Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-18 Thread rupert THURNER
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 9:49 PM, Zack Exley zex...@wikimedia.org wrote: I haven't read this thread, but I'll explain my editing history as Wikitedium: First of all, I listed my user name as soon as I started at Wikipedia. It's still listed here on my (out of date) staff/contractor page:

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
Sue and all: On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 7:38 PM, Sue Gardner sgard...@wikimedia.org wrote: There are no special WMF policies related to this. It might seem that perhaps there should be, but I have thought about it a lot and I believe it'd be a bad idea. This is something I've also thought

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Erik Moeller
On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 11:21 PM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: The community guidelines are extremely complex, yes. I consider that an argument *in favor* of adopting simpler rules for staff, that exceed community rules. For a general idea, here are the kind of rules that could be

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 11:57 PM, Erik Moeller e...@wikimedia.org wrote: On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 11:21 PM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: The community guidelines are extremely complex, yes. I consider that an argument *in favor* of adopting simpler rules for staff, that exceed

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Erlend Bjørtvedt
Yes. Our employees in wmno are recruited externally, and could never hve done their job or learnt to know the projects If it wasn,t for: A - editing from a wmno account in order to give community information about events, etc. B - editing from a private account, under full name, to learn how to

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Erik Moeller
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:24 AM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: As a former staff member who actively sought out (and received very little) guidance on how to approach my approach to Wikipedia editing during my tenure, In other words, you were expected to apply good judgment. It

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread
On 17 April 2014 08:46, Erik Moeller e...@wikimedia.org wrote: ... On this, you and I seem to be about as far apart as we can be, so we will have to agree to disagree. This is why in threads like the Belfer one I encourage people to stay cool and not let this stuff get to their heads, because

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Christophe Henner
Hi everyone, Just to share what we do at Wikimedia France. Employees are allowed to edit Wikimedia Projects from personnal accounts. When they do as Wikimedia France employees, they use their professional accounts, that stays they're employed by WMFr. We do not look at what they do on their

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:46 AM, Erik Moeller e...@wikimedia.org wrote: On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:24 AM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: As a former staff member who actively sought out (and received very little) guidance on how to approach my approach to Wikipedia editing

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Erik Moeller
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 1:08 AM, Fæ fae...@gmail.com wrote: This is not the first time that Erik has been sarcastic and rude in an apparent attempt to close down discussion in public responses to whistle-blowers. Please. You are making a mockery of every whistleblower on the planet; it's

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread
On 17 April 2014 09:40, Erik Moeller e...@wikimedia.org wrote: On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 1:08 AM, Fæ fae...@gmail.com wrote: This is not the first time that Erik has been sarcastic and rude in an apparent attempt to close down discussion in public responses to whistle-blowers. Please. You are

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread David Gerard
On 17 April 2014 09:46, Fæ fae...@gmail.com wrote: Every time I see Fae or Russavia in a from: line, I dread opening the email. Fae, posts like this, where any actual point you have is buried under a mountain of your overwhelming bitterness, with you tag-teaming with Russavia on *his*

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread
David, I am not a creature, nor am I am a part of a conspiracy with Russavia. Your actions against both Russavia and myself, with no process for appeal, say more about the direction our open movement is taking in putting up barriers to whistle-blowing rather than accepting this is part of a

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread David Gerard
On 17 April 2014 10:41, Fæ fae...@gmail.com wrote: My response on this thread for Erik's unacceptable public behaviour as a Foundation senior manager have nothing whatsoever to do with Wikimedia UK or the wikimediauk-l list, so your using your authority on a different list to punish me is

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Erlend Bjørtvedt
Same practice here, through spontneous reflection independent of wmfr. Seemes that this is at least natural for a chapter. I believe wmf employees should also be encouraged to contribute to the projects. Erlend Wmno Den torsdag 17. april 2014 skrev Christophe Henner christophe.hen...@gmail.com

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread
On 17 April 2014 12:49, Erlend Bjørtvedt erl...@wikimedia.no wrote: Same practice here, through spontneous reflection independent of wmfr. Seemes that this is at least natural for a chapter. I believe wmf employees should also be encouraged to contribute to the projects. There seems some

