[WikiEN-l] Re: Two issues here: what is legal to have on the server and what is legal in the user's nation

[Toby Bartels]

Maveric149 wrote in part:

>Toby wrote:

>>The "international" (that is, non-English) Wikipedias
>>are also subject only to US and (I think) California law.
>>That's where they're located, after all.

>Ahem. If it is illegal for user x to do a and b in the country they are
>contributing from, then that user should /not/ do that!

OK, I wasn't thinking about the legal liabilities of the *contributor*.
That's a good point.

>If it is illegal in your nation to do something that would otherwise be legal
>in California, then you are still taking a personal risk if you break your
>own nation's laws. The simple fact that the server is in California does not
>shield you from the laws of your own nation.

Yes, a *personal* risk.

>IMO, we should keep things simple and only concern ourselves with these two
>things (as far as the legal issue goes):
>1) What is legal for any one user to do in the nation they are submitting
>from.
>2) What is legal to have on our server in California (this applies to
>everything we all submit; all text/media must be legal under California/US
>law).

I don't think that we-as-a-group (Wikipedia as an institution)
should concern ourselves (in our policies) with issue #1.
We should not, for example, declare it a bannable offence
or against Wikipetiquette to violate local laws when submitting.
We-as-individuals (each individual editor acting privately)
have to concern ourselves with #1, by our own standards of personal risk.
A contributor from France can decide what risk she wants to take
in posting potentially illegal material while in that country.
But I shouldn't use my influence on Wikipedia policy to stop her.
(I don't know if this paragraph is in disagreement with you or not.)


-- Toby