The Wikimedia Foundation, the American non-profit organization that owns the internet domain names of many movement projects and hosts sites like Wikipedia, has decided to migrate their code repositories from Gerrit to Gitlab. Slashdot reader nfrankel shares the announcement: For the past two years, our developer satisfaction survey has shown that there is some level of dissatisfaction with Gerrit, our code…
Tag: Wikimedia Foundation
China Blocks Wikimedia Foundation’s Accreditation To World Intellectual Property Organization
China this week blocked the Wikimedia Foundation’s application for observer status at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations (UN) organization that develops international treaties on copyright, IP, trademarks, patents and related issues. As a result of the block, the Foundation’s application for observer status has been suspended and will be reconsidered at a future WIPO meeting in 2021….
Wikipedia Plans New Rule To Combat ‘Toxic Behavior’
Wikipedia is taking steps to fight what it’s calling “toxic behavior” which will be finalized by the end of this year, reports the BBC (in an article shared by Charlotte Web): “We must work together to create a safe, inclusive culture, where everyone feels welcome, that their contributions are valued, and that their perspective matters,” said Katherine Maher, the chief executive…
Predictive Text Patent Troll Tries To Shake Down Wikipedia
martiniturbide writes: WordLogic (patent troll) claims it has the rights of the concept of predictive text writing and went after the Wikimedia foundation. WordLogic offered a “discounted, lump sum fee of $30,000 in exchange for a paid-up one-time license,” an easy win they thought, but Wikimedia fought back. “Wikimedia notes that (1) WordLogic’s patents are invalid due to prior art, (2)…
‘How Wikipedia’s Volunteers Became the Web’s Best Weapon Against Misinformation’
Fast Company just published a 4,000 appreciation of Wikipedia’s volunteer editors:
[W]hile places like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter struggle to fend off a barrage of false content, with their scattershot mix of policies, fact-checkers, and algorithms, one of the web’s most robust weapons against misinformation is an archaic-looking website written by anyone with an internet connection, and moderated by a largely anonymous…
Internet Pioneers Fight For Control of .Org Registry By Forming a Nonprofit Alternative
Reuters reports that a group of “prominent internet pioneers” now has a plan to block the $1.1 billion sale of the .org internet domain registry to Ethos Capital. The group has created their own nonprofit cooperative to offer an alternative: “There needs to be a place on the internet that represents the public interest, where educational sites, humanitarian sites, and organizations…
Wikimedia Says It is Deeply Concerned About India’s Proposed Intermediary Liability Rules
An anonymous reader shares a report: Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit group that operates Wikipedia and a number of other projects, has urged the Indian government to rethink the proposed changes to the nation’s intermediary liability rules that would affect swathes of companies and the way more than half a billion people access information online. The organization has also urged the Indian…
Turkey’s Wikipedia Ban Violates Rights, Top Court Rules
The Constitutional Court in Ankara ruled that the nationwide access ban on Wikipedia constitutes a violation of free speech, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Thursday. From a report: The 10-to-6 majority ruling follows Wikimedia Foundation’s application to the top court. Authorities are expected to lift the ban, Haberturk website said. Turkey’s information technologies watchdog BTK blocked access to the ubiquitous online…
WordPress.com VIP Platform Outage Reverts Sites To Default Themes
An anonymous reader shares a report: Web blog hosting platform WordPress.com is currently facing a significant technical issue that has resulted in premium blogs going down or reverting to using default themes. Impacted sites include major news outlets like BBC America, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, VentureBeat, DroneDJ, and Electrek; but also many companies that were using the WordPress.com’s VIP offering to host…
Wikipedia Isn’t Officially a Social Network. But the Harassment Can Get Ugly.
Unlike at social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, the people who respond to reports of harassment are largely unpaid volunteers. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/us/wikipedia-harassment-wikimedia-foundation.html?partner=rss&emc=rss