Misplaced Pages

User talk:Bilby: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 23:59, 29 April 2011 editNeilN (talk | contribs)134,455 edits →Dell← Previous edit Revision as of 01:12, 30 April 2011 edit undoAbd (talk | contribs)14,259 edits →On hosting preprints, etc.: new sectionNext edit →
Line 481: Line 481:
:My apologies. By "the ref is not there" I thought you meant the book as a whole. - ] (]) 23:57, 29 April 2011 (UTC) :My apologies. By "the ref is not there" I thought you meant the book as a whole. - ] (]) 23:57, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
::No worries. Thanks for the revert. --] <sup><font face="Calibri">'']''</font></sup> 23:59, 29 April 2011 (UTC) ::No worries. Thanks for the revert. --] <sup><font face="Calibri">'']''</font></sup> 23:59, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

== On hosting preprints, etc. ==

I hope you don't mind this comment, Bilby. If you do, you have no obligation to read it, you may revert it, or whatever, I won't take offense.

You are correct, an author may not, in some cases, be able to give permission. However, we normally trust a claim by an author to have right, if they, for example, are known to be the author and they make the claim of right! We don't demand absolute proof.

The web site in question is like that. They only host papers when the author ''offers'' the paper and claims to have the right to do so. These papers are generally preprints, and I've often found that publishers do allow these, no problem, it's explicit on their author instructions.

I know of one case where a hosted paper was, however, a copy of the original publication, original pdf from the publisher. What happened? I asked. The author is a well-known scientist, highly reputable in the field, and aged. The web site owner was not about to challenge the claim of permission from that author. However, It's highly likely that he did with it what I think he does with all the papers, if they have been published elsewhere, he writes the publisher and informs them that he's been given permission, to give them an opportunity to deny it.

It totally protects him, since he's nonprofit. If an error is made, the publisher has only one remedy: a takedown notice. Only if he neglects that would he be in hot water.

So is there copyvio? Maybe, it depends on how you interpret the term, and it would be unusual.

Is there legal risk to Misplaced Pages from linking to such a page? No, such a risk isn't real, it isn't illegal in itself, but could be a problem, from precedent, only if the linking was deliberate, to ''known'' copyvio.

The general principle I've seen asserted is that Misplaced Pages should not link to a site known to massively violate copyright, i.e., a "copyvio site." The existence of isolated cases doesn't negate linking, and even extensive violation, in some cases, might not justify prohibiting linking. Youtube, for example!

I requested a whitelisting of one page that was, in fact, a copy of the publisher PDF. That was challenged, and I withdrew the request. That one was arguable, even though, I'll still assert, there would be no risk. We do not know that the publisher did not give permission.

And to find out is tedious and not worth the effort, if it's even possible. If someone was really concerned, they could write the publisher and inform them of the possible "violating paper." Most likely, there would be no response. Which makes it likely that the hosting is not copyvio. If I were a publisher, I would not pay an employee to respond to requests like this, but if I were upset about the hosting, I'd respond, "Thanks," and send a takedown notice. Given the prominence of the web site under consideration -- it's often linked from papers published by the copyright owners! and it shows up prominently in searches for the papers, normally -- it's highly unlikely that there are major copyvio problems. --] (]) 01:12, 30 April 2011 (UTC)

Revision as of 01:12, 30 April 2011

User
User 		Talk
Talk 		Gallery
Gallery 		Contributions
Contribs 		Email
Email

Template:Archive box collapsible

The Signpost: 17 January 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 18:21, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Email

Hello, Bilby. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

Echoedmyron (talk) 20:20, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 January 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:30, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Photo of Jessica Watson

Hi Bilby: I would appreciate if you talked to me first before reverting my recent change of photo at Jessica Watson. I spent a lot of time, setting up the photo which I uploaded, corresponding with the Australian author of the photo and giving my reasons at ], why I could not obtain permission for the Creative Commons license, and instead had to settle for "fair use."

