On 7/25/06, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
Anthony wrote:
My response was to someone who was suggesting that locking down the site so that people can't even upload free content without having gained the privilege is necessary to "keep WP out of legal peril". If locking down the site helps Wikipedia create the best free encyclopedia, then I'm all for it. I haven't been convinced that it would. And arguments that not locking down the site would put WP into legal peril are certainly not going to convince me otherwise.
Sometimes it seems that those who would impose such drastic measures for the sake of "keeping WP out of legal peril" know as little about copyright law as their opposite numbers who are regularly uploading the material. They only differ in being on opposite sides of the issue.
Ec
I think this is absolutely the case. And I also think that's why legal compliance issues should be left to the official agents of the organization to worry about.
The focus of the rest of us should be on how to make the best free encyclopedia. Sure, this means not including copyright violations, but not with the sense of urgency that some seem to be suggesting. Such a focus would also imply that images which aren't included in any pages, and images which are only included on user pages (for instance), are an even lower priority.
How do we make the best free encyclopedia? Is it by making it easier to upload images, or harder?
Anthony