Mailing List Archive: Wikipedia: Foundation

Statement to the Associated Press

1 2

View All

Index | Next | Previous | View Threaded

jmerkey at wolfmountaingroup

Mar 9, 2008, 7:31 AM

Post #1 of 43 (44038 views)
Permalink

Statement to the Associated Press

I am notifying the foundation I was approached on Friday by the Associated
Press regarding statements attributed to me which are in some way,
perceived to be related to Mr. Wales private affairs which seem to have
gotten a great deal of press coverage. I have a detailed collection of
email exchanges with Mr. Wales and Foundation employees over some period
of time which seem to be of apparent interest to various parties involved
in this controversy, and I have informed all parties that I will of course
disclose such materials subject only to a lawful subpoena or other
instrument as required by law since they contain confidential discussions
regarding business dealings with the Foundarion. I have, however, been
asked for a formal statement admitting or denying various allegations
which purport to claim my involvement in any of Mr. Wales business
activities.

Since I am obligated to protect my own good name, I feel compelled to
address various allegations in order to distance myself from this
controversy involving Mr. Wales so the facts are not spun into something
they are not. As such, I issued the following statement to the associated
press in response to their inquiries regarding my involvement with Mr.
Wales and his business dealings. This statement was sent on Friday, March
7, 2008.

--- STATEMENT TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ---

"According to Merkey, in 2006, Wales agreed that in exchange for a
substantial donation and other financial support of the Wikimedia
Foundation projects, Wales would use his influence to make Merkey's
article adhere to Wikipedia's stated policies with regard to internet
libel "as a courtesty" and place Merkey under his "special protection"
as an editor. Merkey later withdrew his financial support of the
Wikipedia project after reviewing evidence of diversion and
mismanagement of the charities funds by Wales and the Wikimedia Board of
Trustees and was immediately banned from the Wikipedia site by the
Arbitration Committee for frivilous and unsubstanciated claims after he
terminated the payments of $5,000.00 per year to the Wikimedia
Foundation."

--- END OF STATEMENT ---

I hope this clarifies the rumors and allegations being posted on various
blogs. As I am certain everyone is aware, I have continued development
of my Wikipedia projects and kept a safe distance from the Foundation
since these events, and I plan to continue to develop tools and refine
machine translation for Cherokee and other languages, however, I have
little interest in becoming embroilled in the internal affairs of the
Foundation or Wikipedia at present, and in fact, have no need to do so in
order to accomplish my objectives and use Wikipedia's high quality content
for my projects.

I wish Mr. Wales and everyone the very best, and hope these issues can be
sorted out.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Vernon Merkey

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

jmerkey at wolfmountaingroup

Mar 9, 2008, 9:31 AM

Post #2 of 43 (43333 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Jimmy Wales wrote:
> Of course I would never offer, nor accept any offer, whereby a donation
> would buy someone special editorial treatment in the encyclopedia. I do
> routinely assist people with WP:BLP issues, and I do courtesies for many
> people. Donations have no bearing on that at all.
>
> NPOV is non-negotiable.

Alright Mr Wales,

Since you have decided to publicly respond and lie about it (not that you
have not been caught lying to the public before).

I just sent **ALL** of the emails to the associated press exposing yet
more of your lies and deceit.

Have a great day.

:-)

Jeff

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

jwales at wikia

Mar 9, 2008, 3:17 PM

Post #3 of 43 (43352 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
source.

jmerkey [at] wolfmountaingroup wrote:
>
> I am notifying the foundation I was approached on Friday by the Associated
> Press regarding statements attributed to me which are in some way,
> perceived to be related to Mr. Wales private affairs which seem to have
> gotten a great deal of press coverage. I have a detailed collection of
> email exchanges with Mr. Wales and Foundation employees over some period
> of time which seem to be of apparent interest to various parties involved
> in this controversy, and I have informed all parties that I will of course
> disclose such materials subject only to a lawful subpoena or other
> instrument as required by law since they contain confidential discussions
> regarding business dealings with the Foundarion. I have, however, been
> asked for a formal statement admitting or denying various allegations
> which purport to claim my involvement in any of Mr. Wales business
> activities.
>
> Since I am obligated to protect my own good name, I feel compelled to
> address various allegations in order to distance myself from this
> controversy involving Mr. Wales so the facts are not spun into something
> they are not. As such, I issued the following statement to the associated
> press in response to their inquiries regarding my involvement with Mr.
> Wales and his business dealings. This statement was sent on Friday, March
> 7, 2008.
>
>
> --- STATEMENT TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ---
>
> "According to Merkey, in 2006, Wales agreed that in exchange for a
> substantial donation and other financial support of the Wikimedia
> Foundation projects, Wales would use his influence to make Merkey's
> article adhere to Wikipedia's stated policies with regard to internet
> libel "as a courtesty" and place Merkey under his "special protection"
> as an editor. Merkey later withdrew his financial support of the
> Wikipedia project after reviewing evidence of diversion and
> mismanagement of the charities funds by Wales and the Wikimedia Board of
> Trustees and was immediately banned from the Wikipedia site by the
> Arbitration Committee for frivilous and unsubstanciated claims after he
> terminated the payments of $5,000.00 per year to the Wikimedia
> Foundation."
>
>
> --- END OF STATEMENT ---
>
> I hope this clarifies the rumors and allegations being posted on various
> blogs. As I am certain everyone is aware, I have continued development
> of my Wikipedia projects and kept a safe distance from the Foundation
> since these events, and I plan to continue to develop tools and refine
> machine translation for Cherokee and other languages, however, I have
> little interest in becoming embroilled in the internal affairs of the
> Foundation or Wikipedia at present, and in fact, have no need to do so in
> order to accomplish my objectives and use Wikipedia's high quality content
> for my projects.
>
> I wish Mr. Wales and everyone the very best, and hope these issues can be
> sorted out.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Jeffrey Vernon Merkey
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l [at] lists
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

nawrich at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 3:20 PM

Post #4 of 43 (43370 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Did he actually donate any money? That is at least easy to confirm. The paid
editing part... Sounds like a waste of his money, since its a BLP and
e-mails to OTRS would probably accomplish any reasonable corrections.

Nathan

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 5:17 PM, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:

> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
> source.
>
> jmerkey [at] wolfmountaingroup wrote:
> >
> > I am notifying the foundation I was approached on Friday by the
> Associated
> > Press regarding statements attributed to me which are in some way,
> > perceived to be related to Mr. Wales private affairs which seem to have
> > gotten a great deal of press coverage. I have a detailed collection of
> > email exchanges with Mr. Wales and Foundation employees over some period
> > of time which seem to be of apparent interest to various parties
> involved
> > in this controversy, and I have informed all parties that I will of
> course
> > disclose such materials subject only to a lawful subpoena or other
> > instrument as required by law since they contain confidential
> discussions
> > regarding business dealings with the Foundarion. I have, however, been
> > asked for a formal statement admitting or denying various allegations
> > which purport to claim my involvement in any of Mr. Wales business
> > activities.
> >
> > Since I am obligated to protect my own good name, I feel compelled to
> > address various allegations in order to distance myself from this
> > controversy involving Mr. Wales so the facts are not spun into something
> > they are not. As such, I issued the following statement to the
> associated
> > press in response to their inquiries regarding my involvement with Mr.
> > Wales and his business dealings. This statement was sent on Friday,
> March
> > 7, 2008.
> >
> >
> > --- STATEMENT TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ---
> >
> > "According to Merkey, in 2006, Wales agreed that in exchange for a
> > substantial donation and other financial support of the Wikimedia
> > Foundation projects, Wales would use his influence to make Merkey's
> > article adhere to Wikipedia's stated policies with regard to internet
> > libel "as a courtesty" and place Merkey under his "special protection"
> > as an editor. Merkey later withdrew his financial support of the
> > Wikipedia project after reviewing evidence of diversion and
> > mismanagement of the charities funds by Wales and the Wikimedia Board of
> > Trustees and was immediately banned from the Wikipedia site by the
> > Arbitration Committee for frivilous and unsubstanciated claims after he
> > terminated the payments of $5,000.00 per year to the Wikimedia
> > Foundation."
> >
> >
> > --- END OF STATEMENT ---
> >
> > I hope this clarifies the rumors and allegations being posted on various
> > blogs. As I am certain everyone is aware, I have continued development
> > of my Wikipedia projects and kept a safe distance from the Foundation
> > since these events, and I plan to continue to develop tools and refine
> > machine translation for Cherokee and other languages, however, I have
> > little interest in becoming embroilled in the internal affairs of the
> > Foundation or Wikipedia at present, and in fact, have no need to do so
> in
> > order to accomplish my objectives and use Wikipedia's high quality
> content
> > for my projects.
> >
> > I wish Mr. Wales and everyone the very best, and hope these issues can
> be
> > sorted out.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> >
> > Jeffrey Vernon Merkey
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > foundation-l mailing list
> > foundation-l [at] lists
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l [at] lists
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

