Here comes the big bad Terms of Use Options

[thekohser]

Look out, everyone. The WMF is actually trying to build a Terms of Use for the Wikimedia sites.

This news came from an announcement by Geoff Brigham, who you may remember was introduced to the wider world by the mainstream media.

Here's what we'll potentially have to refrain from while playing around on Wikipedia:

Activities That You Agree to Refrain From

Maintaining and providing for a vibrant Community of Users is very important to us. We exist because of the contributions of Users like yourself, and we happily welcome your participation. Certain activities, however, whether legal or illegal, may be harmful to other Users and violate our rules, and they may also subject you to liability. Therefore, for your own protection and for that of other Users, you may not engage in such activities on our sites.

Prohibited activities include:

Harassment, threats, stalking, spamming, or vandalism;
Using any information obtained from a Project website to harass, abuse, or harm another person;
Intentionally or knowingly posting false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, or libelous content;
Infringing the privacy rights of others under the laws of the United States or your own country or jurisdiction;
Infringing copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other proprietary rights;
Linking to material that violates any provision of this Agreement or any applicable law or regulation;
Attempting to impersonate another User or individual, misrepresenting your affiliation with any individual or entity, or using the Username of another User;
Posting child pornography or any other content that violates U.S. federal or state law concerning child pornography;
Soliciting personal information from anyone under the age of 18 or exploiting anyone under the age of 18 in a sexual, violent, or other manner, or violating any federal or state law otherwise intended to protect the health or well-being of minors;
Fraud, misrepresentation, trafficking in unlawful obscene material, or gambling;
Posting or distributing content that contains any viruses, malware, worms, Trojan horses, malicious code, or other harmful content;
Automated uses of the site that are abusive or disruptive of the Services and have not been approved by the Wikimedia Community;
Disrupting the Services by placing an undue burden on a Project website or the networks or servers connected with a Project website;
Disrupting the Services by inundating any of the Project websites with communications or other traffic that suggests no serious intent to use the Project website for its stated purpose;
Probing, scanning, or testing the vulnerability of any of our technical systems or networks without authorization;
Accessing, tampering with, or using any of our non-public areas in our computer systems, including shared areas that you have not been invited to;
Transmitting chain mail, junk mail, or spam to other Users; and
Using the Services in a manner that is inconsistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

Watch for how the Wikimedia "community" will invent new and twisted ways of defining the words "harass", "misleading", "testing", and "invited".

[TheKartingWikipedian]

Plenty of "us" and "we" [Wikimedia Foundation] in that load of bullshit ToU - meaning, "not you". I thought Wikipedia was some sort of 'community project', meaning "all of us" or "everyone". There's too much "us and them" for my liking.

Opportunities for loads of new templates though: "Big Red Cross - You are in breach of OUR terms and conditions .... blah, blah, blah". Fuck off Wikipedia! You stink.

This post has been edited by TheKartingWikipedian: Sat 10th September 2011, 5:38pm

[melloden]

Plenty of "us" and "we" [Wikimedia Foundation] in that load of bullshit ToU - meaning, "not you". I thought Wikipedia was some sort of 'community project', meaning "all of us" or "everyone". There's too much "us and them" for my liking.

Opportunities for loads of new templates though: "Big Red Cross - You are in breach of OUR terms and conditions .... blah, blah, blah". Fuck off Wikipedia! You stink.

You thought that Wikipedia was a community project? It's not been clear that the WMF runs everything and can override the "community" when- and however it wants because it owns Wikipedia? There's a bunch of "us and them" because the WMF--not the editors--can shut Wikipedia down whenever it wants.

[EricBarbour]

There's a bunch of "us and them" because the WMF--not the editors--can shut Wikipedia down whenever it wants.

They should shut it down. But of course, they won't--because the WMF is now a moneymaking operation. Sue Gardner and Erik Moeller are quite fond of their fat salaries, and of their remarkable level of personal irresponsibility on the job. Not to mention all the asskissing they are unquestionably the recipients of.

It's like Comic-Con, or the furry convention scene. Too big to fail. If they shut it down, not only would thousands of basement-dwellers have nothing to do and go crazy. More important, Sue and Erik would have to go out and find real jobs. And they can't do that.

Would you hire Erik Moeller?

[thekohser]

Would you hire Erik Moeller?

Sure! I'd hire him to babysit Kira Wales.