why isn't WMUK processing payments and collecting Gift Aid this
year ? This is a significant portion of what WMF will spend in the UK (via
WMUK's request from the FDC) and would have made up to $500,000 available
to spend elsewhere, either UK and/or globally.

The Institute of Fundraising suggests overseas charities fundraising 
in the

UK should find a British charity that can act as a strategic partner, or
have a local office (see
http://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/guidance/about-fundraising/raising-money-for-charities-abroad/
). I understand the structure is quite different, but Greenpeace does this
through the UK based "Greenpeace Environmental Trust" which is a 
registered

charity and which can collect Gift Aid. The donations + Gift Aid are then
passed to "Greenpeace International" in Amsterdam, and that funds things
like the "Rainbow Warrior".

I would also appreciate analysis being conducted to see if the loss of 
Gift

Aid has deterred people in the UK from donating, because not collecting
Gift Aid is bad enough, but also losing donations would be entirely
unforgivable.

Kind Regards,
Nick
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Recognition of Wikimedia Community Ireland as a Wikimedia User Group

[Michael Maggs]

Congratulations from your friends at WMUK!

Michael 

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Royal Society of Chemistry journal donation

[Michael Maggs]

Excellent. Fantastic news, Andy!  That will make a real difference to serious 
chemistry on Wikipedia. 

Michael 

> On 18 Dec 2014, at 15:28, Andy Mabbett  wrote:
> 
> The Royal Society of Chemistry (disclosure: I'm Wikimedian in
> Residence there) has made a massive journal subscription donation to
> Wikipedia Library:
> 
> http://www.rsc.org/news-events/rsc-news/articles/2014/dec/gold-journals-donation-for-wikipedia-editors/
> 
> Please visit that page for details, to check your eligibility, and to
> request an account.
> 
> -- 
> Andy Mabbett
> @pigsonthewing
> http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Commons / OTRS is broken

[Michael Maggs]

I would like to see a bot or tool that could provide visibility of statistics 
on the various OTRS queues in near-real time. At present there is no automated 
way to see on Commons or any of the Wikipedias that backlogs even exist, let 
alone see how they vary with time, what the average time to first response is, 
time to resolve/close etc. 

It would be great if we had a template I could add to a Commons page so I could 
see this information every time I login. 

Michael 

Michael 
Michael 
> On 4 Feb 2015, at 10:46, Andrea Zanni  wrote:
> 
> Thanks Ryan for the clarification.
> My question is: what could we ask, as a community, to the WMF, o to
> chapters?
> Is there some tool/task/workflow that could receive help from Wikimedia?
> Maybe a new software, or some trusted agents in key position, or something
> else.
> What could speed up the volunteers work?
> 
> Aubrey
> 
> 
>> On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 11:38 AM, Rjd0060  wrote:
>> 
>> James,
>> 
>> 
>> I realize your tickets were already resolved but I thought I'd take a
>> moment to clarify the issues that cause the delays in response.
>> 
>> 
>> The Wikimedia Volunteer Response Team ("OTRS") relies on the generous work
>> of hundreds of volunteers from all over the world to handle hundreds of
>> thousands of e-mails each year.
>> 
>> The scope of these tickets range from vandalism reports or technical issues
>> to problems with biographies of living people and other generic edit
>> requests, and dozens of other categories.  A large percentage of the
>> overall tickets received are "permissions" tickets -- e-mails used to
>> verify the release of content on Wikimedia sites, typically from third
>> parties.
>> 
>> Like every project that Wikimedians work on, there are various things that
>> the volunteers are tasked to handle. The agents who take on this role do so
>> in addition to their existing editing activities, often at the cost of
>> their own free time. Due to the trust and patience required to handle these
>> public-facing aspects of Wikimedia, the pool of available volunteers tends
>> to be smaller than in other areas of the projects. Unfortunately, backlogs
>> can occasionally crop up and take a bit of time to deal with, especially in
>> the more complicated e-mails (like BLPs), that can take up to an hour to
>> process. It happens on every large Wikimedia project -- where some backlogs
>> never get cleared (just look at the English Wikipedia’s articles with
>> unsourced statements! [1])-- so it is something I believe almost all of us
>> can relate to in one way or another.
>> 
>> We had very good queue levels for much of 2014, but began noticing an
>> increase in permissions and general information tickets (specifically in
>> the English language) around the end of the year. Unfortunately, the end of
>> the year typically shows higher than usual response times, likely because
>> of volunteer free time. While OTRS agents are very dedicated, answering
>> tickets can be stressful at times, so it’s not typically the type of thing
>> you’ll want to during holiday vacations. Pair those longer response times
>> with an increase in tickets because of our hard-working Wikimedians adding
>> content and submitting more permissions tickets in their holiday free time,
>> and it creates a bit of a backlog. :-)
>> 
>> Just as in other areas of our projects, backlogs are inevitable, especially
>> in the more mundane and tougher areas. However, our dedicated pool of
>> volunteers works diligently to clear these backlogs when they come up.
>> While, again, it’s a tough job that’s not for everyone, we always welcome
>> new applicants. Actually, we're continuously adding new agents. In 2014 we
>> added 62 new community queue accounts[2] to handle general information and
>> permissions inquiries. Additionally, our agent retention is better - we
>> lost about half as many agents in 2014 as we did in 2013. But finally, if
>> you really want to help with the backlogs, we’re always looking for great
>> new team members.  Feel free to throw up an application on
>> [[m:OTRS/Volunteering]] if you think you’d make a good agent and we’ll be
>> happy to review it.
>> 
>> Basically, OTRS is tough job that runs into backlogs just like any other
>> part of Wikimedia. However, we’re continuously working to add more agents
>> and clear those backlogs as soon as they start.
>> 
>> I hope this helps clarify the current issues.
>> 
>> Ryan // User:Rjd0060
>> 
>> (OTRS admin)
>> 
>> [1]
>> 
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:All_articles_with_unsourced_statements
>> 
>> [2] Community queue accounts are OTRS accounts with access to queues that
>> answer general information inquiries about our projects, permissions and/or
>> photosubmissions tickets. Other types of accounts do not have answer these
>> tickets, but instead have access to a smaller subset of queues, such as
>> those related to the Foundation (e.g., donations), chapters, or advanced
>> rights on the projects (e.g., 

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Commons / OTRS is broken

[Michael Maggs]

Yes, I do. That is updated manually, at irregular intervals, applies 
only to one Commons list, and doesn't provide anything like the 
information that should I think be available.


Michael


Krd <mailto:k...@wikipedia.de>
4 February 2015 11:55
Hello.



You know https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:OTRS/backlog ?

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Michael Maggs <mailto:mich...@maggs.name>
4 February 2015 11:11
I would like to see a bot or tool that could provide visibility of 
statistics on the various OTRS queues in near-real time. At present 
there is no automated way to see on Commons or any of the Wikipedias 
that backlogs even exist, let alone see how they vary with time, what 
the average time to first response is, time to resolve/close etc.


It would be great if we had a template I could add to a Commons page 
so I could see this information every time I login.


Michael

Michael
Michael

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James Heilman <mailto:jmh...@gmail.com>
3 February 2015 04:52
OTRS does not even bother replying to the consents I send them. Thus the
images I have received releases for get deleted. Going forwards I am 
simply

uploading to En Wikipedia. Not ideal but not sure what the solution is.


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Commons / OTRS is broken

[Michael Maggs]

Or AWB, though neither option provides the sort of efficiency that is 
needed tio deal easily with the sort of issues that Tomasz mentions.


Michael


Jeevan Jose 
4 February 2015 12:01


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:VisualFileChange.js can be 
used for

mass edits.

Jee
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Tomasz Ganicz 
4 February 2015 11:03
Well - regarding permission-commons ques the current problem with mass
upload agreements is Common's regulation that ticket-templates has to be
added by OTRS volunteers themselves, except, when you are using GLAM tool,
but GLAM tool is tailored for really huge mass uploads as it requires lot
of preliminary preparations. So, there is no good path for mid-size mass
uploads - say from 10 till 100-500 files.

This is incredibly boring job to add 100 templates to 100 files. There are
some semiautomatic tools for this - but it still requires small 
programming

and/or direct personal assistance - with at least 2 clicks per file. So
OTRS volunteers - when they see agreements for for example100 pictures -
are avoiding this, becasue handing this means not only aswering for E-mail
but also 100 boring edits...

I was addressing the issue on OTRS e-mail list, around a year ago, but the
answer was, that this is not the problem. But in fact - whenever there is
such semi-mass-upload agreement - you can observe that OTRS volunteers are
avoiding answering them.






James Heilman 
3 February 2015 04:52
OTRS does not even bother replying to the consents I send them. Thus the
images I have received releases for get deleted. Going forwards I am 
simply

uploading to En Wikipedia. Not ideal but not sure what the solution is.