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread The Cunctator
I can't think of a better justification for IAR than this thread. On Apr 17, 2014 8:04 AM, Fæ fae...@gmail.com wrote: On 17 April 2014 12:49, Erlend Bjørtvedt erl...@wikimedia.no wrote: Same practice here, through spontneous reflection independent of wmfr. Seemes that this is at least

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Russavia
Sue, Thank you for your response, it is appreciated. Indeed we are all n00bs at some stage, and we all make COI mistakes, and I can admit to making this mistake myself twice early on. But we all learn pretty quickly that COI editing is frowned upon, and can cause problems later on. I would like

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Michael Snow
On 4/17/2014 7:37 AM, Russavia wrote: So how about a simple WMF policy that states something along the lines of: Employees and contractors of the Wikimedia Foundation shall not edit articles relating to the Wikimedia Foundation, broadly construed, but at rather directed to raise potential edits

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread David Gerard
On 17 April 2014 16:25, Michael Snow wikipe...@frontier.com wrote: To illustrate how silly this can get on some level, consider the fact that justifiably or not, the media and the general public often treat the content of Wikimedia projects as if it reflects on the reputation of the Wikimedia

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Brad Jorsch (Anomie)
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 10:37 AM, Russavia russavia.wikipe...@gmail.comwrote: Employees and contractors of the Wikimedia Foundation shall not edit articles relating to the Wikimedia Foundation, broadly construed, but at rather directed to raise potential edits on the talk pages of affected

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread David Gerard
On 17 April 2014 17:05, Brad Jorsch (Anomie) bjor...@wikimedia.org wrote: For example, others are blasting Victor (whom I may have met, but if I have it slipped my mind in the middle of all the other people I've met) for

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Federico Leva (Nemo)
Brad Jorsch (Anomie), 17/04/2014 18:05: From my purely personal perspective, I've often felt that concerns over COI and paid editing in and of themselves are often grossly overblown. When something is proclaimed heresy, it's unsuprising that inquisitions are set up. Historically the solution

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
On 17 April 2014 17:05, Brad Jorsch (Anomie) bjor...@wikimedia.org wrote: For example, others are blasting Victor (whom I may have met, but if I have it slipped my mind in the middle of all the other people I've met) for

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread geni
On 17 April 2014 15:37, Russavia russavia.wikipe...@gmail.com wrote: Employees and contractors of the Wikimedia Foundation shall not edit articles relating to the Wikimedia Foundation, broadly construed, but at rather directed to raise potential edits on the talk pages of affected articles.

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 9:53 AM, geni geni...@gmail.com wrote: On 17 April 2014 15:37, Russavia russavia.wikipe...@gmail.com wrote: Such a directive for WMF people would be easy to make, easy to implement, easy to enforce, Easy to enforce? By whom? The foundation? Tracking all edits by

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread David Gerard
On 17 April 2014 18:03, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: I assume good faith on the part of the people who choose to work for the WMF. Shouldn't we all? I think this statement seriously neglects the context of this discussion. - d. ___

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Sue Gardner
I feel like I've given the WMF's position pretty clearly upthread, so I'll try not to repeat myself. I believe that policies like the one described here would do more harm than good, for reasons including those given by others in this thread. To the suggestion that the WMF ought to hold staff to

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread rupert THURNER
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 5:25 PM, Michael Snow wikipe...@frontier.com wrote: On 4/17/2014 7:37 AM, Russavia wrote: So how about a simple WMF policy that states something along the lines of: Employees and contractors of the Wikimedia Foundation shall not edit articles relating to the

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 10:28 AM, rupert THURNER rupert.thur...@gmail.comwrote: i do not agree with pete forsyth, I accept Sue's recent statement -- she's right, the final call about what kind of policy the organization will or won't have rests with the organization. and everybody who thinks

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Michael Peel
On 17 Apr 2014, at 20:01, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: The WMF's position has been made clear, that it's Wikipedia's rules and norms that should be followed. It sounds like this is something that needs to be made clearer in the WMF's staff handbook (presumably such a thing

