Thanks for writing this up, Gianfranco. Do you have links to some of the news reports about the lawsuit?-- ragesoss ( talk) 15:25, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
Major reactions from the Italian community can be found here and here. Nothing in Frieda's talk until now. -- Elitre ( talk) 20:09, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
Very informative write-up. Under Italian law, could a counter-suit be filed to recoup the court costs? - Draeco ( talk) 19:45, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
Mike Godwin (Wikimedia's general council) responded on the foundation-l mailing list, noting that
We've had a lot of experience of spurious reports of lawsuits originating in
Italy. In the majority of those cases, Wikimedia Foundation itself never receives service of process -- in effect, the cases only really "exist" in Italian media. I'm not saying that's the case here, but we haven't heard anything yet from Italian process servers yet.
I'd like to see any official complaints that have been filed in Italian courts (or elsewhere) against Wikimedia Italia. The chapter's defense (the chapter doesn't produce Wikipedia content) should be straightforward under any European legal regime, but obviously we will take an interest in any
case that seems to be going the wrong way.
and regarding Frieda Brioschi, in case the edits were made during her term on the WMF board, that
WMF routinely provides director-and-officer liability protection regarding actions taken by WMF directors and officers in the conduct of their duties.
Just to be precise, Italian media, on the contrary, are
avoiding to talk about this lawsuit, and this is why I wrote my summary here, in order to let WikiPedians know.
I can't actually say whether Italy can be considered a "European legal regime" or not, but this is not a priority; it is our regime and it is here that we have to see how it will end. I completely understand, in fact, the concerns that are in the Italian WikiMedians' minds at the moment. I usually don't get scared by a gust of wind, and so don't our friends in WMI; therefore, there could be a reason if we are all so much interested into this case (which WikiMedian friends described to me, and their word was sufficient for me to take it seriously). Italian WikiMedians and simple Italian WikiPedians, like I am.
In order to avoid further worries, I would underline that no one is trying to forward the trouble to anywhere else; I said that the true target is WikiPedia, and even if I'm not native in English, I know what I wrote. --
g (
talk)
15:21, 16 September 2009 (UTC)
As in other occasions, Mike offered us to send an official mail stating something like "Wikimedia Italia is not the italian legal responsible for WMF". Our lawyer is currently estimating this proposal. Frieda ( talk) 19:34, 17 September 2009 (UTC)
The question is reported by Pier Ferdinando Casini, which is an important moderate political leader, on his blog; Casini underlines the importance and the centrality of Wikipedia in everyday's life in Italy -- g ( talk) 19:41, 17 September 2009 (UTC)
In case someone wonders, the trial is still ongoing. -- Nemo 11:20, 7 April 2013 (UTC)
Thanks for writing this up, Gianfranco. Do you have links to some of the news reports about the lawsuit?-- ragesoss ( talk) 15:25, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
Major reactions from the Italian community can be found here and here. Nothing in Frieda's talk until now. -- Elitre ( talk) 20:09, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
Very informative write-up. Under Italian law, could a counter-suit be filed to recoup the court costs? - Draeco ( talk) 19:45, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
Mike Godwin (Wikimedia's general council) responded on the foundation-l mailing list, noting that
We've had a lot of experience of spurious reports of lawsuits originating in
Italy. In the majority of those cases, Wikimedia Foundation itself never receives service of process -- in effect, the cases only really "exist" in Italian media. I'm not saying that's the case here, but we haven't heard anything yet from Italian process servers yet.
I'd like to see any official complaints that have been filed in Italian courts (or elsewhere) against Wikimedia Italia. The chapter's defense (the chapter doesn't produce Wikipedia content) should be straightforward under any European legal regime, but obviously we will take an interest in any
case that seems to be going the wrong way.
and regarding Frieda Brioschi, in case the edits were made during her term on the WMF board, that
WMF routinely provides director-and-officer liability protection regarding actions taken by WMF directors and officers in the conduct of their duties.
Just to be precise, Italian media, on the contrary, are
avoiding to talk about this lawsuit, and this is why I wrote my summary here, in order to let WikiPedians know.
I can't actually say whether Italy can be considered a "European legal regime" or not, but this is not a priority; it is our regime and it is here that we have to see how it will end. I completely understand, in fact, the concerns that are in the Italian WikiMedians' minds at the moment. I usually don't get scared by a gust of wind, and so don't our friends in WMI; therefore, there could be a reason if we are all so much interested into this case (which WikiMedian friends described to me, and their word was sufficient for me to take it seriously). Italian WikiMedians and simple Italian WikiPedians, like I am.
In order to avoid further worries, I would underline that no one is trying to forward the trouble to anywhere else; I said that the true target is WikiPedia, and even if I'm not native in English, I know what I wrote. --
g (
talk)
15:21, 16 September 2009 (UTC)
As in other occasions, Mike offered us to send an official mail stating something like "Wikimedia Italia is not the italian legal responsible for WMF". Our lawyer is currently estimating this proposal. Frieda ( talk) 19:34, 17 September 2009 (UTC)
The question is reported by Pier Ferdinando Casini, which is an important moderate political leader, on his blog; Casini underlines the importance and the centrality of Wikipedia in everyday's life in Italy -- g ( talk) 19:41, 17 September 2009 (UTC)
In case someone wonders, the trial is still ongoing. -- Nemo 11:20, 7 April 2013 (UTC)