can someone shut this guy up?
Thanks,
GerardM
On 11 January 2015 at 07:37, Toby Dollmann <toby.dollmann@gmail.com> wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/9447161/Wikipedia-charity-chairman-resigns-after-pornography-row.html
Wikipedia charity chairman resigns after pornography row
The chairman of the charity responsible for promoting Wikipedia in
Britain has resigned after he was banned from editing the online
encyclopaedia, following rows about the inclusion of pornography.
By Christopher Williams, Technology Correspondent
3:55PM BST 02 Aug 2012
Ashley van Haeften resigned as chairman of Wikimedia UK today, citing
concerns the controversy over his ban could cause divisions among
Wikipedia supporters.
"I have discussed this matter with [Mr van Haeften] this morning,"
said Jon Davies, the chief executive of the charity, which distributes
£1m of donations from Wikipedia supporters annually.
"He is keen that there should be no division in the Wikimedia UK
community over his role as Chair, especially at a time when so many
great things are being achieved.
"He has therefore resigned as Chair."
The Telegraph reported this week how Mr van Haeften had been banned
indefinitely from contributing to the English version of Wikipedia by
ArbCom, an elected committee of senior editors.
ArbCom applied the sanction after finding he mounted personal attacks
on people with concerns about explicit material on Wikipedia,
including about material he had posted. He was criticised for
including a "highly inappropriate" link to pornography in the
biography of a living person.
Wikipedia carries a large quantity of explicit material, despite
promoting itself as an educational website suitable for
schoolchildren. Critics such as Larry Sanger, a co-founder of the
website, and people attacked by Mr van Haeften, have argued for
filters or age controls to be introduced.
Mr van Haeften, who works as an IT project manager, was also found by
ArbCom to have violated a series of editing rules, including by using
multiple accounts to change pages after he had asked for a "clean
start".
His resignation follows a call by members of Wikimedia UK for an
Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss the controversy. They said
the decision of the charity's board to keep Mr van Haeften on as
chairman despite his ban from contributing to Wikipedia "not a
sufficient response to this situation".
An EGM could still go ahead, however, as the call was for a vote on a
resolution "to remove Ashley Van Haeften from the Board of Trustees of
Wikimedia UK", not only to strip him of the chairmanship.
"By not resigning as chair immediately after the ArbCom decision was
announced I am afraid that [Mr van Haeften] made an error which can
now only be corrected by his resignation from the board altogether,"
said one Wikimedia UK member.
Mr van Haeften remains on the Wikimedia UK board. A new chairman will
be elected at a meeting this evening.
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