[WikiEN-l] Re: Re: Wikiquette

Tue Oct 7 17:29:33 UTC 2003

>From "Ray Saintonge":
>> Expensive depends on what's involved.<<

The problem is the use of the law as a bludgeon rather than as a tool to obtain what the law says.

See Robert Novak v. APD List Members (PetsWarehouse Lawsuit) at http://www.petsforum.com/psw/Default.html . The author of that page is a lawyer and party to the legal action. Also someone I'm personally acquainted with, since we both have contracts with the same major media company.

While every act of speech involved in that lawsuit appears to be entirely lawful, it hasn't prevented people from having to pay large sums in settlements and legal fees, simply because the complainant was willing to burn his own money to make others pay for doing something he didn't like.

You can see comparable actions in many copyright cases, particularly those involving the RIAA.

Unfortunately, the question often isn't what the law is but instead trying to work out how to behave so you reduce your chance of an unjust lawsuit to an acceptable level.