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Erik Moeller
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: After he was hired, Zack continued to use that account -- more responsibly, yes -- but he neither corrected the false statement on its user page, or disclose his connection to it. That is untrue; see

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:19 PM, Erik Moeller e...@wikimedia.org wrote: On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: After he was hired, Zack continued to use that account -- more responsibly, yes -- but he neither corrected the false statement on its user

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Risker
On 17 April 2014 15:23, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:19 PM, Erik Moeller e...@wikimedia.org wrote: On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: After he was hired, Zack continued to use that account -- more

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Zack Exley
I haven't read this thread, but I'll explain my editing history as Wikitedium: First of all, I listed my user name as soon as I started at Wikipedia. It's still listed here on my (out of date) staff/contractor page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Zackexley I did start an article about myself

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread David Gerard
On 17 April 2014 20:49, Zack Exley zex...@wikimedia.org wrote: OK -- I think that's all you need from me. Now enjoy yourselves as you continue to grind Wikipedia to a whining halt. It's important to note that threads like this are pretty much entirely raised by people who aren't actually

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Erlend Bjørtvedt
Carry on. Asume good faith. Edit the Wikipedia. Controbute as you can. Avoid pov. Erlend bjørtvedt Oslo Den torsdag 17. april 2014 skrev Zack Exley zex...@wikimedia.org følgende: I haven't read this thread, but I'll explain my editing history as Wikitedium: First of all, I listed my

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:49 PM, Zack Exley zex...@wikimedia.org wrote: I haven't read this thread, but I'll explain my editing history as Wikitedium: Thanks for the explanation. I think it would have helped if you'd read the actual criticisms, but I understand this is a long thread.

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Amy Vossbrinck
Yes - *assume good faith *because it can make all the difference in any relationship. Or - if one finds assuming good faith seems naive, try acknowledging that people do the best they can with the information they have at any given moment; Or - if acknowledging people do the best they can

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Nathan
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 3:01 PM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: snip In February 2010, either shortly before or during his application for a top level executive position as Chief Community Officer, Zack created[1] a user page with the following content: Mainly, I just fix typos

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread David Gerard
On 17 April 2014 22:05, Nathan nawr...@gmail.com wrote: You haven't mentioned it on this list, but you actually accused Zack of violating the sockpuppetry policy on his talk page, and you threaten to pursue further action. But the most cursory review of the sockpuppetry policy, which I assume

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread Pete Forsyth
On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 2:14 PM, David Gerard dger...@gmail.com wrote: On 17 April 2014 22:05, Nathan nawr...@gmail.com wrote: You haven't mentioned it on this list, but you actually accused Zack of violating the sockpuppetry policy on his talk page, and you threaten to pursue further

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-17 Thread John Mark Vandenberg
On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 2:39 AM, Risker risker...@gmail.com wrote: On 17 April 2014 15:23, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:19 PM, Erik Moeller e...@wikimedia.org wrote: On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Pete Forsyth petefors...@gmail.com wrote: After

[Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-16 Thread Russavia
Hi all, I just wanted to find out what the stance of the WMF is on the issue of WMF employees and contractors editing articles on themselves, or fellow employees, in direct contravention of COI guidelines? Is this a practice that is officially frowned upon? Whilst researching the Belfer fiasco I

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-16 Thread
It would be fantastic if the Foundation were to take *positive action* and make it clear that its employees are immediately directed to not edit Wikipedia articles about each other, ex-colleagues, the Foundation, the Foundation's partners, suppliers and contractors or the Foundation's critics.

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-16 Thread Victor Grigas
Hi, I can't speak on behalf of the rest of WMF staff, but since I made three edits to the 'Zack Exley' article, I feel that I owe a public explanation of the three edits that I made. Here are the edits: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zack_Exleydiff=506286326oldid=504412402 In my

Re: [Wikimedia-l] COI editing by WMF staff

2014-04-16 Thread Sue Gardner
On 16 April 2014 14:03, Russavia russavia.wikipe...@gmail.com wrote: Could the WMF and the BoT perhaps clarify whether COI editing amongst WMF staff/contractors is officially discouraged/forbidden, and whether there is something official in writing which lays out guidelines for how and when