Changes

==Wikia was the Wikimedia Foundation's landlord==

==Wikia was the Wikimedia Foundation's landlord==

For the better part of 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation was paying rent to Wikia, Inc. on a monthly basis, [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049340.html using a tax-advantaged grant] from the Ruth and Frank Stanton Fund.   These scenarios describe a failure in [[Ethical_accountability#Wikimedia_Foundation|ethical accountability]]. Did Wikia offer the lowest-priced rent solution to the Wikimedia Foundation?  Not at all.  After a [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049345.html frantic] back-and-forth [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049354.html attempt] by different [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049360.html agents] of the Wikimedia Foundation to [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049411.html explain] how this [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049389.html level] of [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049391.html self-dealing] was [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049393.html allowed to happen], Wikia's CEO Gil Penchina finally revealed (a year later, January 4, 2010) in a personal e-mail:

For the better part of 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation was paying rent to Wikia, Inc. on a monthly basis, [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049340.html using a tax-advantaged grant] from the Ruth and Frank Stanton Fund.   Did Wikia offer the lowest-priced rent solution to the Wikimedia Foundation?  Not at all.  After a [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049345.html frantic] back-and-forth [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049354.html attempt] by different [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049360.html agents] of the Wikimedia Foundation to [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049411.html explain] how this [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049389.html level] of [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049391.html self-dealing] was [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049393.html allowed to happen], Wikia's CEO Gil Penchina finally revealed (a year later, January 4, 2010) in a personal e-mail:

<blockquote>''They <nowiki>[the Wikimedia Foundation]</nowiki> approached us and asked if they could rent space on a temporary basis.. and I think it ended up being 4-6 months give or take.  I thought about giving it to them for free and I wasn't sure which was worse... getting accused of bribing a non-profit for giving it away, or getting accused of stealing for a non-profit for charging... so we ended up asking them to get competitng (sic) quotes from other landlords so that THEY could feel comfortable with the decision.''</blockquote>

<blockquote>''They <nowiki>[the Wikimedia Foundation]</nowiki> approached us and asked if they could rent space on a temporary basis.. and I think it ended up being 4-6 months give or take.  I thought about giving it to them for free and I wasn't sure which was worse... getting accused of bribing a non-profit for giving it away, or getting accused of stealing for a non-profit for charging... so we ended up asking them to get competitng (sic) quotes from other landlords so that THEY could feel comfortable with the decision.''</blockquote>

First there is a request to rent space from a hand-picked bidder, and only ''then'' a suggestion to get competing bids from other landlords?  It sounds like someone at the Wikimedia Foundation wanted to make sure that Jimmy Wales' for-profit company had the inside track on that bid, worth many thousands of dollars.

First there is a request to rent space from a hand-picked bidder, and only ''then'' a suggestion to get competing bids from other landlords?  It sounds like someone at the Wikimedia Foundation wanted to make sure that Jimmy Wales' for-profit company had the inside track on that bid, worth many thousands of dollars.  This scenario describes a failure in [[Ethical_accountability#Wikimedia_Foundation|ethical accountability]].

==Wikipedia as a staffing source for corrupt Wikia employees==

==Wikipedia as a staffing source for corrupt Wikia employees==