Please reply and tell me why you object to my photo. I thought it was a better image. The one you put back is rather dismal-looking and does not do Jessica any favours. :-)

(P.S.) ...just read your note at the Talk Page. Yes, I understand the rules, but I also believe in exceptions, and for lack of a better word, this sucks. I tried hard in three emails to convince the author to go with our Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and she would not bite. I don't see why, but she was somehow spooked by the fact that others could reproduce or modify her photo at will. Anyway, if you insist, then I will concur, as I have no stomach to put up a fight over something so trivial. --Skol fir (talk) 02:00, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

I agree with you it would be much better, and I would love to use it. But this, unfortunately, is a policy where we don't have any room to move. I've also been caught by it when trying to convince people to release photos for us, and I have argued at times that I'd rather see no photo than a bad one, but it is something that is basic to how we manage the licenses. - Bilby (talk) 02:10, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
As I said, not worth fighting for. I tried to do Jessica a favour by presenting her in a better light, especially now that she was chosen as Young Person of the Year in Australia. To dig into the trash bin and place a dumpy photo of her on her own page at Misplaced Pages, is rather embarrassing for Misplaced Pages. ...leaves a bad impression, like this is some kind of rinky-dink operation, instead of a professional enterprise. Anyway, I have said it, and that's that. :-) --Skol fir (talk) 02:43, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
After pondering your statement above, I went to Misplaced Pages:Deletion of all fair use images of living people and found this argument for not deleting photos of living persons that were "fair use." -- "The copyright holder may allow Misplaced Pages to use the image, thereby nullifying any claim that Misplaced Pages could face legal action for using the image." This happened in my case. It is all there in my justification at File talk:Jessica W.jpg. The owner of the photo gave me permission to use the picture FOC under "fair use" provisions. This might help me in my attempt to at least thwart deletion of the file, aside from not being able to place it in the article itself. That's obviously another issue. We'll see how the admins handle this one. --Skol fir (talk) 03:10, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
I'm worried I might have given you the wrong impression - if I thought we could do it, I've be very happy to fight to include the photo. :) You are entirely correct about the quality of the current picture, and a new one would be great! The problem is that the rules on this only allow for a small number of well defined situations where fair use images of living people are allowed. The problem isn't with getting permission from the copyright owner, but as I understand it, the problem is that non-free images conflict with Misplaced Pages's free use licenses. Thus local consensus can't override this, as it isn't so much a content dispute as a legal policy, and that gives use little room to move. In this case, the problem comes down to the first of the criteria for the use of non-free content, as there is both a free equivalent (even though it is of much lower quality) and it is conceivable to create a new free photo (especially as she is a public figure).
I find it frustrating as well: I would really like to use a photo I took of Sonia McMahon's dress, but the rules at the Powerhouse Museum only allow me to license it under a "non-commercial use only" agreement, and that also runs into the same problems as fair use. However, I guess there's nothing Misplaced Pages can do about legal restrictions. - Bilby (talk) 07:30, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Jessica Watson owns her boat

There is no confusion here. I just got an email this morning, from the manager of Jessica Watson, Andrew Fraser, that she now owns her boat. What do you mean by mixed sources? I have just updated an outdated reference by receiving personal communication as of today. I don't see why you call the sources mixed, when the original source was just wrong, as of today. It might have been right a year ago. You have a strange way of deleting a perfectly justified edit.

Bilby, if you need proof, I can forward the email from Fraser through to you on our internal email system.
--Skol fir (talk) 19:40, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Unfortunately, personal emails aren't verifiable, so normally they can't be used. Most of the time this means we fall back to whatever the reliable sources say, and in this case I can find sources in June, 2010, stating that Don McIntyre owns the boat, but only hints after that suggesting that Jessica does. My assumption is that Don may have donated or sold the boat to her, and that would make some sense, but I thought the safest bet was just to say nothing given that situation with the sources. You can raise it on the talk page if you like - I'm very happy to stick with whatever the consensus is. - Bilby (talk) 19:52, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
I see BIL found a source - that's fixed then. :) On it's own I wouldn't be comfortable with it, as it doesn't say that she has purchased the boat so much as had signed a deal to do so, but combined with your email that should be fine. - Bilby (talk) 19:58, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
Yes, BIL added a reference to my reverted edit. That should resolve it for now, at least for the story behind the purchase of the "Pink Lady" by Jessica. As for the personal communication, it was an aside that Fraser made to me in his email, not related to another matter we were discussing. I can't give you a reference for that, because it is not yet "in print." :-) --Skol fir (talk) 20:02, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for finding the original speech

