FBI threatens legal action against Wikipedia

No David I think that's the IRS not the FBI

The logo is similar though



Courtesy of Internal Revenue Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barman58 said:

No David I think that's the IRS not the FBI

The logo is similar though



Courtesy of Internal Revenue Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yes, but the FBI is funded through tax revenue so....

~Lordbob

As they say - 'only in America'...

Dumb actions of goverment agencies happen in all countries. I have seen those things happen in all the countries I have lived in. It is not specific to the US.

Legaia said:

This is just too funny. Why do they even care?

I would wager they don't actually care in the least about the "supposed" violation, more likely they're just trying to flex their legal muscle. Since they know they can't actually win this one, they were probably hoping that Wikipedia would opt to settle out of court.

In the U.S., works of the Federal government are automatically public domain. There is also a law prohibiting use of the FBI seal without permission. Those two laws are completely and inescapably contradictory (bit of a mouthful, but there it is). Having those restrictions on the FBI seal is the equivalent of a child saying "All right, I'll clean my room, but I won't pick up that pile" just to be defiant.

BCXtreme said:

Having those restrictions on the FBI seal is the equivalent of a child saying "All right, I'll clean my room, but I won't pick up that pile" just to be defiant.

Couldn't have said it better myself

Turns out wikipedia isn't the only wiki based site the government is after.

The Defense Department has demanded WikiLeaks return all documents belonging to the Pentagon and delete any records of the documents, department spokesman Geoff Morrell said Thursday.

"The only acceptable course is for Wikileaks to take steps immediately to return all versions of all of these documents to the U.S. government and permanently delete them from its website, computers and records," Morrell said.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said his Web site has an additional 15,000 documents that it wants to publish but is redacting information that could endanger people named.

Pentagon demands WikiLeaks return all leaked documents - CNN.com

Petey7 said:

Turns out wikipedia isn't the only wiki based site the government is after.

The Defense Department has demanded WikiLeaks return all documents belonging to the Pentagon and delete any records of the documents, department spokesman Geoff Morrell said Thursday.

"The only acceptable course is for Wikileaks to take steps immediately to return all versions of all of these documents to the U.S. government and permanently delete them from its website, computers and records," Morrell said.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said his Web site has an additional 15,000 documents that it wants to publish but is redacting information that could endanger people named.

Pentagon demands WikiLeaks return all leaked documents - CNN.com

I'm sure you're aware of this, but this is a very different situation. Hundreds if not thousands of lives are not put at risk by Wikipedia's display of the FBI seal. WikiLeaks has taken classified U.S. military documents and basically handed them on a silver platter to our enemies, putting a huge number of people in grave danger.

It should be pointed out that, although the names of these sites are similar (both are wiki-based), neither one is affiliated to or associated with the other.