On 12/6/05, Kelly Martin kelly.lynn.martin@gmail.com wrote:
The Wikimedia Foundation is not subject to the law of England or Wales (since it lacks a legal presence there), and a judgment found against the Foundation in that jurisdiction would be subject to a First Amendment analysis under United States law before enforcement might be had in the United States. Such analysis would defeat most libel judgments based on English or Welsh law, rendering them unenforceable. Furthermore, there are defenses in United States law that render the Foundation immune to defamations actions for the actions of its volunteer editors; those defenses would also be available in a hearing to determine whether to enforce a foreign judgment.
It would be advisable for the Wikimedia Foundation to avoid establishing a legal presence within the jurisdiction of countries which lack adequate protections for free speech, however.
Hence the possibly forthcoming UK chapter would not be directly linked to the WMF, even if its sole (?) purpose would be to finance WMF.
From another point of view, the supposed lack of "freedom of speech"
laws (which isn't quite the case: it's just not as clearly stated as in US law) would seem a Very Good Thing to us if we weren't at risk of falling foul of the laws.
-- Sam