Hi Bilby. Thank you for locating the original speech from January 26, for the Jessica Watson article. I was trying to remove a whole bunch of dead links and in replacing this one, all I could find was the one from the Courier Mail. Actually, if you read the entire speech, Kevin Rudd also said, "Jess Watson is a remarkable young Australian" in the paragraph following "extraordinary." So both I and the reporter had our reasons. Thanks anyway. We can leave it at "extraordinary." That's just as good, if not better! --Skol fir (talk) 00:46, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Hi! You're doing a wonderful job! I just figured I could help out on that one, as I was curious about the difference in the quote between the primary source and the secondary one. :) But it is great to see someone them. - Bilby (talk) 01:14, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
My last edit was long on "grammar," short on spelling (in the edit summary). :-) BTW, it is my pleasure to help out here on this article. I figured that the photos that I uploaded will be approved by the OTRS system shortly, and therefore submitted them here for your enjoyment. I got the necessary approval from Andrew Fraser for a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. That should satisfy the admins, once they process my email to the OTRS (which could be up to a month in my experience!). Hopefully, the watchdogs will not pull my photos prematurely. If that happens, I will just keep bugging them! lol --Skol fir (talk) 01:32, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
Out of curiosity, I used the "Article Blamer" tool to see who originally submitted that quote from Kevin Rudd, and it was BIL: Jan 26, 2010 13:05:10 -- (/* Criticism */ direct source to Prime Minister Kevin speech, hopefully he is enough for a quote to be allowed.) What BIL replaced was this: "Jess Watson is a remarkable young Australian." :-) What goes around, comes around, a year later!! lol
I guess we let that one go, it being BIL! :-) IOW don't argue with someone who speaks Swedish, English, passable Danish and Norwegian.
--Skol fir (talk) 01:41, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 January 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:20, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

MfD nomination of User:Bilby/Bonghan system

User:Bilby/Bonghan system, a page you substantially contributed to, has been nominated for deletion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at Misplaced Pages:Miscellany for deletion/User:Bilby/Bonghan system and please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes (~~~~). You are free to edit the content of User:Bilby/Bonghan system during the discussion but should not remove the miscellany for deletion template from the top of the page; such a removal will not end the deletion discussion. Thank you. JamesBWatson (talk) 17:01, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Ali

That's great! Thanks!--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:16, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

No problem. :) I was looking for accounts of his death, as I couldn't get the one you were looking for, and came across that picture. Took a while to figure out the copyright status, but all should be good - I'll clean it up tonight when I get access to better equipment. On the original topic, I do have some reports of his death, if it helps, from Australian newspapers of the time. - Bilby (talk) 04:19, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Wonderful. I have no Australian sources at all. Maybe they will have new material. Can you email them to me? Just in case you can, I'm sending you a blank email now.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:23, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
They're all from Trove, so I'll just send along the URLs. Mostly they're just covering news from the UK, as he was remembered from his Australian visit. There were mentions in other databases here and there, but they were almost all in regard to the recent show. - Bilby (talk) 04:27, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
I've only had time to look at the first, but it's great because it has a large quote from the daughter including her indicating he was 49 when he died, which I had only found once before (more confirmation that the 100 or so sources saying he was born about 1892, can't be right
I love Trove. :) The nice thing is that the Australian papers in the late 1800's early-to-mid 1900's received news directly from the UK, so they didn't editorialise so much as simply report what they got. Thus Trove can be surprisingly useful even in articles that aren't directly related to Australia - although it seemed Hadji Ali had a connection anyway. I'll try and do some restoration work on the photo today - I tend to enjoy that, and I loved the picture. :) - Bilby (talk) 03:32, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Boyce McDaniel

Thank you for your continued work on the article. I am honestly confused as to how block quotes could ever be a "copyright infringement"? Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 22:07, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

If I might butt in, the deletion does not appear to have been about the block quotes but about the main content. Text in the article was directly copied and pasted from sites such as this one, without any quotation marks telling the reader that they were reading a quote. Citing a source for the content does not tell us it is a quotation; it only tell us that the information (not the exact words used) can be found ("verified") from the source. If all that content was placed in quotes that would still be a copyright infringement because it would quote far too much text to constitute fair use. To answer the actual question—"how block quotes could ever be a "copyright infringement"?" (again, though, I don't think the block quotes were the issue), I think you're confusing copyright and plagiarism. If I were to take Stephen Kings latest novel and republish it without copyright permission, but I put a huge notice on the cover "This book was written by Stephen King which I am quoting in its entirety", and I also put that notice at the top of each page, I would not be plagiarizing but I would be infringing Stephen King's copyright. But what if I only quoted half of the book in this manner? One chapter? Two pages? Somewhere along the line we would say this quote is short enough (the purpose of the use is also important but let's not get bogged down in complexities) that it falls under fair use and, while the text remains copyrighted, the limited quotation is not a copyright infringement. So, length of quote is an important copyright consideration. Bilby may clarify of course. And Bilby, sorry if answering this here steps on your toes. Since I had left a message above, when I stopped back, I saw this one.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:52, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
You are incorrect. The article had a paragraph which introduced a block quotation of McDaniel discussing his views on dropping the bomb on Japan. That is nowhere in the webpage that you cited. Your response is an argument that a quote can get so long that it can't be claimed to be a fair use. However, the three quotes were of a defensible length. There are three obits written about McDaniel and each is slightly different, but they all cover his life in chronological order. I wrote a fourth which is slightly different, but also covered his life in chronological order. There are some details in the sources that are left out of the Misplaced Pages article. There are some details in the Misplaced Pages article that are left out of the three obits. The Misplaced Pages article included three block quotes -- all of which are deleted, when by definition, they could not be copyright infringement. If there is a sentence which Bilby feels is too similar, I can understand and can adjust. But here, after going to great lengths to rewrite the article completely, Bilby's deletion requires close examination and thought. I don't see any argument that the Misplaced Pages article was a derivative work, because it combined an attributed selected facts from a number of sources. Chronological presentation is not copyrightable, and facts are not copyrightable. Racepacket (talk) 02:51, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Hi Racepacket and Fuhghettaboutit. I'm always happy to have anyone get involved in conversations here. :) In regard to the problem, when I'm concerned about possible copyright issues, what I normally do is go through each line and compare it to the source, removing it if it is overly close, then I look at whether or not rewriting is viable. I much prefer to write articles than remove stuff, so I'm always hoping that I can fix things rather than cutting them back. In this case there were multiple sources being used, but each line came clearly from one of them, typically being very close to the original. When I had removed the lines that were a problem, the blockquotes, which were fine by themselves, had no context, so I felt that the best move was to return it to a stub and expand from there. It's never pleasant, as I understand how much work goes into these, and it certainly wasn't plagiarism in any way as everything was sourced, but unfortunately a rewrite wasn't possible without a fresh start. - Bilby (talk) 03:29, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
(e/c) No, I am not talking about the block quotes. Take a look at this version of the article The first paragraph starting with "McDaniel was born in Brevard, North Carolina. He graduated..." is a near word-for-word copy of this obit (note that slight variations in language are still copyright violations). Take a look at the second paragraph that starts "McDaniel had finished his doctoral thesis..." This and the next sentence are a word-for-word copyright violation of this obit. Later in the paragraph, the sentence that begins "which helped identify the amount..." is also a copy from this source. The next paragraph that starts with "In 1946, McDaniel joined the Cornell faculty..." is again word-for-word copy from the first obit above. This patent infringement continues throughout the rest of the text. So forget the block quotes. Now, let's be even more explicit. You added all this infringing text, as shown from the article's page history, and I am troubled that you have over over 13,000 edits and apparently don't understand the problem. Crap. I just looked at another article you started at random, J. Andrew Noel, and immediately found it to be riddles with copyright violations. Well I am warning you here, since I know you are following this thread: If I find that you have added any further copyright violations to any articles in the future, I will block you from editing. Meanwhile, I am constrained to start looking at your edits in more depth. Bilby: I am sorry to hijack your page like this, and will move further comments elsewhere.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:46, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
This is not a matter of "patent infringement" which is a term of art. When describing certain items there are not many acceptable alternatives in language. (For example, a "pair spectrometer" is an unavoidable term of art.) The selection of facts and the order of presentation are very relevant for determining copyright infringement. I will take a look at J. Andrew Noel later and will post a new version of Boyce McDaniel on a subpage. We are all in agreement that the block quotes are fine, which are the basis for my question. Racepacket (talk) 05:03, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
It isn't the use of "pair spectrometer" which is the problem, but the similarity of the wording and sentence structures in which it appears. Block quotes, as Fuhghettaboutit points out, are fine so long as they aren't overused, but the core problem is to do with overly close or identical paraphrasing from the sources. - Bilby (talk) 05:34, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Racepacket: my use of "patent infringement" was poorly stated because of the understandable confusion it could cause. Patent (pronounced pay-tent), as in clear, palpable, conspicuous, clear-cut, flagrant, glaring, obvious, etc. Not patent (pronounced pat-tent), as in the intellectual property concept of protecting an invention or process.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:57, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
I am fully aware of the ambiguity. Is IP law a big part of your practice? A lot of this turns on the difference between permissible fair use under US law and Misplaced Pages's policy preference to avoid any possible claim of its content being a derivative work of another source. The Boyce McDaniel article was clearly sufficiently different to avoid any copyright liability. The subjective question is whether it meets Misplaced Pages's higher, subjective standard of not being close to being a derivative work. As I said, I will leave a rewrite on a subpage and ask Bilby to review it before I move it to mainspace. Please see my response posted your talk page about Noel. Racepacket (talk) 06:18, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
You're not understanding at all. This is not an image where we're trying to figure out whether WP:NFCC applies. This is text. There can be complexities when you get into certain grey areas but we're not here about anything like that. We're here about blatant, on their face copyright violations—yours—direct cut and paste of paragraphs of copyrighted text. None of this has anything to do with the "difference between permissible fair use under US law and Misplaced Pages's policy preference"—absolutely nothing. The fact that you continue to argue that the content of this article may not have been a copyright violation, in fact are risibly saying things like "The Boyce McDaniel article was clearly sufficiently different to avoid any copyright liability", this coming a year after you were investigated for large scale copyright violations, means to me that you are incapable of editing Misplaced Pages in a manner that avoids violating copyrights. This is text from the article as it stood yesterday (and just one example from others to choose from):

