[WikiEN-l] Re: Arbitration Committee members granted checkuser tool

[Anthere]

Carbonite wrote:
> On 11/14/05, Anthere <Anthere9 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
>>
>>In case you are not aware of it, Yahoo recently helped the chinese
>>government to uncover a chinese "dissident" and this lead the guy to
>>prison. Have no doubts that some of our participants, in particular
>>those from certain regions, or those participating to wikinews, are at
>>the same amount of risk. *You* could yourself directly endanger a life
>>in giving private information. I hope that in spite that you do not
>>receive a sufficient financial compensation, you will be careful. I
>>think feeling less responsability due to the fact you are not paid is
>>not a very good approach of the tool.
> 
> 
>  If someone's life or family is endangered by editing Wikipedia, they should
> immediately stop. Seriously, if a user is in a situation where they'll lose
> their job, freedom or life because of what they contribute to a website,
> they need to take responsibility for themselves and cease all editing. Of
> course we need to protect the privacy of all editors, and I fully support
> removal of checkuser access for anyone who misuses the tool. However,
> ultimately it up to the every user to ensure they're not putting themselves
> at risk.
>  Carbonite

I disagree with you Carbonite.

And probably do all those who ever risked anything precious to support 
freedom.

In memory of all those who became unofficial soldiers to liberate their 
country from a hostile invador.
In memory of those who risked their lives to hide jews in their caves 
during WWII.
In memory of women who were burned as witches for saving poor girls from 
an unwanted pregnancy.
In memory of dissidents who lost their lives to ask for independance.
In memory of journalists who died covering a war to provide *you* with 
information.
In memory of encyclopedists who were exiled or put in jail for trying to 
publish enlightned encyclopedia de Diderot.

Some people put the public good over their own private well-being. We 
have nothing to criticize, because if noone had done this in our 
countries, we would not savor our current freedom. The best we can do is 
at least to protect them to the best of our abilities.

Ant