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Commons / OTRS is broken

[Michael Maggs]

I mentioned a few basic things in my previous email. There's probably little 
point in my writing a comprehensive wish list unless you or some other 
volunteer can agree to work on providing an API against which a tool could be 
written. 

Michael 

Michael 
>> On 4 Feb 2015, at 12:19, Krd  wrote:
>> 
>> Am 02/04/15 um 13:14 schrieb Michael Maggs:
>> Yes, I do. That is updated manually, at irregular intervals, applies
>> only to one Commons list, and doesn't provide anything like the
>> information that should I think be available.
> 
> ...which is in detail?
> 
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimédia France travel policy & Learning patterns

[Michael Maggs]

If anyone wants to compare and contrast, you can find WMUK's expenses 
policy (covering travel and other expenses) here:


https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Expense_policy

Best regards

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK


Emeric Vallespi <mailto:emeric.valle...@wikimedia.fr>
9 March 2015 08:49
Dear movement fellows,

After our "Board handbook", we are pleased to share with you the
Wikimédia France "Travel policy" (this time, in French and English!):

(en) 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimédia_France/Politique_de_voyage/en

(fr) https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimédia_France/Politique_de_voyage

This document is the compilation and formalization of our expenses
reimbursement's practices for several years.
The main goal of this formalization is to clarify, for our various
stakeholders in the organization, the expenses which can be reimbursed,
the amounts, the conditions and the process.
And because it's clearer we think that it's going to facilitate the
volunteers involvement. Indeed, by knowing in advance if expenses can be
covered, we are hoping that volunteers will take more initiatives to do
projects, even if there is a cost.
Of course, it facilitates the work of our treasurers and executive
director who deal with the approval of expenses requests/reports,
because the commons cases are anticipated in the policy, and now they
have to intervene only for specific cases, which are less frequent.

It is also ensuring a healthier governance: it clarifies the process of
escalation if needed and it provides fairness for every requests' answers.
Besides it allowed to define consensually the frame of reimbursements
with different stakeholders.

As it might be useful for other entities, we shared in a Learning
Patternswhy we think it's useful for us to have this policy,what
problems it solves and how we have solved them:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Learning_patterns/Travel_policy_−_defining_travel_support_conditions_to_further_volunteer_involvement
Moreover, we did an "unofficial" translation of the policy (link above)
to ease your feedback possibilities about this policy, about the process
we followed or to be inspired by if you are thinking about such an
initiative of document in your organization.

Feel free to ask any questions or make suggestions of improvement.
Cheers,

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Announcement: WMF to file suit against the NSA

[Michael Maggs]

Thank you for taking this action.

All the best,

Michael


Michelle Paulson 
10 March 2015 07:53
Hi All,

I’m writing to let you know that today the Wikimedia Foundation[1] is
filing suit against the National Security Agency
, the 
Department of
Justice 
,

and the U.S. Attorney General
[2] in order
to challenge certain mass surveillance practices carried out by the U.S.
government. We believe these practices are impinging the freedom to learn,
inquire, and explore on Wikimedia sites.

Since the 2013 mass surveillance disclosures, we’ve heard concerns 
from the

community about privacy on Wikipedia. This lawsuit is a step towards
addressing the community's justified concerns. We believe that the
surveillance methods being employed by the NSA under the authority of 
the FISA

Amendments Act

negatively impact our users' ability and willingness to participate in our
projects. Today, we fight back.

An op-ed

by Lila and Jimmy about the lawsuit, and Wikimedia's stance on government
surveillance, appeared in The New York Times this morning. 
Additionally, we

just published a blog post
 with more
information about the suit. (The post will also up on Meta for 
translation).


Best,


Michelle Paulson

Senior Legal Counsel

Wikimedia Foundation

mpaul...@wikimedia.org

[1] We are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union
 (ACLU).
Other plaintiffs include The National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers , Human Rights Watch
, Amnesty
International USA , Pen American Center
, Global Fund for Women
, The Nation Magazine
, The Rutherford Institute
, and Washington Office on Latin America
.

[2] Other named defendants include: Michael Rogers
, in his official 
capacity

as Director of the National Security Agency

and Chief of the Central Security Service; Office of the Director of
National Intelligence
; James
Clapper , in his official
capacity as Director of National Intelligence; and Eric Holder
, in his official capacity
as Attorney
General  of
the United States.




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[Wikimedia-l] Changing our volunteer structure at Wikimedia UK

[Michael Maggs]

Dear movement colleagues

I thought you might like to hear about a new WMUK initiative, following 
on from our recently-completed staff restructure. We are hopeful our 
local community will react positively to much greater levels of 
volunteer engagement.


Our initiative might be of interest to other chapters who are trying - 
as we are - to get away from a perception of not being sufficiently open 
to community involvement.


Also, we are looking for movement-wide input.  If you can provide 
thoughts, ideas or feedback, do please make contact.


For the full details on wiki see: 
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_strategy_consultation_2015


Best regards


Michael




Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK


*From:* Michael Maggs
*Date:* 5 June 2015 14:38
*To:* "wikimediau...@lists.wikimedia.org" 


*Subject:* [Wikimediauk-l] Volunteering with Wikimedia UK: a call to action

Volunteering with Wikimedia UK: a call to action

Wikimedia UK needs your help. We want to transform the way we work so 
that we can bring volunteering right into the heart of the charity.


We plan to:

 * Establish a new volunteer engagement panel
   <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_engagement_panel> or
   steering group, focusing specifically on volunteering and volunteer
   engagement
 * Embed members into our day-to-day decision making via a new
   evaluation panel <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Evaluation_panel>
 * Encourage the setting up of volunteer special-interest working
   groups <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Working_groups> to replace the
   existing non-board committees
   <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Committees#Non-board_committees>
 * Set up cultural/GLAM
   <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Cultural_and_GLAM_advisory_board> and
   educational outreach
   <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Educational_outreach_advisory_board>
   expert advisory boards to advise the WMUK main board on high-level
   strategy
 * Change our Articles of Association
   
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/2015_Annual_General_Meeting/Resolutions#.281.29_Enabling_non-trustees_to_become_full_members_of_Govcom.2C_ARC_and_any_other_board_committees_that_may_be_constituted>
   to allow volunteers to be appointed full members of board committees
 * Provide more effective support for volunteers via the new project
   coordinator <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Project_Coordinator>
   staff roles
 * Move toward project-based
   <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Project-based_working> working
   practices to improve efficiency and to enable better self-evaluation
   of our work

These draft plans follow on from the excellent feedback we received from 
our last Volunteer Strategy Gathering 
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_Strategy_Gathering/July_2015>. 
They deliberately don't attempt to answer all possible questions about 
implementation, as we think it best that both further questions and the 
answers to those questions should come out of collaborative discussions. 
The plans are not set in stone, and with the community's help they can 
be improved, strengthened and fleshed out.


We would like your feedback, either online or in person at our next 
Volunteer Strategy Gathering 
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_Strategy_Gathering/July_2015> 
on Saturday 25th July 2015, in London. For more information, see the 
links on the right.


Feedback, comments and discussion are more than welcome on the 
discussion page, or you can email chairatwikimedia.org.uk if you have 
feedback you would prefer not to make public.


To read the full details on wiki see here: 
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_strategy_consultation_2015


Best regards


Michael


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changing our volunteer structure at Wikimedia UK

[Michael Maggs]

Of course you don't need to be a member to volunteer with us or to be 
part of this or any other consultation.  There are only a very few 
things that are restricted to members or that need member support, for 
example borrowing our equipment and handling the charity's money.


Michael


Fæ <mailto:fae...@gmail.com>
5 June 2015 15:22
Do you have to be a paid up member of the charity to be part of the
consultation or the envisaged interest groups?

As last year you changed the charity policies to limit all equipment
to paid members only, which caused WM-LGBT+ a pointless degree of
hassle to even borrowing a projector, I presume that the same policy
of exclusivity would apply.

Fae
Previous Chairman of Wikimedia UK, uniquely excluded from membership
of the UK charity or elections.

Michael Maggs <mailto:mich...@maggs.name>
5 June 2015 15:14

Dear movement colleagues

I thought you might like to hear about a new WMUK initiative, 
following on from our recently-completed staff restructure. We are 
hopeful our local community will react positively to much greater 
levels of volunteer engagement.


Our initiative might be of interest to other chapters who are trying - 
as we are - to get away from a perception of not being sufficiently 
open to community involvement.


Also, we are looking for movement-wide input.  If you can provide 
thoughts, ideas or feedback, do please make contact.


