[Advocacy Advisors] clarifying things for other advocacy groups

Tue Feb 18 21:54:47 UTC 2014

P.S. Luis, my question relates to the scope of this list:

"Other interests include privacy, innovation policy, and internet
governance issues, especially when any of these directly threaten the
core Wikimedian goals of building and sharing free knowledge"

The direct threats to core Wikimedian goals come from externalities in
addition to the policies you've identified. I would add social safety
net spending, education spending, class size reduction, middle class
growth, and global warming mitigation. I have no idea whether it is
easier for the Foundation to adopt policies on telecommuting or
renewable power purchase, but these are things which have in the fact
been issues of considerable interest and progress in the past. I have
no reason to believe that they will not remain so in the future, do I?

For 2014, negative interest on excess reserves could be the factor
most determinate of editor and administrator retention outcomes when
weighted by the extent to which Wikimedians have effective influence
at present. I have in the past tried to enumerate a longer such list
at http://j.mp/amendmentact
which still needs to be updated for this year and I would gladly enjoy comments.

Best regards,
James Salsman

On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 5:27 AM, James Salsman <jsalsman at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Luis,
>
> I like your new document, but I have a question.
>
> Do you prefer "Relate very clearly to interests of Wikimedians" or
> "Relate very clearly to interests of our readers"?
>
> Best regards,
> James Salsman
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 3:12 AM, Luis Villa <lvilla at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>> Hi, all-
>>
>> Since SOPA, we've seen a steady trickle of advocacy groups approaching us
>> and asking us to banner or shut down for a variety of causes/events/etc. Not
>> surprisingly, they usually come away frustrated.[1]
>>
>> I think that a lot of the frustration stems from two sources:
>> - misunderstanding who we are/what we do
>> - confusion about how best to ask us when there is a legitimate problem.
>>
>> To help address those points, I've put together a super, super-preliminary
>> draft that we can point people at when they ask us to do advocacy for them,
>> telling them better what to expect, how to help themselves, etc. It is here:
>>
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Asking_Wikimedians_To_Support_Advocacy
>>
>> Please feel free to edit/hack at it/tell me it is awful :)
>>
>> Luis
>>
>> [1] Recent example: https://thedaywefightback.org/letter-to-wikipedia/
>>
>>
>> --
>> Luis Villa
>> Deputy General Counsel
>> Wikimedia Foundation
>> 415.839.6885 ext. 6810
>>
>> NOTICE: This message may be confidential or legally privileged. If you have
>> received it by accident, please delete it and let us know about the mistake.
>> 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.
>>
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