[WikiEN-l] Vandalism and Conservapedia

[James Redmond]

On Mar 15, 2007, at 8:41 AM, Guettarda wrote:

> I am curious about the practicality of trying to prosecute someone for
> vandalism of a wiki. Andrew Schlafly seems to think it's possible,  
> given the
> warning on the Conservapedia main page.
>
> "Conservapedia claims that posting obscene material or vandalizing  
> the site
> is illegal, and could result in a jail sentence of ten years. It  
> makes these
> claims on the basis of Title 18 of the United States Code,  
> specifically 18
> USC § 1470 (with respect to obscenity) and 18 USC § 1030 (with  
> respect to
> vandalism)."
>
> (From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservapedia)
>
> How would the courts look at vandalism when you have given someone the
> ability to edit the site?  Unlike Wikipedia, Conservapedia only allows
> logged-in editing.  Does that mean that we have a stronger case to  
> complain
> about vandalism (since, literally, anyone can edit, so we aren't  
> "approving"
> the vandals) or a weaker case (since, literally, anyone can edit)?

IANAL, but 18 USC § 1030 is irrelevant unless somebody uses the wiki  
in question to leak classified information, commit fraud, or  
compromise a "protected computer".

Jim Redmond
jim at scrubnugget.com