"McDaniel had finished his doctoral thesis at Cornell in 1943, researching the absorption rates of neutrons in indium. While the U.S. government did not classify the thesis as secret, McDaniel and his thesis advisor, Robert Bacher, understood its implications for weapons research. They marked each page "secret" and locked two copies away in the university's library"

And this is text from http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/02/5.16.02/McDaniel-obit.html

"McDaniel had finished his doctoral thesis at Cornell in 1943, researching the absorption rates of neutrons in indium. While the thesis itself was not considered classified information by the U.S. government, McDaniel and Bacher understood its implications for weapons research. They marked each page "secret" and locked two copies away in the university's library."

Does that sound familiar to you?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:41, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
I am not arging with Bilby, I am asking him a question with the goal of resolving a problem. I have printed out and compared the two documents and am going to post a rewrite on a subpage for Bilby to review. Based on Bilby's answer to my question, I will retain the three block quotes. Yes, the Boyce McDaniel article is sufficiently different to avoid any copyright liability. The same principles of copyright law apply both to images and to text. Misplaced Pages has made a policy choice, which I accept, to go beyond what is required to avoid copyright liability to also seek to make the articles completely reusable in any nation and to avoid any claim of being a derivative work. I defer to Bilby to apply the Misplaced Pages criteria, which is different from US copyright law. Until I did the side-by-side, I had not looked at the obit for a year. If you want to try your hand at rewriting the Boyce McDaniel article, I will be happy to step aside and let you. Otherwise, I will post one on a subpage for Bilby's review. Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 03:43, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
One more thought, before anyone presses the "save" button, they should ask, "How would I feel if this talk page became an exhibit in a court case?" Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 04:03, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Considering your message above, confirming not only that at this late date, a year after your past CCI investigation, that you misunderstand copyright compliance, but that you will argue for keeping in your own past copyright violations, and the fact that having done a little investigation, I see you are serially adding infringing text to articles currently (I will list a few below for third party review), I am blocking your account indefinitely.

        February 2, 2011: Diff, with content ripped from here;

        January 27, 2011: New Article, with text with content ripped from here;

        January 26, 2010: New article, with content ripped from (the subject) here;

        January 12, 2011: Diff, with content ripped from here;

        January 9, 2011: Diff, with content ripped from here (and here, from here);

        December 20, 2010: New article, with content ripped from here;

        December 19, 2010. Diff, with content ripped from here;

        November 27, 2010: New Article, with content ripped from here;

        (arbitrary stop).

