[WikiEN-l] Looking at the real world

Mon Sep 5 19:59:26 UTC 2005

On 9/6/05, Karl A. Krueger <kkrueger at whoi.edu> wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 03, 2005 at 12:24:07PM +1000, Skyring wrote:
> > On 9/3/05, James D. Forrester <james at jdforrester.org> wrote:
> > > And further, accessing a computer system without authorisation is
> > > illegal in the US, the UK, and Australia, to name but a few countries;
> > > given that you are banned from Wikipedia, any edits that you were to
> > > make would constitute such an illegal act. Several sysops, and not just
> > > Mackensen, have suggested that you may well be doing this, violating
> > > your ban order. Perhaps you might want to think about finding another
> > > place to play, Skyring?
> >
> > Thanks, James. Given that Wikipedia doesn't require checking of
> > real-life identification before allowing access to the system, I can't
> > see your theory lasting too long in any court.
> 
> I can't see as "real-life identification" matters.  Permission to access
> the system is withdrawn from a person, not an "identification".  Once
> that permission is withdrawn, access is unauthorized.

Wikipedia doesn't identify real-life people when permitting access.
For a crime to occur, you've got to satisfy the conditions laid down
in the law. James' legal threats amount to nothing.

-- 
Peter in Canberra