On 6/11/06, Phil Sandifer <Snowspinner(a)gmail.com> wrote:
A separate, but related issue to the Daniel Brandt
thread.
It's common enough sense that Wikipedia is going to get sued someday.
And I know we've been preparing financially for that.
But with the rise of Brandt, Wikipedia Review, and whatever is going
to come after them in this progression, the fact of the matter is
that admins and regular editors are in danger too. Not just legal
danger (As I assume the Foundation would use its legal resources to
protect an admin who was sued), but personal danger.
Our photos, names, and cities are being published. People are
stalking us. Eventually, something bad is going to happen.
When it does, there should be a fund to help - whether its helping
with the medical bills of someone who's physically attacked, helping
with the legal bills of someone who's trying to stop a stalker, or
helping defray the costs of someone who's fired because of harassment
at their workplace, Wikipedia needs to be able to help the volunteers
who are put in danger by helping Wikipedia.
I believe that we should, as soon as possible, start a special
fundraiser to build this fund, and after that should devote a regular
portion of the Foundation budget to it.
Supporting Wikipedia is acquiring a high price. Simply put, Wikipedia
needs the ability to support us.
-Phil
Now this is an idea I can get behind. Wikimedia really should defend
it's users, a user fund would be a good way to do this.
How much money are we talking though? As we all know, wikimedia ain't
the richest organisation in the world, we are barely scraping by. And
a solid legal defense can be very expensive.
--Oskar