[Foundation-l] Commons Usurp issue

[Thomas Dalton]

On 04/06/2008, Andrew Whitworth <wknight8111 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 8:14 PM, geni <geniice at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > 2008/6/4 Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com>:
>  >> (and the licensing concerns that
>  >> go along with that - I doubt anyone can say with absolute certainty
>  >> whether such usurpation is even legal,
>  >
>  > It probably isn't:
>
>
> I would disagree, attribution to one pseudonym is just as good as
>  attribution to another pseudonym. In reality, whatever the username is
>  on an account, it's still represented by the same unique numeric
>  identifier in the database, the user's contribution history is
>  preserved, etc.

Is there a legal precedent for that point of view? The identifier in
the database is irrelevant, that's not the information being
published.

>  If a user really wants proper legal attribution for their work, and
>  want to enforce it, they are going to need more then just a pseudonym.
>  If you attach your real name to your account, then your real name
>  stays contant even if the account name changes.

Even if you have a real name set, your contributions aren't attributed to it.