Wikipedia: WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia
This page in a nutshell: The site WikiLeaks, which publicizes leaked information, is not in any way affiliated with Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation. It is an entirely separate website run by people who have no connection to Wikimedia. |
WikiLeaks is not affiliated with Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation (which operates Wikipedia).
"Wiki" is a generic word that anyone can use; it is not a brand name. The term was already in existence prior to the advent of Wikipedia, and the Wikimedia Foundation claims no ownership of the term in any way.
In an 11 August 2010 article in The Daily Telegraph (UK), Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales was reported as stating that he has had no connection with the Wikileaks.org website ("Jimmy Wales: people think I'm responsible for Wikileaks").[1]
The domain names wikileaks.com, wikileaks.net, wikileaks.us, wikileaks.biz, and wikileaks.mobi have a "Registrant"[2] or "Registrant Organization"[3] listed as Jimmy Wales' company Wikia, and some have Michael Davis (who is Chief Operating Officer of Wikia),[4] listed for "Registrant Name" . These sites showed content from Wikileaks.org. This is perhaps the basis for some of the confusion; however, Wikia and the Wikimedia Foundation are also separate organizations.
According to a statement by Wales on October 1 2010:[5]
- Wikia does not serve any of the sites. The CNAME records in DNS direct the traffic to www.wikileaks.org.
- The domain names were legally transferred to Wikileaks a long time ago, but for unknown reasons, Wikileaks never completed the technical aspects of the transfer. Wikia has made multiple requests to them to do so, with no result yet. Mr. Assange has indicated that he is very busy right now, which seems likely to be true, given recent news events.
In early December 2010, the domains showed parking pages or site unavailable pages. [6]
See also
- Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-09-06/In the news, "Difficult relationship between WikiLeaks and Wikipedia"
- Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-08-30/In the news, "Wales praises success of Indian-language Wikipedias" (last paragraph)
- Mistaken identity
References
- ^ Richmond, Shane (11 August 2010). "Jimmy Wales: people think I'm responsible for Wikileaks". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- ^ "WikiLeaks.com - WikiLeaks Information". DomainTools. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- ^ "WikiLeaks.us - WikiLeaks Information". DomainTools. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- ^ "User:Mdavis". Wikia Community Central. Wikia. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- ^ Wales, Jimbo (1 October 2010). "Diff of past revision of Wikipedia:WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia". Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- ^ "Who Makes Money from WikiLeaks?".
External links
- Rawlinson, Kevin; Peck, Tom (30 August 2010). "Wiki giants on a collision course over shared name". The Independent. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- Sheridan, Michael (28 September 2010). "Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales slams WikiLeaks: It's not even a 'wiki'". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- Clark, Andrew (30 August 2010). "Not much love lost between Wikipedia and WikiLeaks". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-12-01.