FBI Instructs Wikipedia To Drop FBI Seal 485
eldavojohn writes "The FBI got in contact with Wikipedia's San Francisco office to inform them they were violating the law in regards to 'unauthorized production' of this seal. The FBI quoted the law as saying, 'Whoever possesses any insignia... or any colorable imitation thereof... shall be fined... or imprisoned... or both.' Wikipedia refused to take the image down and stated that the FBI was misquoting the law. The FBI claims that this production of this image is 'particularly problematic, because it facilitates both deliberate and unwitting violations of restrictions by Wikipedia users.' Wikipedia's lawyer, Mike Godwin (please omit certain jokes), contacted the FBI and asserted, '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,' adding that the firm was 'prepared to argue our view in court.' Wikipedia appears to be holding their ground; we shall see if the FBI comes to their senses or proceeds with litigation."
Is it just me (Score:5, Funny)
or does the seal kind of resemble Muhammad?
It's the 'Law' (Score:5, Funny)
Mike Godwin (please omit certain jokes)
You Nazi, stop restricting my free speech.
Re:Yes, THAT Godwin (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ummm what? (Score:5, Funny)
"Whoever possesses any insignia... or any colorable imitation thereof... shall be fined... or imprisoned... or both"
Okay so I had to go and look this one up. Because there are so many ...'s that pretty much all of the information is missing. That sentence fracture they chose doesn't even mention any government insignia's, at first I thought ALL insignia's were outlawed.
Anyways, so here's the full deal.
Don't you know that the FBI has William Shatner as their lawyer? Those weren't omissions, they were just accurately quoting his speech!
Re:Ummm what? (Score:5, Funny)
Wow, it's even worse than the original.. it should say:
"Whoever ... possesses any ... insignia ... or any colorable imitation thereof ... shall be fined ... or imprisoned ... or both."
This is fun, you could say:
"... the head of any department or agency of the United States ... shall be ... imprisoned ... "
Re:I guess... (Score:4, Funny)
How can one know what an FBI seal looks like if he has NEVER seen one?
I can see it now:
An FBI agent knocks on some guy's door. The guy asks to see some ID, and the FBI agent produces his official FBI badge. The guy takes one look at it and says, "You can't fool me, that's a fake...it looks nothing like the ones on the X-Files!"
T-shirt (Score:5, Funny)
Does this mean I have to get rid of my Female Body Inspector T-shirt?
But it WORKS, man! Some chicks actually believe it!
Stupid cockblocking FBI.
Re:I guess... (Score:5, Funny)
If Congress represented us,
Oh, since we're in Imaginationland, can I have a pony?
Re:I guess... (Score:3, Funny)
because yes, it'd be illegal to carry in quite a few states....
Re:Ummm what? (Score:5, Funny)
It's more fun when you quote individual letters:
...n...u...k...e... ...the... ...w...h...a...l...e...s...
Re:I guess... (Score:3, Funny)
It is ok I guess...
I think he was attacking the FBI copyright warning at the start of movies. Although I suspect that it is at the consent of the FBI. I wonder what started the FBI to go after Wikipedia though?
I don't know, but the solution is simple enough. If Congress represented us and VShael had a pony, they'd say: "Oh, I see what you're saying. You can afford to worry about this because you don't have enough real criminals to catch. Gotcha. This is good news! It means we will cut your budget by 1/3 and after one year we'll re-evaluate how this affects your choice of priorities. Who said federal bureaus can't learn to be more efficient?"
I think doing that one time would be enough to end this kind of BS.
Re:I guess... (Score:5, Funny)
I think he was attacking the FBI copyright warning at the start of movies. Although I suspect that it is at the consent of the FBI. I wonder what started the FBI to go after Wikipedia though?
They probably got wikileaks confused with wikipedia. After all, all wikis are alike right?
Re:I guess... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:FBI ANTI-PIRACY WARNING (Score:2, Funny)
So, according to the federal agency owning the content of that linked page, not only are you not permitted to show their official logo, you are not permitted to reference their name or initials.
How does one refer to the federal agency responsible for domestic criminal investigations in the United States of America without becoming overly wordy, or inadvertently violating the law that officers of said agency are sworn to enforce?
