[Wikimedia-l] O'Dwyer

[Andreas Kolbe]

On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 6:29 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) <nemowiki at gmail.com>wrote:

> Andreas Kolbe, 27/06/2012 19:05:
>
>  Yes, you can argue it's his right to act as an individual, it's not his
>> fault that the press describe him as the Wikipedia founder, etc.
>>
>
> Really? The article attributed to him is signed "Wikipedia founder", are
> you saying that the newspaper added it?



I think you mean his petition? You're right in that he signed his petition
as "Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder":

http://www.change.org/petitions/ukhomeoffice-stop-the-extradition-of-richard-o-dwyer-to-the-usa-saverichard

Jimmy's article in the Guardian ends with a glowing back-reference to SOPA:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/24/richard-o-dwyer-my-petition

---o0o---

O'Dwyer is the human face of that battle, and if he's extradited and
convicted, he will bear the human cost. That's why I've launched a petition
on change.org to ask the home secretary to stop his extradition – and why I
hope you will sign it. Together, we won the battle against Sopa and Pipa.
Together, we can win this one too.

---o0o---

It is not signed, at least not in the online version. However, there are
innumerable newspaper articles with titles like "Wikipedia founder starts
petition to stop extradition of Richard O'Dwyer".

Far from being seen as apolitical, what we have is Jimmy Wales as Robin
Hood and Wikipedia as his merry band of followers.

And hell, there really are two points of view about copyright, and what
systemic copyright violation does to artists' communities. Read the
Trichordist, for example:

http://thetrichordist.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/letter-to-emily-white-at-npr-all-songs-considered/

Or read the synopsis of Louis Theroux's BBC report on the effect of endemic
copyright infringement on the porn industry:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18352421

Short version: porn actresses are now living off prostitution, because they
can no longer make enough money off films.

It's a fallacy to claim that copyright infringement is incapable of
destroying an entertainment industry.