dgerard at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 3:23 PM

Post #5 of 43 (43347 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

On 09/03/2008, Nathan <nawrich [at] gmail> wrote:

> Did he actually donate any money? That is at least easy to confirm.

I believe he did.

> The paid
> editing part... Sounds like a waste of his money, since its a BLP and
> e-mails to OTRS would probably accomplish any reasonable corrections.

[[:en:Jeff Merkey]]'s been on the list of closely-watched BLPs for
ages now. Crap still gets in occasionally.

- d.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

thomas.dalton at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 3:24 PM

Post #6 of 43 (43360 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
> source.

If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget about it.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

removed at example

Mar 9, 2008, 3:28 PM

Post #7 of 43 (43338 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

lol, is that Daniel Brandt?

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 4:17 PM, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:

> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
> source.
>
> jmerkey [at] wolfmountaingroup wrote:
> >
> > I am notifying the foundation I was approached on Friday by the
> Associated
> > Press regarding statements attributed to me which are in some way,
> > perceived to be related to Mr. Wales private affairs which seem to have
> > gotten a great deal of press coverage. I have a detailed collection of
> > email exchanges with Mr. Wales and Foundation employees over some period
> > of time which seem to be of apparent interest to various parties
> involved
> > in this controversy, and I have informed all parties that I will of
> course
> > disclose such materials subject only to a lawful subpoena or other
> > instrument as required by law since they contain confidential
> discussions
> > regarding business dealings with the Foundarion. I have, however, been
> > asked for a formal statement admitting or denying various allegations
> > which purport to claim my involvement in any of Mr. Wales business
> > activities.
> >
> > Since I am obligated to protect my own good name, I feel compelled to
> > address various allegations in order to distance myself from this
> > controversy involving Mr. Wales so the facts are not spun into something
> > they are not. As such, I issued the following statement to the
> associated
> > press in response to their inquiries regarding my involvement with Mr.
> > Wales and his business dealings. This statement was sent on Friday,
> March
> > 7, 2008.
> >
> >
> > --- STATEMENT TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ---
> >
> > "According to Merkey, in 2006, Wales agreed that in exchange for a
> > substantial donation and other financial support of the Wikimedia
> > Foundation projects, Wales would use his influence to make Merkey's
> > article adhere to Wikipedia's stated policies with regard to internet
> > libel "as a courtesty" and place Merkey under his "special protection"
> > as an editor. Merkey later withdrew his financial support of the
> > Wikipedia project after reviewing evidence of diversion and
> > mismanagement of the charities funds by Wales and the Wikimedia Board of
> > Trustees and was immediately banned from the Wikipedia site by the
> > Arbitration Committee for frivilous and unsubstanciated claims after he
> > terminated the payments of $5,000.00 per year to the Wikimedia
> > Foundation."
> >
> >
> > --- END OF STATEMENT ---
> >
> > I hope this clarifies the rumors and allegations being posted on various
> > blogs. As I am certain everyone is aware, I have continued development
> > of my Wikipedia projects and kept a safe distance from the Foundation
> > since these events, and I plan to continue to develop tools and refine
> > machine translation for Cherokee and other languages, however, I have
> > little interest in becoming embroilled in the internal affairs of the
> > Foundation or Wikipedia at present, and in fact, have no need to do so
> in
> > order to accomplish my objectives and use Wikipedia's high quality
> content
> > for my projects.
> >
> > I wish Mr. Wales and everyone the very best, and hope these issues can
> be
> > sorted out.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> >
> > Jeffrey Vernon Merkey
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > foundation-l mailing list
> > foundation-l [at] lists
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l [at] lists
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

