Wikipedia
has raised more than $6m in donations to help pay for its operation
until the end of its current financial year, ending June.
Jimmy Wales, founder of the non-profit online encyclopedia, told
supporters, "Since 1 July, more than 125,000 of you have donated
$4m. In addition, we have received major gifts and foundation
support totalling $2m. This combined revenue will cover our
operating expenses for the current fiscal year, ending 30 June
2009.
"Your donations makes you key supporters of the free culture
movement."
The money will pay for:
* Day-to-day operations: servers, hosting, bandwidth, and a
staff of 23.
* Continued development and improvements of open source software
that powers all Wikimedia projects.
* Outreach events such as Wikipedia Academies: in-person
workshops where attendees can learn more about how to use and edit
Wikipedia.
* Volunteer support: helping the international volunteer
community to grow.
The Wikipedia site
was blocked for many users at the end of last year, after the
Internet Watch Foundation asked ISPs to block an image of a naked
pre-pubescent girl carried on a Scorpions heavy metal record
album.
Wales was vocal in his opposition to the censorship and the IWF
quickly reversed its block request on ISPs.