[WikiEN-l] Libel law

Thu Dec 8 11:27:08 UTC 2005

G'day Ray,

> Anthony DiPierro wrote:
>> On 12/7/05, Steve Block <steve.block at myrealbox.com> wrote:
>>> No, but it would be nice to hear people's opinions, and also nice to
>>> hear if any legal opinion had been given to Wikipedia regarding this.
>>> Look at it this way:
>>
>> Under US law, we aren't liable for libellous statements that are made
>> by other people.  UK law might differ, but to the extent it does
>> that's not really all that interesting to most people on this list -
>> the foundation is a US company (with, according to Kelly Martin, no
>> legal presense in the UK).
>
> It may come as a surprise to you, but many of us on the list are not 
> Americans, and we find that kind of attitude deeply offensive.  It may 
> be true enough that the specific provisions of UK law may not be 
> interesting to most of us, but if you substite the Wikipedian's own 
> country for UK the resulting total will not be insignificant.  This is 
> precisely the kind of arrogant attitude that goes into the image of the 
> "Ugly American".

While I'm behind you 100% on the "America is not the world!" position 
(heck, earlier I was getting irritated at the US-centricism of [[Safety 
orange]], for cryin' out loud), I don't think Anthony meant what you 
think he meant.  You (presumably) read it as "UK law is not worth 
talking about unless you're English, and we're American", while Anthony 
(presumably) meant it as "the servers are in Florida, so US law is what 
we *really* need to worry about".

I agree that it wasn't phrased as well as it could have been, but this 
isn't the time to start complaining about US-centricism, and Anthony 
isn't the person to rant at (yet).

> The fact that Wikipedia's servers are primarily in the United States 
> naturally caries certain legal implications.  We all know that.  That 
> the law of the United States is in any way superior is not one of those 
> implications.  Sometime we would appreciate a little less bushshit, and 
> more of a recognition that the United States is only one country in the 
> same world as the rest of us.

Everything in the para above, except the clause about "bushshit", was 
perfect.  Hurrah!

Cheers,

-- 
Mark Gallagher
"What?  I can't hear you, I've got a banana on my head!"
- Danger Mouse

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