newyorkbrad at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 3:29 PM

Post #8 of 43 (43326 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

jwales at wikia

Mar 9, 2008, 3:30 PM

Post #9 of 43 (43329 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Thomas Dalton wrote:
> On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
>> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
>> source.
>
> If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget about it.

It's nonsense.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

mathias.schindler at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 3:31 PM

Post #10 of 43 (43338 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 11:28 PM, Brian <Brian.Mingus [at] colorado> wrote:
> lol, is that Daniel Brandt?

nope. Daniel has the ability to differentiate between dream and reality.

Mathias

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

wknight8111 at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 3:32 PM

Post #11 of 43 (43325 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 6:24 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton [at] gmail> wrote:
> On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
> > I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
> > source.
>
> If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget about it.

I can't consider the source if I've never heard of him before.

Also, instead of attacking the person (which is an all-too-common
practice here on foundation-l) it would be much easier to say "this is
false", if it is indeed false.

One person saying that funds were "mismanaged" is a relative thing. I
can imagine some people saying that hosting projects besides Wikipedia
is misdirected on the behalf of the foundation. Also, saying that a
person was banned after an annual donation pattern was terminated
gives us a timeline but doesnt infer causality.

A lot of information could be presented to turn this from a "scandal
about to break" to a harmless sideshow. I would hope that enough
information was given, but given the track record of people so far, i
doubt it will happen.

--Andrew Whitworth

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

thomas.dalton at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 3:33 PM

Post #12 of 43 (43310 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

> I can't comment on any other aspect of the matter, but I was the Clerk on
> Mr. Merkey's arbitration case, and can confirm that he engaged in plenty of
> on-wiki conduct warranting a siteban, having nothing to do with any type of
> financial contributions he might or might not have been making.

Well, yes, that happened in public so I know that much is nonsense.
I'm more interested in the claimed agreement with Jimmy. I find it
very unlikely that Jimmy would make such an agreement, but would like
to hear it from him to remove any doubt.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

thomas.dalton at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 3:34 PM

Post #13 of 43 (43315 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
> Thomas Dalton wrote:
> > On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
> >> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
> >> source.
> >
> > If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget about it.
>
>
> It's nonsense.

Thanks. As far as I'm concerned, this thread is now closed.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

removed at example

Mar 9, 2008, 3:34 PM

Post #14 of 43 (43344 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

I was just slightly confused by this thread:

http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=8710&st=0

I couldn't believe that anyone would actually team up with Brandt. I guess I
should believe it...

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 4:31 PM, Mathias Schindler <
mathias.schindler [at] gmail> wrote:

> On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 11:28 PM, Brian <Brian.Mingus [at] colorado> wrote:
> > lol, is that Daniel Brandt?
>
> nope. Daniel has the ability to differentiate between dream and reality.
>
> Mathias
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l [at] lists
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

geo.plrd at yahoo

Mar 9, 2008, 3:40 PM

Post #15 of 43 (43328 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Considering Jimmy's reaction to MyWikiBiz, I would have to say that this allegation fails the laugh test.

----- Original Message ----
From: Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton [at] gmail>
To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List <foundation-l [at] lists>
Sent: Sunday, March 9, 2008 3:33:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Statement to the Associated Press

> I can't comment on any other aspect of the matter, but I was the Clerk on
> Mr. Merkey's arbitration case, and can confirm that he engaged in plenty of
> on-wiki conduct warranting a siteban, having nothing to do with any type of
> financial contributions he might or might not have been making.

Well, yes, that happened in public so I know that much is nonsense.
I'm more interested in the claimed agreement with Jimmy. I find it
very unlikely that Jimmy would make such an agreement, but would like
to hear it from him to remove any doubt.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

jwales at wikia

Mar 9, 2008, 3:44 PM

Post #16 of 43 (43371 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Thomas Dalton wrote:
>> I can't comment on any other aspect of the matter, but I was the Clerk on
>> Mr. Merkey's arbitration case, and can confirm that he engaged in plenty of
>> on-wiki conduct warranting a siteban, having nothing to do with any type of
>> financial contributions he might or might not have been making.
>
> Well, yes, that happened in public so I know that much is nonsense.
> I'm more interested in the claimed agreement with Jimmy. I find it
> very unlikely that Jimmy would make such an agreement, but would like
> to hear it from him to remove any doubt.

Of course I would never offer, nor accept any offer, whereby a donation
would buy someone special editorial treatment in the encyclopedia. I do
routinely assist people with WP:BLP issues, and I do courtesies for many
people. Donations have no bearing on that at all.

NPOV is non-negotiable.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

cbrown1023.ml at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 4:15 PM

Post #17 of 43 (43357 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Umm... thank you for giving **ALL** of the people on this mailing list
even more reason to believe that you were banned on the English
Wikipedia for good reasons.

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 12:31 PM, <jmerkey [at] wolfmountaingroup> wrote:
>
>
>
> Jimmy Wales wrote:
> > Of course I would never offer, nor accept any offer, whereby a donation
> > would buy someone special editorial treatment in the encyclopedia. I do
> > routinely assist people with WP:BLP issues, and I do courtesies for many
> > people. Donations have no bearing on that at all.
> >
> > NPOV is non-negotiable.
>
>
> Alright Mr Wales,
>
> Since you have decided to publicly respond and lie about it (not that you
> have not been caught lying to the public before).
>
> I just sent **ALL** of the emails to the associated press exposing yet
> more of your lies and deceit.
>
> Have a great day.
>
> :-)
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l [at] lists
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>

--
Casey Brown
Cbrown1023

---
Note: This e-mail address is used for mailing lists. Personal emails sent to
this address will probably get lost.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

wknight8111 at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 4:27 PM

Post #18 of 43 (43323 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 12:31 PM, <jmerkey [at] wolfmountaingroup> wrote:
> Alright Mr Wales,
>
> Since you have decided to publicly respond and lie about it (not that you
> have not been caught lying to the public before).
>
> I just sent **ALL** of the emails to the associated press exposing yet
> more of your lies and deceit.

If this is one of those things that turns into a public relations
disaster, and it could have been prevented by not calling it
"nonsense" when it didn't need to be called that, I'm going to be a
little disappointed. Not that it will, I don't have much faith either
way, and I sincerely hope that this turns out to be nonsense.

--Andrew whitworth

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

feloniousmonk.wikipedia at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 6:17 PM

Post #19 of 43 (43305 views)
Permalink

Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Mr. Merkey--

But back in 2006 you were saying something entirely different:

"I can share with the community that Mr. Wales deletion and rewrite of the
article was in no way was based on any legal solution or legal resolution --
he did it solely of his own initiative and as a courtesy after performing a
through review of the entire history of the article."

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Election_candidates_2006/En/MerkeyArchive
I'm wondering what the AP will think of your past statement, which totally
contradicts your statement to them shared here. There is no middle ground
between the two. Either you being untruthful then or you are being
untruthful now. Which is it?

Paul Mitchell, FeloniousMonk
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

node.ue at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 6:46 PM

Post #20 of 43 (43304 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Good point.

