There’s a fascinating article on Wikipedia Review entitled, “The tight-knit web of Wikimedia and Wikia“. Remember when I mentioned some Wikipedia and Wikia conflicts of interests twice before? Read this paragraph. It’s a load of information, but read it through anyway (don’t just tl;dr it):
Non-profit and for-profit board members and accountants both have fiduciary duties to act in the best interest of their organizations. By various laws and governance principles they have to recuse themselves or avoid involvement when there is a conflict of interest. Even a perceived conflict can be corrosive to governance and is sometimes prohibited because donors and volunteers lose faith. Someone who is on the board of Wikimedia Foundation or prepares its finances and also has a financial stake in Wikia should be very careful about taking positions within Wikimedia properties that could benefit Wikia by directing traffic there, banning things from Wikipedia so as to distinguish it from a commercial site, making Wikipedia less attractive to constituents than Wikia, etc. Actions that seem to raise a conflict might include hiring personnel from the volunteer Foundation to work at the for-profit corporation, installing Wikia, Inc. employees into positions of power within Foundation properties, selectively banning some commercial links while allowing others, travel and speaking engagements for the Foundation that are also used to drum up support for the for-profit venture, etc.
Got it? Now, this section…
(4) The Wikimedia Foundation’s own Form 990 indicates on Line 80 that there is a personnel relationship between Wikia, Inc. and the Foundation. Yet, the Wikipedia article about Wikia, Inc. has been edited to say that “Wikia, Inc. is independent from the Wikimedia Foundation…”
Bold emphasis mine. See where this might be heading? I’m no lawyer, but… from a pure ethical standpoint, I see major problems that websites are denied “Googlejuice” and SEO from Wikipedia’s outbound links, except for companies that have a financial stake with the founders of Wikipedia. Add in that some Wikimedia Foundation board members may be financially benefiting their privately owned, for-profit businesses on the fiscal backs of Wikipedia, which is legally listed as a charity in the state of Florida…? How long until the mainstream media really begins to dig into this? Probably not until everyone starts blogging about it. Not that I would encourage such a thing, mind you.
Click here to read the full article.
