Former Italian Minister of Defense Cesare Previti, angry that his Wikipedia biography had at one point contained a statement he found offensive, recently filed suit against the Wikimedia Foundation: claiming that it published defamatory statements.
An Italian court ruled that as a hosting provider, not a content provider – allowing others to create content but not creating it – Wikimedia was protected from such claims. Their two considerations – whether the role of the WMF is clear, and whether there are procedures for readers to address errors, both marked Wikimedia as a host.
This is covered in more detail on the WMF blog. Thanks to our Italian counsel Hogan Lovells for their support in this case.
Ilario Valdelli, from the national chapter Wikimedia Italia, commented:
The justice in Italy is really slow in general, but in this case the timeline has been short and the result of the court of justice really good for the future.
The definition that the prosecutor is able to change the definition in Wikipedia and for this reason there is no sense to accuse Wikipedia or WMF, it’s a good way to give an indication for the future.
Did the Italian court know that the WMF is currently aiding and abetting, counselling and procuring (paying for) legal representation of ArbCom members in what is essentially a content dispute?
Comment by John Lilburne 06.27.13 @ 8:49 amMistakes exist in Wikipedia, and it is for being of public use. The content of wikipedia has that it confirms with other sources. What one has to do is file a ractificación of the data on the web and ready. Subject solved.
Comment by Erick 07.08.13 @ 8:29 pm