[Foundation-l] Interesting legal action

[Thomas Dalton]

On 22 May 2011 20:39, Sarah <slimvirgin at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, May 22, 2011 at 13:33, ???? <wiki-list at phizz.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 22/05/2011 19:32, Sarah wrote:
>>> On Sun, May 22, 2011 at 11:00, ????<wiki-list at phizz.demon.co.uk>  wrote:
>>>> On 22/05/2011 11:58, Chris Keating wrote:
>>>>> Also rather interestingly, it appears that a Scottish newspaper has revealed
>>>>> the identity of the footballer in question, on the grounds that English
>>>>> superinjunctions don't apply in Scotland.
>>>>>
>>>>> Perhaps the WMF should open an office in Edinburgh, if London is too risky
>>>>> ;-)
>>>>
>>>> The editors aren't safe though. JW was on the BBC radio yesterday saying
>>>> that the WMF would hand over IP addresses if asked by the courts.
>>>>
>>> Jimbo said the Foundation would hand over the IP addresses of
>>> Wikipedians if asked by a British court because of these injunctions?
>>>
>>
>>
>> BBC radio4 5pm news. Didn't hear the full interview as I'd just parked
>> up for comfort break.
>>
> Given that he said a few days ago that privacy laws were a
> human-rights violation, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13372839
> I'd be surprised if he now said the Foundation would just cave in and
> hand over IP addresses in relation to them.

Well, whatever he meant, it isn't his decision. The WMF's legal dept
has recently published their draft policies, which includes one on
subpoenas [1]. It basically says that, unless lives are at stake, they
will only comply with US subpoenas. For US subpoenas, they'll decide
whether to comply with or contest them based on the facts presented to
them. Of course, if they contest a US subpoena unsuccessfully, they
have no choice but to comply with it.

1. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal/Legal_Policies#Subpoenas