[WikiEN-l] The Register decries Wikipedia's "censorship" via OTRS

[Steven Walling]

After reading all of this, I only have one question left...is the Register
ever considered a reliable source per WP:Notability? Is there some way we
can list it as being unsuitable for referencing?

On 7/7/07, Kat Walsh <kat at mindspillage.org> wrote:
>
> On 7/8/07, Jimmy Wales <jwales at wikia.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Jul 7, 2007, at 5:43 PM, Thomas Dalton wrote:
> > > As much as I hate to admit it, they have a point this time.
> >
> > No, actually they don't have much of a point at all.
> >
> > > We can't
> > > just accept every demand to take down a page and leave it down for a
> > > fortnight.
> >
> > But see, this is exactly what happens when you trust the Register to
> > report on anything accurately.  We certainly do NOT "accept every
> > demand to take down a page" nor is it normal or usual for a page to
> > be "down for a fortnight".
> >
> > Every case is different, and while it is of course sensible to always
> > be vigilant for ways to improve the OTRS system and practice, the
> > Register was completely unfair in their "reporting".
>
> I agree, about that.
>
> A lot of people say that every time they hear about OTRS it's because
> of some big frustrating action. This is largely because the small
> undramatic actions or the ones where the people writing are told
> "sorry, we don't do that" -- or the ones where people get into tense
> 20-message exchanges that amount to "sorry, we don't do that" -- no
> one hears about those.
>
> > > I don't have access to OTRS, so I don't know what this was
> > > about, but from the talk page it would appear to be related to
> > > trademark issues. Since when have encyclopedias been restricted from
> > > using trademarked terms? We're not selling lava lamps, we're just
> > > talking about them - IANAL, but I'm pretty sure trademark law does not
> > > apply.
> >
> > That's right, but real legal threats from real lawyers have to be
> > taken seriously.  I think this case could have been handled
> > differently, and that's worth talking about.  But the hysteria of the
> > Register is well known, and should be taken into account here.
>
> Again concur. People are human and make calls that aren't perfect. If
> the worst that happens as a result of a mistaken call is that a few
> articles out of a million or two are stubbed or blanked longer than
> they need to be, I think the system isn't working too badly.
>
> -Kat
>
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