[WikiEN-l] One concern regarding filters

[Axel Boldt]

--- Erik Moeller <erik_moeller at gmx.de> wrote:

> And just to be a little more provocative, the same goes for fair use
> (I don't know what Jimbo's mom has to say about that, though): By
> endorsing fair use, we defend this principle. By rejecting it, we
give 
> the opponents of fair use an opportunity to say: "Oh well, look at 
> Wikipedia, they have built a free encyclopedia of 3 million articles 
> without stealing any content with that so called fair use thing. So
why
> not get rid of it altogether?"

I can turn that one around. Suppose we freely use fair use materials. 
"I have heard from my dear constituents, the media conglomerates, that
the Wikipedia people have built a free encyclopedia of 3 million
articles, much of it stolen as so-called 'fair use'. We need to put an
end to this immediately."

As you might have guessed, I don't see the two topics of filtering and
fair use as analogous at all. If we don't filter, and schools
eventually block us, we'll get a tremendous boost of positive publicity
out of it, and the school blockers will look like the idiots they are.
On the other hand, if we allow fair-use materials, and fair-use is
eventually limited by law or court interpretation, then we don't get
anything positive out of it, indeed quite the opposite.

Axel

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