On Thu, 28 Jun 2007, the contactbox wrote:
-----Original
Message-----
The anonymity available to editors on Wikimedia Foundation projects is, I
agree, an inherent component of those projects and we have recognised that
such a request may be made of the Chapters too.
Involvement to the point of membership is something that anonymous as well
as non-anonymous editors will wish for as an option. You are right that at
rock bottom, the Companies Act requires members to provide names and details
of amounts guaranteed, and register these on public record. I think as a
matter of law you're mistaken about the practicality of a trust being a
member, and holding a block vote, to cover the votes and rights of anonymous
editors. If it's not detailed enough above, here's how it might be done,
more explicitly.
One thing that you need to ensure somehow is that a person does not gain
more than one vote by being a member of WMUK and a member of the
anymous trust.
Say I am a member of WMUK as Chris McKenna, and then apply to join the
anon trust as Thryduulf. Obviously a sane first check would be to see if
I've published my name anywhere on a Wikimedia site (in my case I have,
but for the purposes of argument assume I haven't).
The anon trust can't say ask WMUK "Do you have a member by the name of
Thryduulf" as they don't register people by username they wont be able to
say. The trust also cannot say "do you have a member by the name of Chris
McKenna?" as this proves that I am a member of the anon trust - which
removes my anonymity. This also works in reverse with WMUK asking the
trust.
Also you need to sort out what the trust does when its members are not
unanimous about how they want to vote. Say the trust has 5 members, and
the question is "Should the logo be red, blue or green?".
If all 5 members agree it should be blue, then there is no problem, the
trust casts 5 votes for blue.
If 4 members think green, and one abstains then it cassts 4 votes for
green.
If 2 members think it should be blue, two prefer green and one want the
red logo, can the trust cast 2 votes for blue, two for green and one for
red?
If two members abstain and each of the other three prfer a diffierent
colour, does the trust place 1 vote for each colour, or does it not both
to vote as it would be irrelevant?
--
Chris McKenna
cmckenna(a)sucs.org
www.sucs.org/~cmckenna
The essential things in life are seen not with the eyes,
but with the heart
Antoine de Saint Exupery