On 1/20/06, Chris Jenkinson chris@starglade.org wrote:
jayjg wrote:
Well, the argument constantly made on AfD discussions is that server
space
is never an issue. By the way, nothing that happens in user space is
"in
the encyclopedia", including userboxes - is that all a "waste of server space" too?.
I don't think everything on user pages (or in fact, pages which aren't in article-space) is a waste of server space. Talk pages are obviously highly useful, as are user pages which give information about interests and qualifications. For example, on my page I list subjects I am interested in and some pages I have contributed to. I think that's useful. I also have some probably "not useful" stuff, like the haiku. But I very much doubt either of those aspects are fair use.
Fair use images are inherently in conflict with what we are trying to do
- build a free content encyclopaedia.
User pages are not part of the "free content encyclopedia".
By the way, I'm not arguing for the use of "fair use" images on User pages. However, I *am* arguing against the use of bad arguments to remove them (and, in general, against the use of bad arguments to defend *any* action). "Server space" simply won't fly, as it appears to be an almost limitless resource in other contexts, and "it hinders distribution of a free encyclopedia" won't fly, as User pages are not part of the encyclopedia content we are trying to distribute. The more relevant arguments seem to center on legal liability issues, though in reality the potential for any real litigation based on their use appears to be nil, if for no other reason than if someone actually did threaten to sue Wikipedia based on a fair use image maintained on a user page (which is extemely unlikely), it would promptly be deleted, ending any action.
Jay.
