Your Tax Dollars at Work: FBI Battles Wikipedia over Logo

August 3, 2010

The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has contacted Wikipedia over the use of an FBI logo on a page dedicated to the history of the crime-fighting organization.

The FBI claimed that the logo accompanying an entry in the online encyclopedia was an “unauthorized reproduction of the FBI Seal” and “prohibited by law,” according to the BBC. The FBI’s letter stated that “Whoever possesses any insignia...or any colourable imitation thereof..shall be fined...or imprisoned... or both.”

Apparently offering the logo in four different sizes also posed a crisis, as the FBI stated that this was, “particularly problematic, because it facilitates both deliberate and unwitting violations of restrictions by Wikipedia users."

Wikipedia lawyer Mike Godwin fired back at the FBI, saying there was a difference between the words “problematic” and “unlawful.” Godwin indicated that Wikipedia would deny the FBI's demand to remove the seal, adding, “The seal is in no way evidence of any 'intent to deceive', nor is it an 'assertion of authority', recognisable or otherwise.”

We thought perhaps the FBI had turned their attentions to this important matter in light of catching every criminal on the loose, but a quick check shows that the FBI Ten Most Wanted list is still populated with active fugitives.

Via SlashDot

Posted in Copyright Law Enforcement

Comments

Re: Your Tax Dollars at Work: FBI Battles Wikipedia over ...

Submitted by Thomas McKenna on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 17:42.

I tried my hardest to not make a bad pun tying in the words 'Godwin' and 'law.'

*cough*hitler*cough

Re: Your Tax Dollars at Work: FBI Battles Wikipedia over ...

Submitted by GamesLaw on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 14:35.

Not sure if you realize, but Mike Godwin from the WMF is the namesake of Godwin's Law.

-- Dan Rosenthal

Re: Your Tax Dollars at Work: FBI Battles Wikipedia over ...

Submitted by PeterWDAwson on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 14:03.

Didn't the FBI seal show up in opening bits for several old arcade games talking about winners not using drugs? I'm seriously not fully getting what the FBI is trying to do here. It literally seems to me like they just now decided to be dicks.

Re: Your Tax Dollars at Work: FBI Battles Wikipedia over ...

Submitted by lomdr on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 14:37.

I think those were licensed because the director of the FBI wanted to get an anti-drug message out to the "impressionable youth" in the late 80's-the end of the 90's.

Re: Your Tax Dollars at Work: FBI Battles Wikipedia over ...

Submitted by Cheater87 on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 13:46.

Looks like this argument already got "Godwin'd" XD

Re: Your Tax Dollars at Work: FBI Battles Wikipedia over ...

Submitted by Andrew Eisen on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 13:32.

"We are compelled as a matter of law and principle to deny your demand for removal of the FBI Seal from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons," said Mr Godwin adding that the firm was "prepared to argue our view in court."

Good on you, Godwin.

Andrew Eisen

Re: Your Tax Dollars at Work: FBI Battles Wikipedia over ...

Submitted by tetracycloide on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 14:34.

Damn straight.

my vanity is justified

Shout box

Technogeek: Brutal Legend wasn't bad so much as "marketing had no idea how the game actually played", causing it to suffer accordingly.02/10/2012 - 10:38pm

RedMage: It looks the CIA's website has been DDOS'ed. Anon?02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

RedMage: Brutal Legend.02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

ddrfr33k: Has anything Tim Schafer ever made been of crap caliber? I'm struggling to think of one...02/10/2012 - 7:37pm

Guamish: I think it is in good hands. Tim did a game for the GDC award show and that was fun for how short it was.02/10/2012 - 12:22pm

Andrew Eisen: It'll be tragic if the game ultimately sucks.02/10/2012 - 12:17pm

james_fudge: $1.3 million02/10/2012 - 11:32am

Uncharted NES: Germany Says It Won't Sign ACTA [Update: ... Yet]- http://tinyurl.com/7r2twrg02/10/2012 - 11:21am

Andrew Eisen: Damn. Double Fine's Kickstarter fund has already passed a million dollars.02/09/2012 - 8:16pm

Andrew Eisen: Audrey didn't quote the sassy parts. Here's IGN's article: http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1218359p1.html And here's my original post: http://tinyurl.com/7y68a3902/09/2012 - 7:50pm

james_fudge: I hope you some said something sassy! Where's the link?02/09/2012 - 7:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Hey, neat. IGN quoted a blog I had writen only two hours earlier. I certainly timed that one pretty well.02/09/2012 - 7:38pm

Andrew Eisen: Toki Tori has been added to the Humble Bundle for Android.02/09/2012 - 5:11pm

james_fudge: Thanks for the heads-up DorthLous02/09/2012 - 4:33pm

DorthLous: Will do, my apologies.02/09/2012 - 4:14pm

Andrew Eisen: I appreciate the heads up but please keep typo alerts to the specific article's comments or PMs.02/09/2012 - 3:33pm

DorthLous: The title says 30, but in the article, the developer says it's like a 20% net tax http://www.gamepolitics.com/2012/02/09/developers-call-facebook-currency-transaction-fee-thirty-percent-tax02/09/2012 - 2:43pm

Uncharted NES: If they actually release Final Fantasy XI for PlayStation Vita, then I will consider buying one.02/09/2012 - 12:13pm

Uncharted NES: Customers Petition Apple to End Worker Abuse with 250,000 signatures- http://tinyurl.com/6vpuom202/09/2012 - 11:28am

Uncharted NES: And in non-BREAKING news, Kotaku commentators can be real jerks.02/09/2012 - 11:22am

All shouts

<< Return To Top

Forgot your password?
Username :
Password :