The tricky bit is that Wikipedia is a “living” document, constantly being updated and refined by a huge community of dedicated editors, and you can’t download the community and pop up a new one overnight. AI isn’t that good yet.
Assuming that there’s just one single new site that pops up that everyone agrees to go to en masse, and that it has enough resources to handle the load, and that its administration is aligned with the same goals as the original.
It could happen, but it’s by no means as simple and easy as cloning a repository.
Is this a normal thing that normal people do when their fascist government is looking to have them bagged off the street and dropped at an offshore blacksite?
We no longer live in a normal world. Nothing can be assumed anymore. The Wikimedia foundation is in real danger.
Paranoia is bad. If you jump at every “they could do…” you’re going to be unable to jump at the “they fucking are doing”.
You want something to freak out about? They’re arresting judges for managing their courtroom.
Yeah, threatening to yeet wiki’s nonprofit status is bad. But its a very far cry from offing the board or whoever is leading Wikipedia and installing their own.
This rampant paranoia is not helping the 2yo that got deported.
They can move the website out of the government’s reach, in response to any action they might take. Worrying about any other possibility is just jumping at shadows.
Where do I say anything about “offing” the board? That’s rather a leap. I’m talking about the US government attacking the corporate structure of Wikipedia, which isn’t paranoia because this article is literally about exactly that.
Where do I say anything about “offing” the board? That’s rather a leap.
You’re still making the assumption that “they” are the same people. That’s the point here, *Wikipedia-the-organization* is being threatened.
The only way to do that without us knowing is to disappear them. Any other scenario, they would be free to tell us “hey, they stole the entire organization!”, right?
I doubt very much that Wikipedia’s lawyers are t prepping a response even as we speak,
I’m talking about the US government attacking the corporate structure of Wikipedia, which isn’t paranoia because this article is literally about exactly that
No.
The article is talking about threats to remove its 501c non profit status.
Such an action would not remove the board or really alter the operational structure
They would be subject to taxes, and some implications with any grants they might receive, while donations to wiki will no longer be tax deductible, and such.
It would be a burden, yes. But there’s exactly zero reason to believe that suddenly Wikipedia would not be Wikipedia.
Neither would there be anything to stop them from moving.
Fortunately whatever happens, wiki is downloaded all over the world. If they try to “regulate” or shut it down, it will just pop up abroad.
You cannot suppress open source info.
The tricky bit is that Wikipedia is a “living” document, constantly being updated and refined by a huge community of dedicated editors, and you can’t download the community and pop up a new one overnight. AI isn’t that good yet.
Then you just move the domain to one of their many subsidiaries abroad. The Community will be smart enough to access another Wikipedia tld
The community wasn’t smart enough to switch to Lemmy, it’s not so easy.
Fuck u/spez by the way
Assuming that there’s just one single new site that pops up that everyone agrees to go to en masse, and that it has enough resources to handle the load, and that its administration is aligned with the same goals as the original.
It could happen, but it’s by no means as simple and easy as cloning a repository.
They’d still use the top level domain, just change the physical server location and point there. Canada, maybe.
Problem with that is the domain is registered in the US. And the FBI has a history of claiming domains whose content the US government wants offline.
What are you talking about?
You can just change to a registrar that is out of the country. Like. Really. Not that hard. This is a normal thing people do.
Is this a normal thing that normal people do when their fascist government is looking to have them bagged off the street and dropped at an offshore blacksite?
We no longer live in a normal world. Nothing can be assumed anymore. The Wikimedia foundation is in real danger.
You’re still making the assumption that “they” are the same people. That’s the point here, Wikipedia-the-organization is being threatened.
And you’re missing the larger point:
Paranoia is bad. If you jump at every “they could do…” you’re going to be unable to jump at the “they fucking are doing”.
You want something to freak out about? They’re arresting judges for managing their courtroom.
Yeah, threatening to yeet wiki’s nonprofit status is bad. But its a very far cry from offing the board or whoever is leading Wikipedia and installing their own.
This rampant paranoia is not helping the 2yo that got deported.
They can move the website out of the government’s reach, in response to any action they might take. Worrying about any other possibility is just jumping at shadows.
Where do I say anything about “offing” the board? That’s rather a leap. I’m talking about the US government attacking the corporate structure of Wikipedia, which isn’t paranoia because this article is literally about exactly that.
The only way to do that without us knowing is to disappear them. Any other scenario, they would be free to tell us “hey, they stole the entire organization!”, right?
I doubt very much that Wikipedia’s lawyers are t prepping a response even as we speak,
No. The article is talking about threats to remove its 501c non profit status.
Such an action would not remove the board or really alter the operational structure
They would be subject to taxes, and some implications with any grants they might receive, while donations to wiki will no longer be tax deductible, and such.
It would be a burden, yes. But there’s exactly zero reason to believe that suddenly Wikipedia would not be Wikipedia.
Neither would there be anything to stop them from moving.