Well, yes, the material in question would have to be defamatory by UK law before it would matter whether it was innocently disseminated or not, at least for the legal purposes. I can't find any case law on defamation and pen-names either, for any country.
However, note that most article-space biographies are of non- pseudonymous individuals. Additionally, some editors and some banned users are known by their real name.
BLP currently doesn't say anything about protecting real names more than pseudonyms, which would imply that even if the law does not, BLP should protect pseudonyms from defamation. Perhaps they can't sue, but it should still be done for ethical reasons.
Also note that no one is anonymous on Wikipaedia, unless you want to allow non-logged-in edits through Tor/other proxies. IP addresses are a kind of pseudonym, albeit one that does not map 1:1 to human beings.
On 21/09/2007, Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk wrote:
If Wikipaedia wants to ensure that it has a defence under British law, in case anyone should try to sue it there, it needs to meet the criteria of innocent dissemination in the United Kingdom.
Which, in most cases - and certainly in most cases where it would likely be significant - we do.
I would like to drop into this conversation two small details which may be germane to some tangents of this discussion, before I have to see yet another wildly inventive interpretation of the good old defamation law.
- it is probably impossible to sue for defamation *of an anonymous
individual*, and rather tricky for a pseudonymous one who successfuly maintains limited privacy.
(I would be v. interested to know of any caselaw - journalists under pen-names slanging each other in the thirties? seems plausible, but a quick flick through a relevant book didn't produce anything)
- anyone can essentially be sued for defamation with internet
publication, *but* the plaintiff needs to have standing to do so; they need to show that they had some reputation to be damaged *in the United Kingdom*. This likely means that unless you're a moderately public figure, bringing a case as a foreigner won't get very far.
(The logic runs: if you have no reputation, it cannot be harmed, therefore anything which would lower your reputation founders on the fact that no-one would care)
Just dropping those in before we all get too carried away!
--
- Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk