Brier Dudley's Blog

Brier Dudley offers a critical look at technology and business issues affecting the Northwest.

July 18, 2008 10:59 AM

Seattle lawyer guiding Wikipedia

Michael Snow is the new chairman of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that manages Wikipedia and other collaborative online content projects.

Snow's appointment was announced today by the San Francisco-based organization. He's been on the Wikimedia board since February and an active Wikipedia volunteer since December 2003, the release said.

In his Wikipedia biography, Snow says he was trained as a lawyer but works developing online course material.

Two years ago, he created a community newspaper, Wikipedia Signpost, for the collaborative encyclopedia.

Changes to the board were made after meetings at the Wikimania conference at the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt.

The group also announced a new board member, Ting Chen, an IBM employee in Germany who has edited the Chinese and German versions of Wikipedia.

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Posted by Billy

2:55 PM, Jul 18, 2008

So I guess this headline should have read "Seattle Developer of Online Course Material guiding Wikipedia". Yeah, it doesn't sound quite as nice, but it's more to the truth.

Posted by Brier

3:20 PM, Jul 18, 2008

Maybe so.

I wondered about that before posting, but ended up going with the characterization in Wikimedia's press release, which said he's a lawyer.

His Wikipedia entry says he's doing other stuff, but that doesn't mean he's not also a lawyer (have to confirm info from that source ...).

I checked with the state bar association and found a member with his name, but it said he isn't currently practicing. Retired perhaps? Temporarily inactive? I also called him seeking comment but didn't receive a response, probably because he's at the conference in Egypt.

So he has the degree, has been a member of the bar and he and/or Wikimedia refer to him as a lawyer.

Still, it's a good point. I'll update/clarify as soon as hear directly from him.