Re:I guess... (Score:4, Funny)
I think he was attacking the FBI copyright warning at the start of movies. Although I suspect that it is at the consent of the FBI. I wonder what started the FBI to go after Wikipedia though?
I don't know, but the solution is simple enough. If Congress represented us, they'd say: "Oh, I see what you're saying. You can afford to worry about this because you don't have enough real criminals to catch. Gotcha. This is good news! It means we will cut your budget by 1/3 and VShael can get a pony and after one year we'll re-evaluate how this affects your choice of priorities. Who said federal bureaus can't learn to be more efficient?"
Re:I guess... (Score:5, Funny)
You can have a pony WITH a FBI seal of approval. The seal likes fish.
Re:I guess... (Score:5, Funny)
I had myself a nice chuckle at the very clear attempt at humor.
Then I nearly shit myself when I realized how possible this is.
Re:I guess... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I guess... (Score:3, Funny)
Aw. c'mon - look it up on Wikip...ah!
Re:I guess... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I guess... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I guess... (Score:2, Funny)
- Dan.
Re:Let it roll (Score:3, Funny)
Oh come on! Do you really think anyone would ever have heard of the FBI seal if they hadn't threatened Wikipedia?
Re:It's the Wiki Thing (Score:1, Funny)
The Wookies are in on this too!
Hard Copy Encyclopedia (Score:4, Funny)
I gave my Mom a call -- first time I've used that resource on Slashdot -- but she's the only person I know who still has a paper encyclopedia in the house. I asked her to look up the FBI. Interestingly enough, her copy of the "World Book" doesn't have a reproduction of the seal in the article. Just a picture of a couple of cadets at the training academy.
Don't know if they didn't include that because of this law or it just didn't make the cut given the space available. Either way, it's not there. I'd be interested in knowing if any other publisher includes the seal in the FBI entry.
And no, I don't live in her basement and she wasn't at your house, either.
Re:I guess... (Score:5, Funny)
http://www.chriscanfield.net/Offsite/fbiRobocopPony.jpg [chriscanfield.net]
FBI Instructs Wikipedia To Drop FBI Seal (Score:5, Funny)
that does it for all the movies and TV shows that display the FBI seal.
(Door flys open, FBI agents jump in, guns drawn)
Agent 1: "Drop that seal!"
Wikipedia: "YIKES!" (Drops seal)
Seal: "Ork! Ork! Ork!"
Agent 2: "Look out! He has a penguin!"
Linus: "Now look here, I'm innocent, I have nothing to do with this!"
Re:I guess... (Score:3, Funny)
Unfortunately... (Score:5, Funny)
It works like this:
I don't know, but the solution is simple enough. If Congress represented us, they'd say: "Oh, I see what you're saying. You can afford to worry about this because you don't have enough real criminals to catch. Gotcha. This is good news! It means we will cut your budget by 1/3 and we'll convene a committee to study the pony request, to which we will assign 8 congress-folk who know absolutely nothing about ponies, who will in turn assign the task to aides, who will consult with special interest groups, determining that there is nothing in the pony gift process that will benefit the congress-folk. After an interval corresponding most closely to the sunspot cycle (11 years), if all congress-folk are still in office, the aides will return a recommendation that the pony be altered to a certificate indicating VShael deserves a pony, and it will go to the president's desk for signature. Unfortunately, by this time, VShael will have expired in an unlikely but fatal Dvorak keyboard incident, so the certificate will go to the heirs, who will sell it on EBay for enough money to buy a small plastic snow-globe containing an even smaller plastic pony. If any congress folk lose their office during the process, it will be re-started or abandoned, depending upon how much money VShael donates to the appropriate congress folk's political war chests. Oh, and after one year we'll re-evaluate how this affects he FBI's choice of priorities. Who said federal bureaus can't learn to be more efficient?"
Re:I guess... (Score:1, Funny)
Well, at least during the five minutes she happened to be looking at the article.
Re:I guess... (Score:3, Funny)
Plus, you buy a pony and you get a pony. You buy a congressman and all you get is an ass!
-Steve
Re:I guess... (Score:2, Funny)
That's the one. Since I have always ignored it in the past, I decided to look at it again, along with the printing. It turns out that it's actually just a warning that you aren't allowed to use the FBI seal anywhere. It has nothing to do with stealing movies.