[Wikipedia-l] Two issues here:

Sat May 17 21:41:16 UTC 2003

Thank you for those who offered me opinions and insights on this matter.

Ray suggested that it is perfectly legal not to act unless my country 
imposes an obligation to act. In my understanding (which I admit is not very 
deep nor solid), there is such an obligation. There are some cases 
(defamation the most famous, but also others such as harm to a business) in 
which admins were found to be liable.

An admin for Japanese wikipedia can be held liable, under japanese legal 
system, basically when

1) the content harms japanese (wikipedian, reader, or others such as a 
company),
2) I am aware of the content's illegality under japanese law, and
3) I do not delete the content despite that I have the ability (admin 
privilage) to do so.

This part is just like in the U.S., I think.

Potential issues here include invasion of privacy, defamation, obscenity, 
and copyright violation. But not very sure.

Ray also suggested you can revert the deletion, and therefore there is no 
point of deleting or not deleting. But unless you are also an admin in 
Japanese wikipedia, I guess you cannot revert it.

Mav suggested that after the act of submission is made, only illegality that 
matters is that of U.S./California law. I think otherwise, (i.e. legality of 
admins action/inaction also matters) but that aside, if mav is right, then 
some questions arises -- do Japanese admins should learn US/California laws 
in order to perform their legal obligations and protect themselves?

Another question is if things like social reputation and privacy of a 
japanese citizen is protected under any U.S. law. If not, the implications 
include that Japanese admins should refuse to remove a content which violate 
privacy of a japanese citizen, written in Japanese, even when the victim 
asks to do so. As you can imagine, that this is against some peoples' 
ethical standards.

regards,

Tomos

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