At 09:48 PM 8/25/2003, you wrote:
How about your real name, a real pseudonym or
a fanciful name? If you try and change your name
to something offensive, no judge will allow you to
do that, but most places allow people to use any name
they want without any formalities if the use of that
name is not meant to be confusing, misleading or
fraudulent. Using a famous name as a pseudonym
can be confusing, misleading and/or fraudulent.
How about a bright line rule: no historical or actual
public figures i.e. "absolute person of contemporary history"?
see:
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_rights#Personality_rights_in_Germ…
No one should be allowed to use a name that could
be considered offensive, misleading or fraudulent,
that includes IMHO calling onself Albert Einstein,
Beethoven or Blaise Pascal (amongst others).
Alex756
I'm just curious how my user name could be considered confusing,
misleading and/or fraudulent. Since I can't figure out what
"contemporary history" means (since you've listed people who have been
dead for centuries) I'll just have to assume that my name would be
forbidden under your proposal.
Aside from the fact that the historical Dante Alighieri died 682 years
ago, I'm sure that I could change my name legally to Dante Alighieri
if I so desired. As a matter of fact, I don't suppose there's any way
that you could prove that my name /isn't/ legally Dante Alighieri.
I have no complaint about those who want to use these famous names as
nicknames. This issue is much ado about nothing. There is little
likelihood that such a use would fall into any of the categories of
offensive, misleading or fraudulent. No one would for a moment be
misled into believing that our recent [[User:Saddam Hussein]] was the
same as the Iraqi leader. There are likely some who feel offended by
it, but that is the personal choice of the humourless. Fraudulent is
the least likely of the three, given that none of us are in Wikipedia
for the money.
We have had attempts to be misleading here (as in the Anthere/Anthère
issue), and a few instances where choices have gone beyond good taste
(as in User:TMC). I would wonder if there have been successful actions
anywhere about the use of pseudonyms on the internet, particularly where
their use is in relation to the limited circumstances of a particular
website.
This issue needs lightening up.
Ec