Wikimedia Conference 2012/Documentation/Day 1/Politics-lobbying

finding one's own role in context of copyright wars
sopa, pipa, acta: same logic behind them
cooperation between rights holders and service providers
acta: vague and blurred language
jan. 2012: shutdown wikipedia
german clash of cultures: conservative tried to start shitstorm against german wikipedia on twitter
in germany free knoweldge is associated with piracy
how to communicate to the public what's at stake?
language on acta is so vague that lawyers can't even give advice
which side to be on as wikimedia official?
hard work to keep up credibility
need to professionalize in terms of old school lobbying
legal restrictions in germany for how much lobbying a non-profit can do?
- no lobbying register yet in germany
advocacy agenda of wikimedia is posted online
general public is just realizing how copyright laws influence them
difficult to create messages when acts (sopa, pipa etc.) are so vague: all get together for message
shift the message to wikimedia and not only wikipedia
who entitles us to this message? the community?
we got a lot of power because we are loved by the public so much
still no office in brussels
wikipedia is neutral but the movement is not
get rid of negative connotation of lobbying
build up broad alliances throughout the field
contact with NGOs or politicians at wikimania in d.c.
need to talk about censorship when wikipedia expands to south: position of the foundation?
no answer yet, foundation can't promise legal defense for people who get in trouble for editing wikipedia, focus efforts on maximizing effect - anything likely to help a large number of people is more likely to be funded.

Hope could help each other countries in copyright reform and notesharing on good and flawed lP laws

subtle move towards censorship when people want their personal entries in wikipeda changed/deleted
should foundations/chapters etc. act when censorship laws come into action?
our mission is to create educational material
alternative to sopa: OPEN act - collaboratively edited online.
what is a democracy today? hard to create majorities for issues in europe
need list of beliefs/values that we can cite
more red tape in other countries, makes it hard to keep wikipedia articles intact, e.g. images/articles need to be taken down

main points:

politics of licensing and lobbying for it
have a common message, issue management, what are we advocating?, list of values, e.g. when talking to the media
separation of tasks between foundation, chapters etc.
incorporating human rights issues into our goals (censorship as obstacle to free knowledge) --> human rights that are related to our mission
constituency matters (readers, editors, donors, re-users etc.)
protect integrity and credibility of the brand
use chapters council to coordinate actions
wikimedia foundation office in brussels? resources? outsourcing?

create global partnerships and relationships!