Given the above, which was not difficult (though laborious) to find, it's obvious another CCI investigation is needed, picking up the day after the last one ended. The shame is, there's lots of good edits in between, but this can't be allowed to continue.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 06:34, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

H. A. P. Torrey

Well done! Thank you very much. Cullen328 (talk) 15:38, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

No problem - I'm glad I could be of some help. - Bilby (talk) 05:33, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 7 February 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:55, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

Could sure use your opinion on a deletion

Hey Bilby, you and I have worked "together" on the Axelsson article. Peripheral to that is the page that is now nominated for deletion,

http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Bernhard,_Prince_of_Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein#Bernhard.2C_Prince_of_Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein

The guy that nominated this kind of makes a hobby of nominating my articles for deletion. His first attempt to get this deleted was shot down, so now he's trying again. I'd appreciate your input.

I'll help if I can - I've dug around, but unlike with Axelsson, searching is a tad tricky as there isn't a single expression to search on. Still, there are a few things which may be useful, so maybe I can do something there. :) - Bilby (talk) 12:35, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Looks like another person added some items so we now have a "keep." Can you take a look at the article and see if you concur with the keep? Thanks! PR (talk) 01:01, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program Newsletter: 13 February 2011


The newsletter of the Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program – Volume 1, 28 January 2011

This is the second issue of the Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program Newsletter, with details about what's going on right now and where help is needed.


  • Userboxes and profiles - Add an ambassador userbox to your page, and make sure you've added your mentor profile!
  • Be a coordinating ambassador - Pick and class and make sure no students fall through the cracks.
  • New screencasts - Short videos on watchlists and a number of other topics may be useful to students.
  • Updates from Campus Ambassadors - Ambassadors are starting to report on classroom experiences, both on-wiki and on the Google Group.
  • Other news - There's a new on-wiki application for being an Online Ambassador, and Editing Friday #2 is today!
  • Things you can do - This is just a sample; if you're eager for something to do, there's plenty more.

Delivered by EdwardsBot (talk) 18:21, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 14 February 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:52, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Sad news

FYI. Pdfpdf (talk) 13:02, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Mentoring students: be sure to check in on them

This message is going out to all of the Online Ambassadors who are, or will be, serving as mentors this term.

Hi there! This is just a friendly reminder to check in on what your mentees are doing. If they've started making edits, take a look and help them out or do some example fixes for them, if they need it. And if they are doing good, let them know it!

If you aren't mentoring anyone yet, it looks like you will be soon; at least one large class is asking us to assign mentors for them, and students in a number of others haven't yet gotten to asking ambassadors to be their mentors, but may soon. --Sage Ross - Online Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 20:05, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 21 February 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 17:20, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

groups of students in need of mentors

Hey Bilby. One of the classes working with the Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program, Jonathan Obar's Media and Telecommunication Policy, is working in small groups and would like us to assign a mentor to each group (rather than having students request the mentors they'd like, as other classes are doing).

I invite you to sign on as the mentor for one or more groups, especially if any of the topics catch your interest. To sign up, go to the course page and add yourself as "Mentor: you" in the section for that group. They students and/or professor or campus ambassadors should be cleaning things up soon to list all the usernames for each group and add a few more groups. Once you know who the students are in the group, you can leave them each a quick introduction to let them know you'll be mentoring their group.

Thanks!--Sage Ross - Online Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 19:10, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Chadstone Shopping Centre

Hey Bilby! :) I just want to say I totally respect that your having your say to the article, and everything. I am honestly fine with that. If I didn't think something was correct I would have no problem whatsover in changing it to make it correct. But your sources that you have so far provided, that other editors have provided, don't make a proper basis for saying that: Chadstone is not the southern hemisphere's largest. I have provided more than 10 references, include pdf. files, The Centre's own website, the centre's brochure, Newspaper articles, and so on. The only references provided against, is a website in another language and a discussion forum. I and many other users would like to see evidence. References clearly stating that Chadstone is not the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere. Please provide suitable recent (2009 onwards) references, if possible. Thank You, Best Reguards -- MelbourneStar☆ (talk) 09:28, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Scott Greenall article.........

