Hi all, As Gayle mentioned in her email, the article in the Washington Post did not represent an official position on net neutrality from the Wikimedia Foundation, or how we understand Wikipedia Zero. I wanted to provide some background that does.
Wikipedia Zero is designed to empower people who cannot afford to access information to get basic access to knowledge and participate in the creation of knowledge. It’s widely understood that barriers like poverty and limited internet connectivity are two major blockers preventing people around the world from full access to knowledge, and there are a number of groups working to address these issues as part of the broader Access to Knowledge (A2K) movement. Wikipedia Zero is a powerful tool for accessing knowledge, but it is not the solution to the whole problem. It’s one tool in a toolbox. Real change needs to address issues such as cost barriers, literacy, and access to infrastructure. That’s why we’re also developing a more coordinated effort within a broader A2K coalition to collectively address the systemic challenges. While Wikipedia Zero serves broader A2K objectives, we are mindful that zero-rating can be a challenging issue for net neutrality advocacy. In response, we’ve developed ten operating principles <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Zero_Operating_Principles> to make sure that the initiative remains a free knowledge base with operations that are transparent to users.[1] They are intended to deter Wikipedia Zero from being used to introduce other zero-rating initiatives that don't follow the operating principles. We developed these principles after extensive consultation with net neutrality advocates about their concerns regarding commercial zero-rating arrangements, and believe they are strong and useful guidance for advocates to distinguish free access to Wikipedia from other zero-rating programs. We’ll continue working with policymakers on net neutrality and welcome your constructive suggestions in this regard. We believe the vision of Wikimedia — the sum of all knowledge, available to all — and the values of an open internet are entirely consistent and in the global public interest. We’re also learning from your comments and welcome more input on how the Wikimedia community can support the A2K movement. Best, Yana [1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Zero_Operating_Principles -- Yana Welinder Senior Legal Counsel Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext. 6867 @yanatweets <https://twitter.com/yanatweets> NOTICE: As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. In other words, IANYL <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IANAL>. For more on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>. _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
