On 11/21/07, Guy Chapman aka JzG guy.chapman@spamcop.net wrote:
On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:13:01 -0800, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
We voluntarily undertake not to run frivolous CheckUser checks, or to reveal personal data per our privacy policy, but there is nothing illegal about CheckUser.
That's just playing with the word "illegal". Wikipedia's rules fall within the realm of private law, so within that context abusive use could be illegal. Legality does not need to be limited to matters of compliance with government laws.
Begging the question, of course. "Abusive?" Where? What on earth is wrong with a private project using log data to track down determined abusers? Or indeed to exonerate problematic but separate individuals?
Guy (JzG)
Realistically, one could construe the checkuser policy as a sort of contract between Wikipedia and the editors - so any use outside of the policy (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CheckUser_policy) could be reasonably called abusive and a breach of contract. At least one checkuser has admitted to abusing the position in the past, I'm not sure why you'd assume that other incidents don't exist.
WilyD