Jeff Merkey banned me from the Navajo Wikipedia because I had put my
e-mail address up there including anybody who was interested but
didn't feel comfortable to edit to contact me. He claimed it was spam.

Mark

On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
> source.
>
>
> jmerkey [at] wolfmountaingroup wrote:
> >
> > I am notifying the foundation I was approached on Friday by the Associated
> > Press regarding statements attributed to me which are in some way,
> > perceived to be related to Mr. Wales private affairs which seem to have
> > gotten a great deal of press coverage. I have a detailed collection of
> > email exchanges with Mr. Wales and Foundation employees over some period
> > of time which seem to be of apparent interest to various parties involved
> > in this controversy, and I have informed all parties that I will of course
> > disclose such materials subject only to a lawful subpoena or other
> > instrument as required by law since they contain confidential discussions
> > regarding business dealings with the Foundarion. I have, however, been
> > asked for a formal statement admitting or denying various allegations
> > which purport to claim my involvement in any of Mr. Wales business
> > activities.
> >
> > Since I am obligated to protect my own good name, I feel compelled to
> > address various allegations in order to distance myself from this
> > controversy involving Mr. Wales so the facts are not spun into something
> > they are not. As such, I issued the following statement to the associated
> > press in response to their inquiries regarding my involvement with Mr.
> > Wales and his business dealings. This statement was sent on Friday, March
> > 7, 2008.
> >
> >
> > --- STATEMENT TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ---
> >
> > "According to Merkey, in 2006, Wales agreed that in exchange for a
> > substantial donation and other financial support of the Wikimedia
> > Foundation projects, Wales would use his influence to make Merkey's
> > article adhere to Wikipedia's stated policies with regard to internet
> > libel "as a courtesty" and place Merkey under his "special protection"
> > as an editor. Merkey later withdrew his financial support of the
> > Wikipedia project after reviewing evidence of diversion and
> > mismanagement of the charities funds by Wales and the Wikimedia Board of
> > Trustees and was immediately banned from the Wikipedia site by the
> > Arbitration Committee for frivilous and unsubstanciated claims after he
> > terminated the payments of $5,000.00 per year to the Wikimedia
> > Foundation."
> >
> >
> > --- END OF STATEMENT ---
> >
> > I hope this clarifies the rumors and allegations being posted on various
> > blogs. As I am certain everyone is aware, I have continued development
> > of my Wikipedia projects and kept a safe distance from the Foundation
> > since these events, and I plan to continue to develop tools and refine
> > machine translation for Cherokee and other languages, however, I have
> > little interest in becoming embroilled in the internal affairs of the
> > Foundation or Wikipedia at present, and in fact, have no need to do so in
> > order to accomplish my objectives and use Wikipedia's high quality content
> > for my projects.
> >
> > I wish Mr. Wales and everyone the very best, and hope these issues can be
> > sorted out.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> >
> > Jeffrey Vernon Merkey
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > foundation-l mailing list
> > foundation-l [at] lists
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l [at] lists
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>

--
Refije dirije lanm� yo paske nou posede pw�p bato.

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

mrzmanwiki at gmail

Mar 9, 2008, 11:39 PM

Post #21 of 43 (43311 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Jimmy Wales wrote:
> Thomas Dalton wrote:
>> On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
>>> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
>>> source.
>> If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget about it.
>
> It's nonsense.
>

And I assume you sent something to this regard (hopefully more
substantial) to the AP as well?

--
Alex (w:en:User:Mr.Z-man)

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

saintonge at telus

Mar 10, 2008, 12:33 AM

Post #22 of 43 (43302 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Alex wrote:
> Jimmy Wales wrote:
>
>> Thomas Dalton wrote:
>>
>>> On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
>>>> source.
>>>>
>>> If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget about it.
>>>
>> It's nonsense.
>>
> And I assume you sent something to this regard (hopefully more
> substantial) to the AP as well?
>
That wouldn't be a wise idea. You don't maintain the high ground by
getting into the gutter and flinging the same kind of mud, especially
not if AP doesn't do anything with the material they have recived from
Merkey. I'm sure they get complaints of this sort just as much as OTRS
gets them from and about other people.

