Interesting. It's difficult to use an anonymous person posting to a
blog as a source, though. The judge is due to decide tomorrow whether
to lift the ban, so we don't have long to wait. It's an interesting
question as to whether a Canadian Wikipedian could simply plead
ignorance of the bans and repeat the blogger's information.
Journalists aren't allowed to plead ignorance, even in cases where the
ban has itself been part of a sealed record and therefore hard to
obtain information about, journalists are nevertheless expected to
make inquiries to find out whether there's a ban, and can be
prosecuted for breaching it even when they say they didn't know about
it.
In reality, they usually do know because they know media law and can
predict which types of cases are likely to attract which types of
bans. But whether a court would extend the ignorance-is-no-defense
principle to a Wikipedia editor, who may not be so familar with media
law and who doesn't have such easy access to court records, would make
an interesting test case. If you're volunteering, Andy ... I've heard
that Canadian jails are very civilized. ;-)
Sarah
On Apr 6, 2005 9:25 PM, AndyL <andyl2004(a)sympatico.ca> wrote:
There is an American website
www.captainsquartersblog.com which has been
publishing reports from the inquiry which have been described in various
Canadian media as "fairly accurate".
on 4/6/05 11:12 PM, slimvirgin(a)gmail.com at slimvirgin(a)gmail.com wrote:
Legally, Wikipedia as publisher is beyond the
scope of the Canadian
Criminal Code, because its servers are not in Canada. However, each
editor is legally responsible for what they write, and if they are in
Canada could in principle be sued or prosecuted as author of the
material, and perhaps as publisher too, as this is a wiki. (Note: This
is not legal advice.)
However, if the publication ban is being adhered to by others, it may
mean that there is no published information that Wikipedia could refer
to anyway, bearing in mind the NOR policy.
Sarah
On Apr 6, 2005 8:46 PM, AndyL <andyl2004(a)sympatico.ca> wrote:
How should Wikipedia deal with the publication
ban regarding the Gomery
Inquiry in Canada?
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