[WikiEN-l] Non-office OFFICE actions

[Andrew Gray]

On 23/06/06, geni <geniice at gmail.com> wrote:

> > I assume that this is a piece of UK law, which probably doesn't apply to
> > Wikipedia since the servers and the WMF are based in Florida. However,
> > IANAL, and the UK has some wacky defamation/anti-libel laws, so anything
> > could happen.
>
> No UK law against mention spent convictions. Otherwise tabloids would
> never be out of court. Foundation doesn't have any UK assets and there
> is not reason for any of the board memeber to enter the UK.

This is a surprising interpretation of the Rehabilition of Offenders
Act 1974, given my well-thumbed copy of Law for Journalists devotes an
entire chapter to warning readers to be careful about it. I'm not
saying it is impermissible, but there are certainly some legal
strictures involved.

As always, I'm glad wikien-l is not a forum for legal advice.

-- 
- Andrew Gray
  andrew.gray at dunelm.org.uk