Thank you for your help. The only other thing I have is a copy of a los angeles fanzine that did an in depth feature on him but it's nowhere on the web the fanzine is called "Destroy All". It came out in 2003........I don't think the mag exists anymore. I think this article is important and it's pretty well rounded, thanks to you. I'll add to it as things come along.--Llaneerg (talk) 10:56, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Boyce McDaniel 2

I believe that I have resolved your concerns. Could you please review User:Racepacket/McDaniel and let me know what you think. Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 04:23, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Hello Bilby, I realize that you are very busy, but if you could please acknowlege my request and let me know if you will have time to review the revision, I would appreciate it. If not, I will search for another editor to close out the McDaniel matter. Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 11:27, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi. Sorry for the delay - the new semester just started, so this week has been all about panicking to get materials and lectures ready for students before they need them. :) I have one more new lecture to give today, and then I'll sit down and help here once I get home. - Bilby (talk) 03:02, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
Congratulations on launching the new semester. Any thoughts? Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 04:36, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
I've had a look - it still needs some work, although it is definitely moving forward, so I'm writing up something that I hope will help. - Bilby (talk) 15:25, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
Thank you for taking the time. Feel free to edit User:Racepacket/McDaniel if that is helpful to you. Racepacket (talk) 21:36, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
Is there anything that I can do the assist in the process? I realize that you perform many important roles at Misplaced Pages, but I look forward to your reply when you can get to it. Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 04:56, 17 March 2011 (UTC)
I've been a tad unwell this week, so I haven't handled this like I planned. I'm working on this and another article tomorrow, so it should be good then - I went through it before and write out notes, so that will help. :) And to be honest, I suspect that you're far more useful to the project than I am, which is why I'd like to help here. - Bilby (talk) 13:31, 17 March 2011 (UTC)
Best wishes on a speedy recovery and let me know how I can help. Racepacket (talk) 15:31, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
Please give me some feedback. Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 18:42, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

I hope you are well. I feel bad that McDaniel biography is so truncated due to a mistake on my part. Could you please look at User:Racepacket/McDaniel when you have a chance. I believe that I did a good job of cleaning it, but I don't want to go around you in any way. Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 20:51, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Just checking in with you. I hope you are doing well and are enjoying the semester. Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 03:09, 8 April 2011 (UTC)
Checking in again. Please let me know what you think. Thanks, Racepacket (talk) 19:01, 14 April 2011 (UTC)
You are obviously very busy. How should I proceed? Racepacket (talk) 19:08, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
It has been two months, would you object if I found someone else to review it? Racepacket (talk) 10:21, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

I've started work on it. The problem is that you haven't really fixed any of the problems, so I thought it might be best to wait until after the RfC/U. At any rate, I've started a rewrite, but the problem is taht it will need one. For example, you start with:

McDaniel was born in Brevard, North Carolina. In 1933, he graduated from Chesterville High School, Chesterville, Ohio, McDaniel earned his bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1938. In 1940, he earned a master's degree from the Case School of Applied Science (now Case Western Reserve University.).

Which is almost identical to the source:

McDaniel was born June 11, 1917, in Brevard, N.C. He graduated from Chesterville High School, Chesterville, Ohio, in 1933. He earned his bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1938 and his master's degree from the Case School of Applied Science (now Case Western Reserve University) in 1940.

I've rewritten it as:

Born in Brevard, North Carolina, McDaniel attended Chesterville High School in Ohio. After graduating in 1933, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he graduated in 1938 with a Bachelor of Science. His initial postgraduate studies took place at the Case School of Applied Science, graduating with a Masters degree in 1940.

I'm not really happy with the wording, but the main thing is that what is written has to be significantly different from the original source. Anyway, I'll keep going and see what I can do. - Bilby (talk) 17:48, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your thoughtfulness vis a vis the RFC/U. Racepacket (talk) 02:50, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

Tasmanian Devil FAR

Hi Bilby - Just checking in to see if you are still working on Tasmanian Devil in response to the comments at the FAR. This article has been on the page for quite a while, so it would be great to be able to get some reviewers working on it. Thanks in advance, Dana boomer (talk) 15:47, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi~ I had a look, and mostly it just needed copyediting - I finally have my life back, so if you can afford to give me a week, I should have done what I can for the article by then. - Bilby (talk) 03:05, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
Sounds good - thanks! Dana boomer (talk) 11:50, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
Ping? Dana boomer (talk) 14:54, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
I got it started, but I've been a tad unwell this week, so I haven't be able to sit down and come to grips with this at night like I planned. I'll be free most of the day tomorrow (some brief classes, but no lectures), so I will finish it then. I've actually been enjoying working on it, to my surprise, and I've found a few problems to tackle on the way that I hope I've addressed. - Bilby (talk) 13:20, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 February 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:40, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Please be the mentor for the students working on Internet backbone and Internet Service Provider

