There is no such creature as a vanished user. There never has been. It is a fallacy that was created based on some internet meme from ancient times and was designed for websites where attribution was not a condition of licensing. All edits are attributed. If one digs deeply enough, and has the right access levels, one can always find the original account name. We should never have pretended that this was a realistic option; what is done is done, but we should stop pretending now that it's 2015 and we've pretty much never actually "vanished" anyone. It's not even an option in the majority of Wikimedia projects.
We need to stop pretending that users can "vanish". They can't. they can be renamed. Their accounts can be blocked. But there is no such thing as a vanished user on Wikimedia projects, where the licensing conditions have always been that all edits are attributed to either a username (which can be changed to "vanished user 1111111") or an IP address. Nobody vanishes from Wikimedia projects; the records are akashic. It's right there in the licensing conditions, and always has been.
Risker/Anne
On 18 August 2015 at 05:04, WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
Thanks Nathan,
Whether other projects follow what we do on EN wiki is up to them. Licensing choices vary by project, EN wiki allows Fair use which neither DE wiki nor Commons allows.
Re Risker's point, there is no difference in the current copyright between vanished users and others, but logically there should be. By attribution means you want to be attributed, vanishing means you don't. It seems logical to me that the process of vanishing at least include the option of waiving attribution.
On 17 August 2015 at 16:34, Nathan nawrich@gmail.com wrote:
On Mon, Aug 17, 2015 at 11:07 AM, Oliver Keyes okeyes@wikimedia.org wrote:
This is not a conversation for the -en list, this is a conversation for the lawyers and/or wikimedia-l. Individual projects should not be messing with licensing, wherever possible; it creates a highly confusing and contradictory environment.
No danger in a discussion, wherever it happens. _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
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