For the full details on wiki see: 
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_strategy_consultation_2015


Best regards


Michael


____

Michael Maggs

Chair, Wikimedia UK


*From:* Michael Maggs
*Date:* 5 June 2015 14:38
*To:* "wikimediau...@lists.wikimedia.org" 

*Subject:* [Wikimediauk-l] Volunteering with Wikimedia UK: a call to 
action


Volunteering with Wikimedia UK: a call to action

Wikimedia UK needs your help. We want to transform the way we work so 
that we can bring volunteering right into the heart of the charity.


We plan to:

  * Establish a new volunteer engagement panel
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_engagement_panel> or
steering group, focusing specifically on volunteering and
volunteer engagement
  * Embed members into our day-to-day decision making via a new
evaluation panel <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Evaluation_panel>
  * Encourage the setting up of volunteer special-interest working
groups <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Working_groups> to replace
the existing non-board committees
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Committees#Non-board_committees>
  * Set up cultural/GLAM
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Cultural_and_GLAM_advisory_board>
and educational outreach
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Educational_outreach_advisory_board> expert
advisory boards to advise the WMUK main board on high-level strategy
  * Change our Articles of Association

<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/2015_Annual_General_Meeting/Resolutions#.281.29_Enabling_non-trustees_to_become_full_members_of_Govcom.2C_ARC_and_any_other_board_committees_that_may_be_constituted>
to allow volunteers to be appointed full members of board committees
  * Provide more effective support for volunteers via the new project
coordinator <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Project_Coordinator>
staff roles
  * Move toward project-based
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Project-based_working> working
practices to improve efficiency and to enable better
self-evaluation of our work

These draft plans follow on from the excellent feedback we received 
from our last Volunteer Strategy Gathering 
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_Strategy_Gathering/July_2015>. They 
deliberately don't attempt to answer all possible questions about 
implementation, as we think it best that both further questions and 
the answers to those questions should come out of collaborative 
discussions. The plans are not set in stone, and with the community's 
help they can be improved, strengthened and fleshed out.


We would like your feedback, either online or in person at our next 
Volunteer Strategy Gathering 
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_Strategy_Gathering/July_2015> 
on Saturday 25th July 2015, in London. For more information, see the 
links on the right.


Feedback, comments and discussion are more than welcome on the 
discussion page, or you can email chairatwikimedia.org.uk if you have 
feedback you would prefer not to make public.


To read the full details on wiki see here: 
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteer_strategy_consultation_2015


Best regards


Michael


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Thousands of images on Wikipedia and Commons in danger, action needed

[Michael Maggs]

This has been mentioned before by Dimi, but bears repeating.

While we may all think it's *outrageous* that tens of thousands of 
images may have to be deleted from Commons, we do have to make sure we 
have messages that will resonate with those who don't agree with us or 
who don't care.  If our only message is that open content will be 
harmed, we have no answer to those who reply 'so what?'


In countries such as France and Belgium, that currently have no Freedom 
of Panorama, we need to address arguments like these:


1. Why should people be allowed to make money by using an architect's 
intellectual property without permission?
2. Why does Wikipedia, a hobbyist website, think it's OK to steal other 
people's rights?
3. Non-commercial use won't be affected, so this is not an issue of 
freedom at all.  It just stops people making money from someone else's 
creative work.
4. If Wikipedia holds itself out as non-commercial, it can and should 
accept non-commercial licences. The argument that 'images will have to 
be deleted' is based on your private internal rule which could easily be 
changed.


Remember that in some countries there is a long history of supporting 
rights holders, that millions of people don't know what 'open' means, 
don't care, and won't be persuadable by any sort of argument based on 
freedom to view.  To them, freedom of panorama is just a way of 
illicitly taking away an artist's right to protect his or her own 
creative work.


Probably most of us reading this will say that these arguments hold no 
water, but we need to tackle them head-on.


Michael



Jane Darnell 
22 June 2015 08:21
Actually, considering how effective the blackout was for SOPA, I think
another action based on the most prominent images we stand to lose 
would be

in order. So the take on the London Eye and maybe some popular buildings,
art and bridges in Euro-FoP countries? I don't know if you could rig a 
java

script to flag these with a red lightbox that links to the Commons page,
but that would probably be more effective than any other lobbying efforts

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Sam Klein 
21 June 2015 23:39

The WMF could lobby or support lobbying on such an issue. It is eligible
to spend up to $1M per year tax-free on lobbying. But I don't believe it
has directly engaged in anything of the sort, since the SOPA action.

Sam
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Pine W 
21 June 2015 16:47
Are WMF and the European affiliates allowed to lobby regarding this issue?
If so, what are they doing?

Thanks,

Pine
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Romaine Wiki 
21 June 2015 14:02
Hi all,

This concerns all the editors and readers in the European Union and those
in other European countries as well (copying is possible).

*Subject*
Copyrights reform in Europe going in the wrong direction, damaging
Wikipedia.

*What is going on?*
In the European Parliament currently a proposal (amendment) is submitted
that will restrict Freedom of Panorama in Europe.
This means: you will be no longer allowed to upload images from modern
buildings and works of public art on Commons and not allowed to use those
images on Wikipedia.

Also if Freedom of Panorama is only allowed for Non Commercial purposes
only, this is a problem for Wikipedia!

*Some details*?
It concerns the amendment AM421 proposed by Cavada and passed in the JURI
committee.

*When is the voting about the amendment?*
Thursday 9th July

But we have one chance only!


*What can we do about this?*

- Forward this e-mail to anyone who should know about this.
- Talk to the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in your country.
Especially the members of the EPP, S&D and ALDE groups. ->
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_European_Parliament,_2014%E2%80%9319
- Communicate this issue to users in your local community.
- Publicise a press release about this, write about it on your
website/blog, talk to the media how this can damage Wikipedia, etc.
- Use social media: Twitter, Facebook, and so on.

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Thousands of images on Wikipedia and Commons in danger, action needed

[Michael Maggs]

I and others have added some more arguments to the Meta page which 
addresses the points made by the proponents of 'non-commercial' only 
harmonisation:


https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Panorama_2015_EVA_GESAC#Comment

To widen our statements in support of full freedom, it would be useful 
to know of evidence that film makers and/or professional photographers 
avoid working in Italy, France, Belgium or any of the restrictice 
countries specifically because of their lack of freedom of panorama. 
Please add evidence to that page if you can.


Michael




Carcharoth <mailto:carcharot...@googlemail.com>
28 June 2015 12:28
These are excellent points raised by Michael Maggs. The bit about
non-commercial licenses in particular. That has always been difficult
to explain to people who are quite happy for Wikipedia to use their
images or images of their works, but don't want people to profit
commercially from those images or their works.

It can be hard to explain that Wikipedia is free ('gratis'), but we
want people to be able to reuse and repackage the material (including
images) and create commercial products from them. Some people quite
rightly back away from that when they realise what they would be
allowing people to do with the images.

Freedom of panorama (or rather, lack of it) has particularly
unfortunate effects, in that people who are unaware of these
provisions think they can upload their photography to Commons and are
then very often discouraged and de-motivated when they are told that
the images they contributed will be deleted. It is this motivational
aspect that I think is overlooked by those who want to encourage
people to contribute to Wikipedia and Commons and other Wikimedia
projects. My feeling is that vast numbers of potential and current
contributors decide Wikipedia is not for them when this happens, and
they walk away and we lose out when that happens.

The effect is magnified when this happens to photos that have been
*used with no problems for many years*. Potentially photos that people
uploaded to Commons many years ago may get retrospectively deleted. If
this does run into the tens and hundreds of thousands, the
motivational effect on those who uploaded pictures or use them to
illustrate their articles, could be immense.

If these changes take effect (and that is a big if) and if Commons (as
seems likely) goes on a big deletion spree, then the practical effect
is likely to be to discourage large numbers of (in some cases) highly
active contributors to the point where they may even cease
contributing. That is something that should be considered, IMO.

Can anyone here think of any way to mitigate the impact on people who
may not understand why their images are being deleted, if it does come
to that eventually?

Carcharoth



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Michael Maggs <mailto:mich...@maggs.name>
22 June 2015 20:02
This has been mentioned before by Dimi, but bears repeating.

While we may all think it's *outrageous* that tens of thousands of 
images may have to be deleted from Commons, we do have to make sure we 
have messages that will resonate with those who don't agree with us or 
who don't care.  If our only message is that open content will be 
harmed, we have no answer to those who reply 'so what?'


In countries such as France and Belgium, that currently have no 
Freedom of Panorama, we need to address arguments like these:


1. Why should people be allowed to make money by using an architect's 
intellectual property without permission?
2. Why does Wikipedia, a hobbyist website, think it's OK to steal 
other people's rights?
3. Non-commercial use won't be affected, so this is not an issue of 
freedom at all.  It just stops people making money from someone else's 
creative work.
4. If Wikipedia holds itself out as non-commercial, it can and should 
accept non-commercial licences. The argument that 'images will have to 
be deleted' is based on your private internal rule which could easily 
be changed.


Remember that in some countries there is a long history of supporting 
rights holders, that millions of people don't know what 'open' means, 
don't care, and won't be persuadable by any sort of argument based on 
freedom to view.  To them, freedom of panorama is just a way of 
illicitly taking away an artist's right to protect his or her own 
creative work.


Probably most of us reading this will say that these arguments hold no 
water, but we need to tackle them head-on.


Michael



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[Wikimedia-l] European Commission Copyright Consultation

[Michael Maggs]

It’s not clear to me what will be done with the answers proposed so far at 

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/European_Commission_copyright_consultation

Will  they be submitted as they are, or is someone proposing to merge them into 
a single version (even though many answers have been signed)?

Also unclear unless I have missed something is who will the answers be 
submitted by, and on whose behalf?  Only individuals - and not the Foundation 
nor chapters - have formally posted answers so far, so is the intention that 
the answers will be submitted by and on behalf of those individuals only?  

The page says that the response "can be submitted by the Wikimedia Foundation 
and other interested groups”, so perhaps the answers are merely intended as a 
resource others can use if they wish?

If the intention is that a formal response will be submitted on behalf of the 
unincorporated group Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU, then it would be 
sensible for that group to register with the EU Transparency Register, here:

http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/info/homePage.do?locale=en

According to the EU, responses to the consultation from non-registered entities 
will "be published separately from the registered organisations”, which may 
mean less influence. See:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2013/copyright-rules/index_en.htm

(I note that the Foundation is not registered!)

By the way, WMUK will be completing and filing its own separate response.

Michael



> From: Dimitar Parvanov Dimitrov 
> Date: 21 January 2014 14:51
> Subject: [Wikimedia-l] European Commission Copyright Consultation
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List 
> 
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> Just a quick reminder that we have 6 more days to collaboratively draft
> answers to the European Commission's copyright consultation.
> 
> The idea is to give the global, online community a chance to come up with
> answers that, if coherent enough, can then be officially given to the
> Commission.
> 
> We see this as a social experiment, since no one until now has ever
> attempted to answer collaboratively and publicly such short-termed and
> in-depth consultations.
> 
> The corresponding link is:
> 
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/European_Commission_copyright_consultation
> 
> Have fun answering!
> 
> Dimi
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Advocacy Advisors] European Commission Copyright Consultation

[Michael Maggs]

Hi Luis

Just a reminder. You do know, I expect, that before filing a submission you are 
expected by the Commission to register the Foundation with the EU Transparency 
Register?  You are not registered yet.

http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/info/homePage.do?locale=en

Best regards

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK 


On 28 Jan 2014, at 08:00, Luis Villa  wrote:

> I've spent a good chunk of the day reading through the first 31 questions; 
> the comments on meta about those questions, and the responses proposed by 
> Dimi and others at http://youcan.fixcopyright.eu/en/full/?guide=wikimedia 
> 
> All the comments essentially agree, with only some small variations. Since we 
> don't have any serious splits of opinion, I think the idea of a combined 
> answer that represents this as the opinion of the Foundation makes sense. 
> (Not clear to what extent we should also represent this as the opinion of 
> Wikimedians - opinions welcome on that.)
> 
> With that goal in mind, I've drafted proposed answers to each question, which 
> incorporate comments from (among others) Seb35, Deryck C., Sapfan, NaBUru38, 
> Aktron, and Kaldari. 
> 
> I think the best place to discuss individual answers is in the talk pages, so 
> I'll start uploading those shortly. I've also more-or-less copied this email 
> into 
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:European_Commission_copyright_consultation#Goals_and_next_steps
>  if people prefer to discuss there.
> 
> Luis
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[Wikimedia-l] Announcing Wikimedia UK's new five year strategy

[Michael Maggs]

Dear community

I am very pleased to be able to announce that the board of Wikimedia UK has 
formally adopted a five year strategy for the charity: 
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Overview_of_strategy

The strategy sets out not only our mission ('to help people and organisations 
create and preserve Open Knowledge, and to help provide easy access for all’) 
but also the way in which we aim to achieve that in practice.   

To ensure that our day-to-day activities are closely focussed on attainment of 
our mission, we have committed to record and publish a wide range of measured 
outcomes which will indicate, on an ongoing basis, how we are performing 
against a range of strategic goals.   These measured outcomes will build up 
over time into a comprehensive picture of the practical impact the charity has 
been able to make.

In preparing the strategy we consulted widely with own Wikimedia UK community, 
the Wikimedia community at large, other chapters, the Wikimedia Foundation, and 
interested individuals. The draft strategy documents were open for public 
consultation during the month of February, and feedback received was taken into 
account along with staff and board contributions.  We have replied to the 
community feedback on-wiki: https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Strategy_consultation
 
We are confident that as the end result of this process we have a robust 
strategy that will serve us well in the years to come. It will enable us to 
maintain and track challenging but achievable targets while retaining 
operational flexibility to focus our day-to-day efforts on whichever individual 
activities and initiatives will best help us achieve practical impact.

We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the process, and we look 
forward to continuing to work with the community with renewed focus and vigour. 

Best regards

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] A decision in Commons regarding URAA affected files

[Michael Maggs]

The crats are aware of this and are discussing it.

Michael

On 4 Apr 2014, at 01:29, Russavia  wrote:

> Yael, et al
> 
> Unfortunately, this is a case of premature congratulation.
> 
> I have let the Bureaucrats know of this issue at
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Bureaucrats%27_noticeboard#This_projects_bureaucrat.27s_are_asleep_at_the_wheel.3F_--_please_wake_upand
> on their individual talk pages.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Russavia
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Apr 3, 2014 at 11:37 PM, Yael Meron  wrote:
> 
>> After a discussion[1] in Commons regarding this subject, a decision was
>> made, stating that URAA cannot be used as the sole reason for deletion.
>> 
>> We consider this a good solution for this situation, considering there is
>> currently no foreseeable change in US law, for example, to accept the "rule
>> of the shorter term".
>> 
>> Following our letter[1] and this decision, we would like to thank everyone
>> who supported this, including the WMF BoT, the legal department
>> (specifically Yana), WMES, WMAR, WMVE, the administrators in Commons and
>> the participants in the discussion.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Yael Meron
>> Board of Wikimedia Israel
>> 
>> [1]
>> 
>> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Massive_restoration_of_deleted_images_by_the_URAA
>> [2]
>> 
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Israel/Letter_to_the_BoT_regarding_URAA
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Italia has a new board

[Michael Maggs]

Many congratulations from us all at WMUK !

Michael

On 6 Apr 2014, at 14:25, Cristian Consonni  wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> yesterday April 6th, 2014, in Florence at "The Impact Hub" Wikimedia
> Italia held his general assembly which comprised the vote on the final
> budget for 2013 and the budget for 2014 the election of 3 new board
> members[*].
> 
> The new board is:
> * Andrea Zanni, President
> * Simone Cortesi, Vice-president (newly elected)
> * Luca Martinelli, Secretary (newly elected)
> * Cristian Consonni, Treasurer
> * Ginevra Sanvitale, Director of Programmes (newly elected)
> 
> Please join me in applauding the new members and wishing them good luck :-)
> 
> We would also like to thank Alessio Guidetti, Lorenzo Losa, Francesco
> Tarantini and Frieda Brioschi for their service in the board.
> 
> Cristian Consonni
> 
> [*] Wikimedia Italia adopted since last year to have two-year long
> board mandates with staggered deadlines so we will be electing either
> 2 or 3 board members each year.
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fuck the community, who cares

[Michael Maggs]

I am really saddened by the incessant demands that the community needs public 
investigations, heads to roll, public apologies and so on.  I am also saddened 
by repeated demands that specific community members state publicly whether they 
do or do not agree with something allegedly said by a third party, but restated 
shorn of all context.

One would have thought that we would all have learned from history that witch 
hunts never turn out well, but apparently not. It’s almost as if the 
community has a death wish and has far greater interest in internecine warfare 
than in actively attempting to work together to further our mission (which we 
all agree on, surely?).  

I was not myself at the governance workshop, and have no idea who said that, if 
anyone, but I do find it odd that Fae would find it necessary to demand of a 
trustee whether he does or does not accept the alleged quote as a “philosophy”. 
 

Would it help if I, as WMUK chair, said that such a “philosophy” would be 
anathema to us?  No, that probably won’t help, as it is an entirely 
self-evident statement. Answering direct questions, unfortunately, does not 
make much difference to those who find witch hunts fun.

