[Foundation-l] UCMJ and Wikimedia

[Mike Godwin]

Nathan asks:
>  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Orangemarlin#Contacting_people.27s_employers_in_real_life
>
> This is an interesting thread (one of a few on this subject, including
> in the Jimsch62 (sp) RfAr) - two editors who are in the military/work
> for the US government claim that it is their legal responsibility to
> report to the USAF the use of a military PC to edit Wikipedia because
> that is a violation of the UCMJ. I'm curious about whether that is
> true, and if it is why we don't block .mil IPs from editing en masse.
>
> Mike Godwin, do you have an opinion on this issue?

My professional opinion is that we are under no obligation to either  
(a) enforce the UCMJ as to editors who happen to be in the military,  
or (b) categorically bar those who are subject to the UCMJ, which  
probably includes but is not exclusive to those with .mil addresses,  
because the they have professional obligations to report (purported)  
violations of the UCMJ.

We know to a reasonable certainty that there are editors with ties to  
law enforcement, military, and anti-espionage agencies.  I don't see  
how we can reasonably police their engagement with our services in a  
categorical way. Obviously, we may choose to bar particular users  
based on their behavior, which may include violation of Wikimedia's  
privacy policies. But I could not endorse any measure that  
categorically barred anyone with a .mil address from editing.


--Mike