Mark wrote: Like this: deciding what you are going to say and what you aren't going to say is on some level an ethical or moral decision. Similarly, deciding what you are going publish and what you aren't going to publish is an ethical or moral decision. Now, we can deny this, but denial doesn't make it so. In the case of the offended party in USAToday, WP (whoever that is) facilitated the publication of arguably libelous statements. Those statements harmed that individual. I can't speak for you, but this makes me uncomfortable. (including the inaccurate is Maybe, but as someone said earlier, what if he hadn't found the article? What if it had seriously damaged his reputation? What if this damage extended to his ability to make a living and support his family? The point about slander and libel is that the damage it does is very hard to undo. Would correcting the article get this man his reputation back? I doubt it. The basic problem here is that no one stands behind the factual claims on Wikipedia--no publishers, no editors, no authors, just some amorphous and constantly changing "community." I should add that I say this as a *big fan* of WP. It worries me. Best, Marshall Poe The Atlantic Monthly www.memorywiki.org _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

Mark wrote: Like this: deciding what you are going to say and what you aren't going to say is on some level an ethical or moral decision. Similarly, deciding what you are going publish and what you aren't going to publish is an ethical or moral decision. Now, we can deny this, but denial doesn't make it so. In the case of the offended party in USAToday, WP (whoever that is) facilitated the publication of arguably libelous statements. Those statements harmed that individual. I can't speak for you, but this makes me uncomfortable. (including the inaccurate is Maybe, but as someone said earlier, what if he hadn't found the article? What if it had seriously damaged his reputation? What if this damage extended to his ability to make a living and support his family? The point about slander and libel is that the damage it does is very hard to undo. Would correcting the article get this man his reputation back? I doubt it. The basic problem here is that no one stands behind the factual claims on Wikipedia--no publishers, no editors, no authors, just some amorphous and constantly changing "community." I should add that I say this as a *big fan* of WP. It worries me. Best, Marshall Poe The Atlantic Monthly www.memorywiki.org _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l