Ec

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

mrzmanwiki at gmail

Mar 10, 2008, 1:58 AM

Post #23 of 43 (43318 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Ray Saintonge wrote:
> Alex wrote:
>> Jimmy Wales wrote:
>>
>>> Thomas Dalton wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
>>>>> source.
>>>>>
>>>> If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget about it.
>>>>
>>> It's nonsense.
>>>
>> And I assume you sent something to this regard (hopefully more
>> substantial) to the AP as well?
>>
> That wouldn't be a wise idea. You don't maintain the high ground by
> getting into the gutter and flinging the same kind of mud, especially
> not if AP doesn't do anything with the material they have recived from
> Merkey. I'm sure they get complaints of this sort just as much as OTRS
> gets them from and about other people.
>
> Ec
>

According to Merkey's original email, the AP asked him for information.
We should assume that they plan to use it, in some form or another and
that they do not not know how (un)reliable he may be as a source.

--
Alex (w:en:User:Mr.Z-man)

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

saintonge at telus

Mar 10, 2008, 3:50 AM

Post #24 of 43 (43323 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

Alex wrote:
> Ray Saintonge wrote:
>
>> Alex wrote:
>>
>>> Jimmy Wales wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thomas Dalton wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider the
>>>>>> source.
>>>>>>
>>>>> If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget about it.
>>>>>
>>>> It's nonsense.
>>>>
>>> And I assume you sent something to this regard (hopefully more
>>> substantial) to the AP as well?
>>>
>> That wouldn't be a wise idea. You don't maintain the high ground by
>> getting into the gutter and flinging the same kind of mud, especially
>> not if AP doesn't do anything with the material they have recived from
>> Merkey. I'm sure they get complaints of this sort just as much as OTRS
>> gets them from and about other people.
>>
> According to Merkey's original email, the AP asked him for information.
> We should assume that they plan to use it, in some form or another and
> that they do not not know how (un)reliable he may be as a source.
>
>
There's still a difference between planning to use something and
actually using it. If they feel that there is any hint of libel in what
Merkey said, they are well aware of the consequences of using it. Even
more so when their information is likely to be used by a large number of
mainstream media.

Ec

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

effeietsanders at gmail

Mar 10, 2008, 3:51 AM

Post #25 of 43 (43313 views)
Permalink

Re: Statement to the Associated Press [In reply to]

If AP follows normal press procedures, they will ask Jimmy for comment
anyway if they are going to publish, no need to contact them.

BR, Eia

2008/3/10, Alex <mrzmanwiki [at] gmail>:
>
> Ray Saintonge wrote:
> > Alex wrote:
> >> Jimmy Wales wrote:
> >>
> >>> Thomas Dalton wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On 09/03/2008, Jimmy Wales <jwales [at] wikia> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> I encourage anyone who is tempted to believe this story to consider
> the
> >>>>> source.
> >>>>>
> >>>> If it's nonsense, could you explicitly say so? Then we can forget
> about it.
> >>>>
> >>> It's nonsense.
> >>>
> >> And I assume you sent something to this regard (hopefully more
> >> substantial) to the AP as well?
> >>
> > That wouldn't be a wise idea. You don't maintain the high ground by
> > getting into the gutter and flinging the same kind of mud, especially
> > not if AP doesn't do anything with the material they have recived from
> > Merkey. I'm sure they get complaints of this sort just as much as OTRS
> > gets them from and about other people.
> >
> > Ec
> >
>
>
> According to Merkey's original email, the AP asked him for information.
> We should assume that they plan to use it, in some form or another and
> that they do not not know how (un)reliable he may be as a source.
>
>
> --
> Alex (w:en:User:Mr.Z-man)
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l [at] lists
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l [at] lists
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

1 2

View All

Index | Next | Previous | View Threaded

Interested in having your list archived? Contact Gossamer Threads