[Foundation-l] Wikipedia articles based on Wikileaks material

[Fred Bauder]

> On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 5:49 PM, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes, raw data is a primary source and therefore likely unsuitable for
>> en:wp.
>>
>> The raw data is, however, US government public domain and therefore
>> suitable for Wikisource as an important historical text (which it is).
>> Possibly when the whole collection has been released and there is
>> context to give. Particularly notable cables might be worth curating
>> for their importance.
>
> I'm not so sure about that. These materials are coming from the US
> government, but they have not been published by the US government. It
> depends on the exact text of the law, but I do think it's likely that
> the government PD is about material both created and published by the
> government rather than just created. Even if not, there might still be
> a restriction that it only holds for work that has been legally
> published.
>
> --
> André Engels, andreengels at gmail.com

The information is classified; republishing it is a crime in the United
States; Wikipedia is hosted in the United States. We would not be alone,
but could be made an example of. Not likely, but not something to waste
limited resources on, IMO. What does our republication or link to the
material add in terms of information for the reader, other than ready
access to primary data?

In contrast to WikiLeaks, neither our principals nor our corporation is
anonymous. The barn door is open; the secrets are running wild in the
world; should we catch them and put them in our pasture? Solidarity? Duty
to the truth? Do the right thing? Viva la Revolution!?

Fred

User:Fred Bauder