[Wikimedia-l] Updated Terms of Use

[Jussi-Ville Heiskanen]

On Fri, May 4, 2012 at 6:48 AM, Philippe Beaudette
<philippe at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I don't believe the Terms are meant to expressly adopt all foreign laws
> outside the United States. The community discussed the phrase "applicable
> law" a few times during the drafting process. The Terms of Use only
> expressly call out the United States as applicable law in the Overview
> section and section 1(b). There is no express adoption of another foreign
> law by name: the Terms of Use only use the word "may" for laws other than
> the United States, simply putting users on notice of their possible
> application.
>
> Along those lines, the Terms of Use (Section 1(b)) do try to provide a fair
> warning to our users about their local laws and enforcement by government
> authorities. Specifically, the Terms say in Section 1(b): "Although we may
> not agree with such actions, we warn editors and contributors that
> authorities may seek to apply other country laws to you, including local
> laws where you live or where you view or edit content."
>
> Furthermore, in the last paragraph of section 4, WMF reserves the
> discretion to enforce that section which governs certain behaviors on the
> sites. Considering the totality of the circumstances, the WMF wouldn't try
> to enforce section 4 (or any other parts of the Terms of Use) in a way that
> was not aligned with our mission. For example, we would never try to use
> the Terms against a dissident in a censored country who tries to express
> himself or herself truthfully and freely on-wiki, in violation of their
> local laws.
>
> (As pointed out during the drafting process, this provision is consistent
> with other like-minded organizations' terms. Creative Commons,[0] the
> Internet Archive,[1] and the Open Source Initiative's[2] terms, for
> example, require users to comply with "applicable" laws.)
>
> Thanks,
> pb
>

I really do not want to be thought of as a --me too person--
but in this case the sentiment is well deserved. I
subscribe to everything above, with all my being. Thanks.


and do not mind being told off...

-- 
--
Jussi-Ville Heiskanen, ~ [[User:Cimon Avaro]]