[Foundation-l] Commons Usurp issue

[geni]

2008/6/4 Andrew Whitworth <wknight8111 at gmail.com>:
> On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 8:14 PM, geni <geniice at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 2008/6/4 Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com>:
>>> (and the licensing concerns that
>>> go along with that - I doubt anyone can say with absolute certainty
>>> whether such usurpation is even legal,
>>
>> It probably isn't:
>
> I would disagree, attribution to one pseudonym is just as good as
> attribution to another pseudonym. In reality, whatever the username is
> on an account, it's still represented by the same unique numeric
> identifier in the database, the user's contribution history is
> preserved, etc.


Doesn't really matter. The GFDL doesn't care what name you chose to be
attributed under it just demands that everyone else follows that.

> If a user really wants proper legal attribution for their work, and
> want to enforce it, they are going to need more then just a pseudonym.

Given the number of books published under pseudonyms over the years I
think the odds of that argument holding up in court are about zilch.

> If you attach your real name to your account, then your real name
> stays contant even if the account name changes.

This is not really relivant either to the GFDL or law in general.
Indeed there is no way to apply the GFDL that would allow for you
propose the GFDL doesn't know about userpages or the like.

-- 
geni