Michael



On 7 Apr 2014, at 12:27, Fæ  wrote:

> Chris, rather than again[1] using school-boy politics by defaming
> people you don't like with personal attacks, please read Tomasz'
> request: "the idea that chapters can "fuck the community" is
> absolutely unacceptable and should by rejected by all chapters
> immediately".
> 
> Now, show some leadership and answer a simple direct question. Do you,
> or do you not as a trustee of Wikimedia UK and the person that was
> responsible for leading this costly workshop, reject the philosophy of
> "fuck the community"?
> 
> I have asked for the person that made this statement to come forward
> and explain themselves. If they cannot, then they must realise they
> can no longer claim to be accountable to the community and neither can
> their board.
> 
> Links:
> 1. 
> http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons:Administrators/Requests/F%C3%A64&diff=116374702&oldid=116372563
> Fae
> 
> On 7 April 2014 12:10, Chris Keating  wrote:
>> I'd certainly hope not. One of the ground rules for the workshop was that
>> individual contributions were made on a confidential and non-attributable
>> basis.
>> 
>> This was exactly because we wanted people to speak freely and not worry
>> about a witch-hunt on an email list if a couple of trolls got hold of some
>> out-of-context quotes.
>> 
>> Chris
>> On 7 Apr 2014 11:56, "Fæ"  wrote:
>> 
>>> Steffen, the Wikimedia movement expects board members on Wikimedia
>>> organizations to be fulfilling their role as representatives of our
>>> movement. If you misquoted please explain that this is the case.
>>> 
>>> As at a public workshop that cost the movement a significant amount of
>>> our donor's money to pay for, there is no reason for secrecy about
>>> this, everyone there is accountable for their time spent at that
>>> workshop. The quote has not been challenged. It would benefit us all
>>> to hear why this was said and to be open to questions about their
>>> leadership role, from the person that made this public statement.
>>> 
>>> Personally, if an elected or appointed board level member of a chapter
>>> is making public statements like this, I do not want them representing
>>> our movement if they are going to hide away in secret when asked about
>>> it. You know who they are, please ask them to speak for themselves
>>> rather than relying on you and your colleagues to run interference or
>>> take this story on tangents.
>>> 
>>> Fae
>>> 
>>> On 7 April 2014 11:42, Steffen Prößdorf 
>>> wrote:
 Hi Folks,
 
 please do not pick out that single point and overestimate it.
 I have not mentioned this to dupe anyone, but only to illustrate the
 conflict of alignment or the objective of the chapters. The opposing
 opinions are represented by several Wikimedians on both sides, please do
 not harp on this single quote.
 
 Thanks,
 Steffen
 
 
 2014-04-07 12:33 GMT+02:00 Fæ :
 
>> If that is indeed the case, the comment to "fuck the community" would
>>> fit
>> quite well in the divisions that /some/ people are alleging exist.
>>Tomasz
> 
> Could whoever is being quoted as saying this please come forward
> publicly and explain what they meant?
> 
> If this was anything more than a bad joke, then I would expect someone
> who made views like this, while representing our community of
> volunteers to be asked by their Board to resign their elected or
> appointed position. I urge those who were at the meeting, to
> demonstrate appropriate community leadership and encourage the person
> they know to have expressed this viewpoint to come forward and explain
> themselves in their own words.
> 
> Fae
>>> --
>>> fae...@gmail.com

[Wikimedia-l] New Commons RFC on changing the Precautionary principle to tackle the URAA problem

[Michael Maggs]

I have made a proposal to relax the scope of the Commons so-called 
Precautionary principle to allow the site to host more of the locally public 
domain files that are being deleted because of the US URAA law, and also to 
keep more photos that have freedom of panorama in their home country but which 
might (or might not) be copyright-protected in the US.

This proposal comes out of an extremely long and complicated argument about 
copyright, which you don't necessarily need to get into, but it is an attempt 
to allow Commons to host more media files while at the same time ensuring that 
the site remains fully legal under US law.  We can legally take a much more 
nuanced position than 'Definitely Free' or 'Definitely Unfree', which is pretty 
much what we do at present.

Some editors have suggested ignoring US law, which the WMF simply cannot allow 
to happen, and this is an attempt to allow us to keep more non-US Public Domain 
material while still remaining on the right side of US law.

Put simply, do you agree that Commons should aim to host more files that are 
public domain in their home country even if they *might* still be 
copyright-protected in the US?

Please contribute here:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Review_of_Precautionary_principle

Michael
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Rating Wikimedia content (was Our next strategy plan-Paid editing)

[Michael Maggs]

On 26 Mar 2014, at 21:35, Andrew Gray  wrote:

> 
> 
> It would be great if this sort of rating was being systematically checked -
> but at a vague estimate of thirty seconds to scan, grade, and tag,
> aggregated across all pages on enwiki, that's about fifteen or twenty
> person-years of work to do it as a once-off, much less a rolling process.
> 
> Andrew.
> 
> On 25 March 2014 23:35, Pete Forsyth  wrote:
>> Philippe,
>> 
>> The Public Policy Initiative produced strong validation for the Wikipedia
>> 1.0 approach to assessing article quality. Was Amy Roth's research ever
>> published, and are there any plans to repeat it with a larger sample size
>> etc.? I'd say we're closer than you think to having a good way to measure
>> article quality.
>> 
>> Pete
>> [[User:Peteforsyth]]


There is at present no comprehensive automated tool that can be used to measure 
article and media file quality. Measuring quantity is easy; quality much more 
difficult.

At the Wikimedia Conference over the weekend I presented some thoughts about a 
possible software project, to be lead by Wikimedia UK, to tackle this.

A review of the presentation, and slides, can be seen at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2014/Documentation/24#Michael_Maggs_.28WMUK.29_-_WikiRate:_rating_Wikimedia

The WMUK wiki page is here:  
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Technology_Committee/Project_requests/WikiRate_-_rating_Wikimedia

Comments and feedback are most welcome.  In particular, we would like to know 
whether creating such tools would be considered a useful thing to do by the 
community.

Best regards

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK 



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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Please welcome Lila Tretikov, the Wikimedia Foundation's new ED

[Michael Maggs]

Many congratulations, and welcome!

Michael

Chair, Wikimedia UK

> 
> 
> 
> 2014-05-01 20:15 GMT+02:00 Jan-Bart de Vreede :
> 
>> Dear fellow community members,
>> 
>> On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees I am delighted to
>> announce that the new Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation will
>> be Lila Tretikov. Lila is a widely respected Bay Area technology leader,
>> most recently with SugarCRM.
>> 
>> As many of you know, about a year ago Sue Gardner announced she planned to
>> step down as our ED. As we launched the search for her successor, we spent
>> some time working through the most critical requirements for the role. We
>> decided the new ED should be someone with a product/engineering background,
>> ideally in an open-source or other online community context. We wanted
>> someone experienced with organisations that were growing, who'd managed
>> staff and budgets comparable to ours, and who had experience creating
>> continuous delivery of technology improvements in an agile context. We
>> wanted a person who is oriented towards collaboration, transparency and
>> openness, with some experience with complex stakeholder environments, and
>> with an international orientation. We knew we needed someone with courage
>> and strong personal integrity, who wouldn't be intimidated by attempts to
>> censor the projects.
>> 
>> Lila is precisely what we set out to find.
>> 
>> Lila was born in the Soviet Union and moved to the United States alone, as
>> a teenager. She's been working for technology companies, primarily in open
>> source, in the Bay Area for the past 15 years. In 1999 she started her
>> career at Sun Microsystems. Shortly afterwards she founded GrokDigital, a
>> technology and design company. She spent three years as senior director of
>> development at Telespree, a company that provides cloud-based wireless data
>> services for mobile carriers. For the past eight years, she was at
>> SugarCRM, where she held positions of increasing responsibility as the
>> organization grew, including being in charge of internal IT, marketing,
>> customer support and professional services, engineering, and product
>> development. She has a stellar reputation as a leader who is highly
>> skilled, collaborative, open, passionate and curious.
>> 
>> We think Lila will be a terrific fit for the ED role. The Transition Team
>> (Phoebe, Alice, Kat, Sue, Erik, Geoff, Gayle and I) voted unanimously to
>> recommend her to the Board, and the Board voted unanimously to accept the
>> recommendation. She strikes all of us as smart, brave and unpretentious,
>> and we believe she has the skills the WMF needs.
>> 
>> Lila is going to spend the next few weeks in learning-and-listening mode,
>> and will take over the ED position from Sue at the end of the month. Her
>> first priority will be to immerse herself in deepening her understanding of
>> the Wikimedia projects.
>> 
>> I want to close this announcement by saying a heartfelt and deeply
>> appreciative thanks to Sue, who has been the Executive Director of the
>> Wikimedia Foundation for the past seven years. When the Board and I hired
>> Sue in 2007, we were just a chaotic little non-profit in small-town
>> Florida, with a tiny staff and not much money. Over the past seven years,
>> Sue's leadership has built the Foundation into an effective, well-funded
>> and well-managed organisation, with integrity and a clear sense of purpose,
>> and her steady and committed presence throughout the search process was
>> integral in helping us come to this excellent result. We will be forever
>> grateful for her leadership and vision, and I hope we can continue to rely
>> on her support in the months and years ahead.
>> 
>> In June Sue will move into a new role as a special advisor to me and Lila.
>> She'll also take a well-earned holiday, and maybe even a bit of a
>> wiki-break, before beginning to think about what she's going to do next.
>> Many of us will get a chance to see her in London, at Wikimania, in August.
>> 
>> The Wikimedia Foundation is delighted to have reached such a successful
>> outcome to the search. My thanks to Lisa Grossman of m/Oppenheim for
>> helping us with it, and I ask you to please join me in extending a warm
>> welcome to Lila Tretikov, our new ED.
>> 
>> Jan-Bart de Vreede
>> Chair
>> Wikimedia Board of Trustees
>> 
>> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Metrics - accuracy of Wikipedia articles

[Michael Maggs]

Measuring the quality of Wikipedia articles in general is an issue that 
Wikimedia UK is interested in looking at, though by means of automation rather 
than the gold-standard but much less scalable method of scholarly peer review.

