GitHub 宣佈在 github.io 上抵制 FLoC

GitHub 的公告簡單明瞭,也不用你操作,直接在 github.io 上抵制 FLoC:「GitHub Pages: Permissions-Policy: interest-cohort=() Header added to all pages sites」,在「[Feature request] Set HTTP header to opt out of FLoC in GitHub Pages」這邊有些討論,另外在 Hacker News 上的討論也可以看一下:「GitHub blocks FLoC across all of GitHub Pages (github.blog)」。

不過不確定為什麼 custom domain 的就不加上去,可能微軟內部的法務團隊討論出來的結果?

All GitHub Pages sites served from the github.io domain will now have a Permissions-Policy: interest-cohort=() header set.

Pages sites using a custom domain will not be impacted.

ICANN 否決 .org 與 .ngo 的交易

ICANN 否決了 .org.ngo 網域控制權的交易:「ICANN Board Withholds Consent for a Change of Control of the Public Interest Registry (PIR)」。

Today, the ICANN Board made the decision to reject the proposed change of control and entity conversion request that Public Interest Registry (PIR) submitted to ICANN.

事情主要是起於 PIR (Public Interest Registry) 在 2019/11/13 宣佈他們的母單位 ISOC (Internet Society) 將被 Ethos Capital 併購,而這包含了 .org.ngo 網域的資產,這也代表了由 PIR 控制的網域會從非營利單位移到營利單位下 (總共有七個網域,其中最重要的是 .org,有超過一千萬個網域在上面),於是引發許多人的關注:

On 13 November 2019, PIR announced that ISOC, its parent organization, had reached an agreement with Ethos Capital, under which Ethos Capital would acquire PIR and all of its assets from ISOC. Under the agreement, PIR would also be converted from a Pennsylvania not-for-profit corporation to a for-profit Pennsylvania limited liability company. ISOC created and agreed to the transaction details that are under review.

而在隔天 2019/11/14,PIR 依照規定向 ICANN 送出「Notice of Indirect Change of Control and Entity Conversion」申請,依照規定,ICANN 需要在 2020/05/04 前批准或是否決,也就是這幾天就要做出決定。

而 ICANN 昨天宣佈了否決這項提案,暫時搞定了這件事情... 接下來看 Ethos Capital 會不會有什麼反擊 (上訴或是上法院)。

Amazon 對 Slack 有興趣

開始有傳言提到 AmazonSlack 有興趣,想要收購:「Message Startup Slack Draws Interest From Amazon.com」。

Amazon 手上有 Slack 的帳單 (因為 Slack 把所有站台都丟上 CloudFront),對於 Amazon 在估算時應該會很準... 而這次出手估值約九十億美金:

San Francisco-based Slack could be valued at at least $9 billion in a sale, the people said.

來拉個板凳繼續看... 消息剛出來,後面應該會有一些消息可以看。

維基百科的使用條款更新,強制揭露利益衝突問題

維基百科昨天的使用條款修訂公告中,提到了「揭露利益衝突」的問題:「Making a change to our Terms of Use: Requirements for disclosure」,這份文件的最後方有簡體中文版的說明,對於看英文比較不通順的人可以先看中文版的說明。

在新版的「Terms of Use」裡面,有一個專門的章節「Paid contributions without disclosure」:

These Terms of Use prohibit engaging in deceptive activities, including misrepresentation of affiliation, impersonation, and fraud. As part of these obligations, you must disclose your employer, client, and affiliation with respect to any contribution for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation. You must make that disclosure in at least one of the following ways:

  • a statement on your user page,
  • a statement on the talk page accompanying any paid contributions, or
  • a statement in the edit summary accompanying any paid contributions.

這段修正可以從「Difference between revisions of "Terms of Use" - Wikimedia Foundation」這邊看到完整的 diff。

這是對於「付費編輯」的反制:國外甚至有專門收費找人編輯維基百科的公司在運作 (可以參考 2013 年 10 月的「Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Sue Gardner’s response to paid advocacy editing and sockpuppetry」這篇文章),這次在使用條款內直接增訂這一部份,將本來只是社群規範的項目變成直接上法院反制。

早該這麼做了,這件事情意義重大...