I think Samuel Klein suggested that the difference, though conceivable
in theory, may be like between 20cents and 10cents. I have to agree
that it might be the case. (I don't have a good idea).
I am not very informed about the amount of checkuser abuse or
legal consequences of the abuses. For one thing, check user
log is not open to the public (which I think has its own
merits). I know one checkuser was demoted on Japanese Wikipedia,
and no public explanation was given on that.
Legal consequences may include, though I am not a lawyer and this
involves my own uneducated speculation, improperly giving an IP address
to an outsiderwho in tern sues the wikipedian; improperly filing a
complaint to an objectionable Wikipedian's ISP and get his
service contract terminated; improperly filing a complaint to an
objectional wikipedian's workplace or a school and get him punished
institutionally.
I have no idea if these things have happened or how likely those
turn of events are. I wish someone with proper access and legal knowledge
have thought about this...
By the way, just to answer another point Samuel raised -
my understanding (okay, speculation, I should say) is that the
Wikimedia Foundation does not have to monitor outside contractors'
privacy compliance as much as its own (volunteer) staffs'.
Well, I am not sure how much help this was, but that all I can
say so far..
Best,
Tomos
Stephen Bain <stephen.bain(a)gmail.com>om>:
I'll give the IANAL disclaimer right up top here.
On 4/1/07, Samuel Klein <meta.sj(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I don't know how much risk there really is here, or what kinds of case
studies in the rest of the real world represent parallels that might shed
light on the question. This all seems rather hypothetical...
The main issue is that CheckUser is governed by Foundation policy.
Regular editing has legal consequences, of course, but the
consequences can be borne only by the editor, and not by the
Foundation.
So the issue with CheckUser is the Foundation's legal exposure.
Whatever it may be, it is likely lessened if CheckUsers are not
minors.
--
Stephen Bain
stephen.bain(a)gmail.com