Our early-stage plans for a large-scale IT project to provide automated 
quality-measuring tools for the community can be found at [1].

On the corresponding talk page my fellow trustee Simon Knight has recently 
posted the results of a literature survey that may be of some interest, 
although again he was focusing on automation rather than individual manual 
review. Almost all of the research has been done by academics, and very little 
seems to have found its way back to the Wikimedia space where it could be 
applied in practice.

Michael

[1]  
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Technology_Committee/Project_requests/WikiRate_-_rating_Wikimedia



On 7 May 2014, at 23:14, Andreas Kolbe  wrote:

> Anne, there are really well-established systems of scholarly peer review.
> There is no need to reinvent the wheel, or add distractions such as
> infoboxes and other bells and whistles.
> 
> I find it extraordinary that, after 13 years, a project designed to make
> the sum of human knowledge available to humanity, with an annual budget of
> $50 million, has no clue how to measure the quality of the content it is
> providing, no apparent interest in doing so, and no apparent will to spend
> money on it.
> 
> For what it's worth, there was a recent external study of Wikipedia's
> medical content that came to unflattering results:
> 
> http://www.jaoa.org/content/114/5/368.full
> 
> ---o0o---
> 
> Most Wikipedia articles for the 10 costliest conditions in the United
> States contain errors compared with standard peer-reviewed sources. Health
> care professionals, trainees, and patients should use caution when using
> Wikipedia to answer questions regarding patient care.
> 
> Our findings reinforce the idea that physicians and medical students who
> currently use Wikipedia as a medical reference should be discouraged from
> doing so because of the potential for errors.
> 
> ---o0o---
> 
> 
> On Wed, May 7, 2014 at 10:59 PM, Risker  wrote:
> 
>> On 7 May 2014 16:17, Anthony Cole  wrote:
>> 
>>> Could someone please point me to all the studies the WMF have conducted
>>> into the reliability of Wikipedia's content? I'm particularly interested
>> in
>>> the medical content, but would also like to look over the others too.
>>> Cheers.
>>> 
>>> Anthony Cole 
>>> 


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Metrics - accuracy of Wikipedia articles

[Michael Maggs]

It does have to be scalable if you want to be able to measure any article, at 
least approximately. Let's say I am interested in 5000 articles on the subjects 
X, Y and Z, none of which have been manually rated, and never will be due to 
the scaling problem.  An automated tool would be extremely useful to me, and is 
the best measure I am going to get in the absence of huge resources to measure 
their qualities in the manual way. 

Michael


On 7 May 2014, at 23:38, Andreas Kolbe  wrote:

> On Wed, May 7, 2014 at 11:32 PM, Michael Maggs  wrote:
> 
>> Measuring the quality of Wikipedia articles in general is an issue that
>> Wikimedia UK is interested in looking at, though by means of automation
>> rather than the gold-standard but much less scalable method of scholarly
>> peer review.
>> 
> 
> 
> It doesn't *have* to be scalable. That's what sampling was invented for.
> 
> Automation. As they say, if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks
> like a nail.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Commons' frontpage probably shouldn't prominently feature a decontextualised stack of corpses.

[Michael Maggs]

> On 9 May 2014 21:13, Risker  wrote:
> 
>> The person who selected the image does not care that most of the
>> people who viewed that image saw only dead bodies without context.
> 

The process on Commons for selecting what goes on the front page is very 
lightweight, and this was a decision made by one person, in the normal way.  
That’s going to mean that sometimes others might disagree.

It would be perfectly possible to set up some sort of more labour-intensive 
system if people really want that. It would be easy to do: please, everyone, 
just come over to Commons and volunteer your time.

Michael


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Defining "impact" for Wikimedia programs, grants and evaluation

[Michael Maggs]

Details of the ways we define and measure the ‘impact’ of our programmes at 
Wikimedia UK can be found here:

https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Strategic_and_operational_models

Best regards

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK 


On 19 May 2014, at 02:23, ENWP Pine  wrote:

> Hi, I spent a few minutes searching on Meta for how "impact" is defined. What 
> is the WMF definition?
> 
> Some examples of places where "impact" is used:
> * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Impact_report_form
> * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Impact_report_form_Q%26A
> * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IEG/Learning/Round_1_2013/Impact
> * 
> https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/02/beginning-understand-what-works-measuring-impact-programs/
> * 
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Program_evaluation_basics:_efficiency,_effectiveness_and_impact
> 
> I am not fond of the Boulmetis / Dutwin definition used in that last 
> reference because short-term effects can be important and much easier to 
> measure than long-term effects. For example, an administrator protecting a 
> page can have the short-term effect of preventing editing and preventing an 
> edit war, and the long term effects of that can be impossible to know, such 
> as whether preventing an edit war prevented the situation from escalating to 
> an Arbcom case with imposition of long-term blocks, and also whether 
> preventing editing prevented important information from being added to the 
> page by an occasional IP editor. 
> 
> I might suggest a rewrite of that entire page on "program evaluation basics" 
> to make it simple. Right now it's a wall of text that's difficult to follow 
> and, I feel, at least partly wrong. I think that Edward Galvez is working on 
> some of these issues and I would be happy to have him or someone else in 
> Evaluation thoughtfully redesign and rewrite that page to make it easy to 
> follow for everyone including non-native English speakers. If I have a hard 
> time with that page, you can imagine how difficult it is for someone who only 
> understands English at an intermediate level. I would like to start with 
> having a clear and simple definition of "impact" that makes sense in 
> Wikimedia contexts, and some examples that are easy to follow.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Pine
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] New Chair of the Supervisory Board – the 14th WMDE General Assembly in retrospect

[Michael Maggs]

Dear Tim

Congratulations on your new role. And all the best!

Michael


Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK 


On 26 May 2014, at 13:38, Tim Moritz Hector  
wrote:


> Hi all,
> 
> yesterday, Wikimedia Deutschland’s 14th General Assembly was held in 
> Frankfurt am Main.
> 
> In addition to the presentation of the strategic planning and several 
> amendments to the articles of the association’s bylaws, the agenda included 
> among other things reports of the Executive Director, the Supervisory Board 
> and volunteer auditing committee. Of course, the transition process and the 
> succession of Pavel Richter announced this week were widely discussed.
> 
> We are a young association and the change in the position of Executive 
> Director, which has been shaped by Pavel for many years, is a new experience 
> for all of us. Over the coming months, the process of succession is going to 
> entail a lot of work and Pavel will be a part of it. Obviously, first of all 
> we have to mutually deliberate on the procedure and the specific schedule – a 
> process in which we are going to include as many people as possible and whose 
> opinions we are going to take very seriously. We will report on any concrete 
> actions as soon as possible.
> 
> Unfortunately, Nikolas Becker, who held the Chairman position of the 
> Supervisory Board for the past six months, will not take an active part in 
> the transition process. He resigned yesterday. As a result, we gathered as 
> the supervisory board on this Sunday in order to elect a new Chair.  I am 
> glad that my Board colleagues expressed their confidence in me and as of now 
> entrusted me with the presidency of the supervisory board. I am well aware of 
> the immense responsibility and, with a clear focus on the future, accepted it 
> yesterday.
> 
> I want to thank Nikolas for everything he has accomplished over the past 
> years – not only as Chair but also as a member of the Supervisory Board and 
> for the association in general. In the name of the Supervisory Board we 
> thanked him yesterday in Frankfurt.
> 
> As usual, there will also be a protocol for this general meeting of members. 
> I do not want to anticipate the minutes, as long as they are being completed. 
> Yet, I would like to give a short personal overview at this point:
> 
> There were six requests for amendments to articles of the association’s 
> bylaws (a seventh has been withdrawn). All six of them were accepted with 
> clear majorities. The Supervisory Board’s term of office was extended from 
> one to two years. A leave of absence from the Supervisory Board is now 
> possible, as is a lump-sum for refunding of honorary expenses according to 
> German customs. Furthermore, it was formally clarified that members of the 
> Supervisory Board must also be members of the association. In the future, it 
> will be much easier to terminate supporting memberships. And finally: The 
> wording regarding the quorum to hold an exceptional general assembly has been 
> changed from “members” to “active members”. Besides the amendments to 
> articles of the association, the general assembly confirmed the Supervisory 
> Board’s structure according to departments.
> For more details to all these and further points I want to refer to the 
> minutes mentioned above, which are to be published soon.
> 
> I am convinced of Wikimedia Deutschland being in a stable position. It is up 
> to us to shape our association over the coming years together. This involves 
> self criticism, or at least the realization that a neutral point of view is 
> helpful in pretty much all circumstances in life. That is why I am glad that 
> the general meeting approved the supervisory board’s request and that we will 
> now start an external governance review to gather different expertise and new 
> insight.
> 
> Within Wikipedia, this is common practise and a strength that helps Wikipedia 
> get better. In my opinion, the same applies to Wikimedia Deutschland: our 
> willingness to improve is our strength.
> 
> Best regards,
> Tim
> 
> -- 
> Tim Moritz Hector
> 
> Chair of the board
> Wikimedia Deutschland e. V.
> 
> +49 (0)160 - 36 16 234
> tim-moritz.hec...@wikimedia.de
> 
> 
> Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | D-10963 Berlin
> Tel.: +49 (0)30 - 219 158 260
> http://www.wikimedia.de
> 
> Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch auf der Erde freien 
> Zugang zum gesamten menschlichen Wissen hat. Das ist, was wir machen. Helfen 
> Sie uns dabei! http://spenden.wikimedia.de
> 
> Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free 
> access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we&#x

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Commons and OCILLA

[Michael Maggs]

Hi Yann

This is a really useful resource.  Who is looking after it now, and how is it 
being funded?  I don’t know who ‘Ray’ is.

Michael


On 8 Jun 2014, at 17:43, Yann Forget  wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> 2014-06-08 21:56 GMT+05:30 rupert THURNER :
>> Would it make sense to deploy a server in another country under a domain
>> not owned by the foundation? E.g. Switzerland?
> 
> I already started that in 2005. It is called Wikilivres: http://wikilivres.ca/
> In 2010, I could not continue to manage it and pay for the bill, and I
> looked for volunteers to take over.
> To my surprise, I found nearly noone willing to do that.
> Finally Ray accepted to take charge. I am quite sure, he would welcome
> help to manage it.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Yann
> 
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[Wikimedia-l] The tragedy of Commons

[Michael Maggs]

Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the notice boards on Commons, or 
who is subscribed to this mailing list, will be aware of a huge, wide-ranging 
and unfocused set of disputes and ill-natured arguments that have been raging 
for several months. The disputes are becoming more and more intemperate, and 
the positions of some editors more and more entrenched. While a few 
contributors have tried hard to pull the community back to constructive 
discussion and have made sensible suggestions, their comments have been drowned 
out in the noise.

We need to stop now and focus not on stating a re-stating positions, but on 
making definite and constructive proposals for ways in which these issues can 
be fixed. The discussion on this list has been non-productive for some time, 
and I suggest that editors should drop discussion there and should focus 
attention on the discussion on Commons:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Administrators%27_noticeboard#Disputes_relating_to_URAA.2C_policy.2C_Israeli_images.2C_and_behaviour

Michael.
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[Wikimedia-l] UK Photographers - The Wiki Loves Monuments contest starts on Monday!

[Michael Maggs]

Ever thought of seeing your own photos on Wikipedia ?

This is your chance to take part in our annual photography competition to 
improve Wikipedia. The encyclopaedia is visited by 500 million people every 
month, and needs you to help improve its photos.

Wiki Loves Monuments UK is aimed at the UK's listed buildings and ancient 
monuments, and starts on Monday 1st September. The contest is supported by the 
Royal Photographic Society, English Heritage, and Wikimedia UK.

We've got lots of pictures of Tower Bridge and Stonehenge, but there's so much 
more of the country's heritage to celebrate. There are tens of thousands of 
eligible sites, so check out the UK competition website 
(http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org.uk) and see what's nearby. As well as prizes 
for the best image, we have a special prize this year for the best image of a 
listed building on one of the 'At Risk' registers.

It doesn't matter when your photos are taken so long as they're uploaded by the 
end of September.   If you took some stunning pictures back in April, or five 
years ago, you can still upload them.  

To enter, you'll need to agree to release your entries under a free licence 
allowing them to be freely used by anyone for any purpose, including Wikipedia. 
You retain copyright, and can require anyone using your images to attribute 
them to you as photographer.

Help us show off your local history!

Michael

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF Online Store Promotion

[Michael Maggs]

Good to know that the WMF is still fully committed to keeping Wikipedia 
advert-free (or maybe not).

Michael 

> On 8 Nov 2013, at 21:22, Caitlin Cogdill  wrote:
> 
> Hello everyone,
> 
> As you may already know, the Wikimedia Foundation supports a small but
> growing online store meant to give editors a chance to wear their passion
> for Wikipedia in shirts, scarves, backpacks, and more. This November, we
> will be running a short campaign for logged-in users in the US only,
> spreading the word about the store to those who have not had an opportunity
> to check it out. This will result in the display of a small banner at the
> top of your page from November 11 through November 15, just as a casual
> reminder that we’ve got Wikipedia merchandise at 10% off to keep you warm
> while you edit!
> 
> While the promotion will only be displayed in the US, all international
> users are welcome to order through the store and reap the benefits of the
> discount. After we work out the kinks in this campaign, we’ll investigate
> the possibility of similar international campaigns in the future.  The
> banner is set to show up to each user only two times.  And remember, if you
> get tired of seeing the notification, just click the “X” on the banner and
> it will disappear.
> 
> As always, the proceeds from our online store go toward community events
> and our Volunteer Giveaway
> Program,
> helping us to recognize fabulous editors who have played an instrumental
> role in making Wikipedia what it is today.
> 
> If you have any questions about the online store or would like to provide
> feedback, feel free to email us at
> merchand...@wikimedia.org,
> or fill out this survey .
> 
> 
> 
> Finally, I'd like to quickly introduce myself as an alternate resource for
> questions on anything shop-related. I am a new addition to the WMF team,
> working to support the online fundraiser as well as being the primary point
> of contact regarding the online store. Shoot me an email if I can be of any
> assistance!
> 
> Thank you,
> Caitlin Cogdill & the Wikimedia Online Fundraising Team
> 
> -- 
> Caitlin Cogdill
> Fundraiser Program Associate
> Wikimedia Foundation
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Qrpedia domain transfer

[Michael Maggs]

Crossed wires I think. 

Jon was probably referring to the internal agreement between WMUK and its 
subsidiary Cultural Outreach whereby WMUK will pay the domain name renewal 
fees. That simply allows us to maintain a non trading status for Cultural 
Outreach which keeps legal fees to a minimum. 

QRpedia is and will remain free for use by anyone, without any need for an 
agreement or approval from WMUK.

Michael 

> On 21 Dec 2013, at 14:25, Andy Mabbett  wrote:
> 
> On 21 December 2013 09:02, Jon Davies  wrote:
> 
>>> 3) Are there already or will there need to be
>>> cross agreements between WMF and other
>>> Wikimedia entities and Cultural Outreach Ltd?
> 
>> Q3. There will be an agreement, it is being drafted.
> 
> This seems to imply that QRpedia will no longer be freely and openly
> available for anyone to use, as it has been from inception. I hope
> that's not the case, but would be grateful for assurances.
> 
> -- 
> Andy Mabbett
> @pigsonthewing
> http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Copyright URAA trolls on Wikimedia Commons

[Michael Maggs]

Yes, I am working on this now, and will put up a proposal to amend policy on 
Commons in the next day or two.  It is of particular relevance to UK Crown 
Copyright works.

Michael


On 30 Dec 2013, at 14:56, Fæ  wrote:

> The URAA is rather more than theoretical. There is more milage  in
> developing a defensive approach for orphan works. Again I think an
> inclusive discussion on Commons is more useful if anyone intends to
> progress this.
> 
> Fae
> On 30 Dec 2013 14:04, "Newyorkbrad"  wrote:
> 
>> I have no role or participation on Commons, but from my work on English WP
>> I'm aware of the very real copyright status of "free as a practical matter
>> although someone could theoretically make a disputed technical argument
>> otherwise."
>> 
>> One solution, where there is a good-faith argument the image is free and no
>> rights-holder claiming otherwise, would be a disclaimer. Perhaps something
>> along the lines of "It is believed this image is in the public domain [or,
>> the status of this image depends on resolution of an open legal issue, or
>> whatever] and therefore eligible for inclusion on Wikimedia Commons and for
>> re-use. However, it is possible that the free status of this image could be
>> disputed because [brief explanation of reason]. Potential re-users should
>> therefore proceed cautiously."
>> 
>> I hasten to add that this would be appropriate only where the impediment to
>> freedom is seen as mostly theoretical, not to screw over legitimate claims
>> by rightsholders or by people with privacy interests implicated by the
>> image.
>> 
>> Newyorkbrad


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[Wikimedia-l] Saving some URAA-affected files on Commons (was Copyright URAA trolls on Wikimedia Commons)

[Michael Maggs]

Please see here

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hosting_of_content_released_to_the_global_public_domain

for a new Commons policy proposal.

Obvious first candidates are the government-generated works of the UK, Canada 
and Israel, but there will certainly be other countries that could take 
advantage of the policy, if approved, to save many files from imminent deletion.

Michael


On 29 Dec 2013, at 22:43, Klaus Graf  wrote:

> Can nobody stop the URAA Copyright trolls mass deleting perfect fine files
> on Commons?
> 
> I think it would be the best if _all_ URAA affected files would be kept
> until a DMCA take down notice.
> 
> But in the case of in the country of origin PD works which are foreign
> government works it is needed that the WMF clearly speaks out that such
> works could be accepted on Commons even when a written statement of the
> foreign government doesn't exist.
> 
> See for Canada's crown copyright
> 
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Burlington_Skyway_1958.png
> 
> Klaus Graf
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] images deletedfrom WikiCommons

[Michael Maggs]

Hi Michal

I have picked up on your initiative, and have made a proposal on Commons:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hosting_of_content_released_to_the_global_public_domain

Could you take a look at it?

Michael

_
Michael Maggs
Chair, WMUK.


On 29 Dec 2013, at 05:19, Michal Lester  wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> 
> As some of you know, images are been deleted in the past month from
> WikiCommons due to a change in the ruling of the United States Supreme
> Court. (The case of Golan v. Holder, confirming the legality of the URAA,
> has restored copyright status to foreign works that were placed in the
> public domain after January 1, 1996).  Court ruling brought WikiCommons
> volunteers to delete images that do not meet the new guideline.
> Consequently, Israeli images were deleted even though the Israeli law
> releases them into the public domain.
> 
> We wrote to the legal department of the Foundation to alert about the
> situation. The department has posted a legal
> opinion<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikilegal/Use_of_Foreign_Works_Restored_under_the_URAA_on_Commons>
> on
> the subject following our inquiry.
> 
> WMIL is going to turn to the Minister of Justice and seek for written
> statement that confirm that images released by the State of Israel to the
> public domain may be used freely around the world. We hope that WikiCommons
> operators rely on the letter and will not delete more images.
> 
> It will be great if other chapters will update if they encountered the
> problem and what you intend to do.
> 
> 
> All the best
> 
> Michal
> -- 
> 
> Michal Lester
> 
> Executive Director
> 
> Wikimedia Israel
> 
> http://www.wikimedia.org.il/ 050-8996046
> 
> *Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
> sum of all knowledge. **That's our commitment.*
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Public Domain Day

[Michael Maggs]

Nice. It would be good to add a link at the top to

Category:Undeleted in 2014

as well, or even to transclude all images from that category.

Michael

On 3 Jan 2014, at 14:03, Romaine Wiki  wrote:

> hello all!
> 
> January 1st was Public Domain Day [1] and after xx years of copyright, it 
> expires on the first of January of the year after. As result hundreds of 
> images were restored on Commons on the 1-1-2014, but many of them did not get 
> a place in articles on Wikipedia and her sister projects.
> 
> I added all the restored media to this gallery: 
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Romaine/Public_Domain_Day/2013
> 
> Everyone is invited to place those images in appropriate places in articles!
> 
> 
> Romaine
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Domain_Day
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Public Domain Day

[Michael Maggs]

On 3 Jan 2014, at 14:22, Bjoern Hoehrmann  wrote:

> 
> I find it a bit worrying that Commons makes little effort to distinguish
> between "copyright on this sculpture" and "copyright on this photograph
> of a sculpture". It would seem preferable if there was suitable meta
> data recording the reason why these media have been restored.

That distinction is made very carefully in Commons policies, and has been for 
many years.. If you have examples of some images that have been tagged 
incorrectly, please say.


Michael


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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Visually impaired

[Michael Maggs]

Can WMUK collaborate with WMDE (and others) on this to push it forward?  
Obviously a lot of good work has already been done, but perhaps it now needs 
some long term commitment and leadership to ensure that what has been done is 
made easily accessible,  and to work on filling gaps in functionality (covering 
all aspects of disability). 

Michael

WMUK Chair

> On 15 Jan 2014, at 09:34, Jon Davies  wrote:
> 
> How about starting with what a 'ULS' is? That would help :)
> 
> 
>> On 15 January 2014 08:50, Gerard Meijssen  wrote:
>> 
>> Hoi,
>> One obvious point to start is the functionality of the ULS. It already
>> serves one function for people who have a handicap with their perception.
>> It has the OpenDyslexic font for people with dyslexia. There are multiple
>> ways functionality can be provided who have a visual handicap. The size of
>> the characters can be increased, the colour scheme can be changed (some
>> people only see yellow on white..)
>> 
>> If there is one thing wrong with the ULS, it is not in the functionality
>> but by the utter lack of visibility. ULS is a major component of MediaWiki
>> and it is not given prominence, Truly how are people going to find
>> OpenDyslexic... (we are talking about 7 to 10% of a population)...
>> 
>> Work is done to get more support for webfonts on mobile phones.. It is
>> being developed.
>> Thanks,
>>  GerardM
>> 
>> 

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [WMUK Tech] [Wikimediauk-l] Improving Wikimedia access for people with impairments (was Visually impaired)

[Michael Maggs]

Yes, indeed. 

Collaborating to get a well advertised clearing centre running would be a very 
good first step. But to get over the usual issue that nobody in the community 
comes forward to point out where the gaps are (which may not be surprising as 
the people we want to contact here are by definition already excluded from the 
community) we need outreach to the relevant impairment/disability groups to get 
their members involved. That is something that the Chapters would be good at, 
as many such groups/charities are national ones.   There are quite a few in the 
UK, and no doubt more in Germany and elsewhere.

Outreach is what the chapters do!

Best regards

Michael



Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK 


On 15 Jan 2014, at 11:44, rexx  wrote:

> The single biggest problem, Michael, is that when one talks in the abstract, 
> we end up chasing illusory problems that don't actually have any impact. It's 
> very difficult to create systems that are always 100% accessible by all if we 
> start by trying to second-guess what accessibility problems visitors might 
> encounter.
> 
> What we need is a well-advertised "clearing centre" where anybody who 
> experiences an accessibility problem on one of our sites can register their 
> problem, which would then allow us to examine it and provide the most 
> effective solution.
> 
> I'm quite happy to continue giving advice on the issues covered at
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Accessibility
> 
> and I'd like to see it adopted as default on the WMUK Wiki, but I question 
> the value of volunteers re-inventing the wheel by chasing "gaps" that I'm not 
> at all sure actually exist.
> 
> -- 
> Doug
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 15 January 2014 11:08, Michael Maggs  wrote:
> Can WMUK collaborate with WMDE (and others) on this to push it forward?  
> Obviously a lot of good work has already been done, but perhaps it now needs 
> some long term commitment and leadership to ensure that what has been done is 
> made easily accessible,  and to work on filling gaps in functionality 
> (covering all aspects of disability).
> 
> Michael
> 
> WMUK Chair
> 
> > On 15 Jan 2014, at 09:34, Jon Davies  wrote:
> >
> > How about starting with what a 'ULS' is? That would help :)
> >
> >
> >> On 15 January 2014 08:50, Gerard Meijssen  
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hoi,
> >> One obvious point to start is the functionality of the ULS. It already
> >> serves one function for people who have a handicap with their perception.
> >> It has the OpenDyslexic font for people with dyslexia. There are multiple
> >> ways functionality can be provided who have a visual handicap. The size of
> >> the characters can be increased, the colour scheme can be changed (some
> >> people only see yellow on white..)
> >>
> >> If there is one thing wrong with the ULS, it is not in the functionality
> >> but by the utter lack of visibility. ULS is a major component of MediaWiki
> >> and it is not given prominence, Truly how are people going to find
> >> OpenDyslexic... (we are talking about 7 to 10% of a population)...
> >>
> >> Work is done to get more support for webfonts on mobile phones.. It is
> >> being developed.
> >> Thanks,
> >>  GerardM
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