Hi again, Adam! I'm currently trying to assign mentors to all the remaining groups in Professor Obar's class. Would you be the mentor for the group of students working on Internet backbone, as well as the group working on Internet Service Provider? I thought you'd be a good fit for these two topics, since you have tangentially-related expertise and the topics themselves have a modest bit of overlap. If you can do it, thanks! If not, or you'd rather just mentor one group, please let me know.--Sage Ross - Online Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 00:48, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Sounds good - I have to do a lecture covering some of this material in a few weeks, so it will be a nice fit. :) I'll put my name down when I get today's lecture under control. - Bilby (talk) 03:03, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi my name is Nick, and my partner Wes and I are working on this project. I just wanted to reach out to say hi to you, and I look forward to speaking with you this semester. Thanks in advance for helping us out. Pingtell (talk) 04:32, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi! Good to hear from you - I'll keep an eye on what is happening and be in touch, but send any queries you have my way as well. :) - Bilby (talk) 13:26, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 7 March 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 14:10, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Hello, my name is Jaime Peca and I'm a sophomore at Syracuse University. I am planning on working on the article for the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons primarily, but also evidence-based policy. I would really appreciate your help over the next few weeks as I try to implement some of my changes! Jep1991 (talk) 00:13, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Sorry is this Revenge or something?

So first it was

  • Bidgee

than it was

now it was a vandalism warning ....sorry Bilby, but are you keeping a close eye on me or something? I am not taking these little things into consideration of acts of good faith, because they always play a role against me. Are you trying to point out my mistakes (although I havent made any yet) just to suit your own agenda? With all due respect, I cannot do my job editing with a rope tied around my neck. Sorry If I sound harsh, it is just wherever I go, you seem to follow.-- MelbourneStar☆ (talk) 12:58, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

This user changed the Magnitude of an earthquake from 7.7 to 8.8...This was the 1983 Sea of Japan Earthquake. The recent Earthquake in Japan had a magnitude of 8.9...so this user could have intentionally changed the magnitude to make both earthquakes the strongest to hit Japan, when really this recent one was the strongest. This Vandalism is simmilar to going on the Empire State Building article changing the height to 1500 metres, when clearly it does not stand half as tall as that... -- MelbourneStar☆ (talk) 13:06, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
There is no rope ties around your neck. I have some minor concerns with your editing, enough to have checked in twice, but otherwise I'm not keeping an eye on you. In the past I've found that a bit of good advice, if needed, is far better than doing nothing until a generally good editor is blocked, but that means you need to be aware of when advice might help out. However, I'd suggest that you might wish to think about why someone makes changes - in dropping the vandalism warning you did on the IP, it might have been worth asking why the IP would have made that change. The most likely one is that the IP erred by thinking that the tsunami referred to was the current one, and thus changed the magnitude to 8.8. AGF would suggest an error, rather than deliberate vandalism. - Bilby (talk) 13:08, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
As an aside, you were in no way responsible for anything related to Bidgee, or at least no more responsible than Bidgee was himself. - Bilby (talk) 13:24, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
I don't know where you or anyone else gets 2011: Pacific Coast of Japan from 1983: Sea of Japan...They are totally different years, different earthquake, different area...even the death toll is a major difference 1000+ to 100. Bilby, I say this with the most respect I can possibly give to you: You do not need to be concerned about my edits 1. They don't really concern you .2. They are made in the most good faith as possible .3. I have been on Misplaced Pages long enough to know rights from wrongs.
People make mistakes. I do all the time. That warning message unfortunately wasnt one of them. What the user wrote constitues to vandalism A.K.A a disruption.
I dont know what I have done to give you uncertainty, or give you a bad impression...but Bilby this 'opposing' me has got to stop. Thank You -- MelbourneStar☆ (talk) 13:36, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
With the Bidgee issue, I wish that were true because one of the editors opposing me, is one that seems to be holding a grudge :| (not you btw) -- MelbourneStar☆ (talk) 13:36, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
Just to be clear - I'm not opposing you. I'm sure you are doing a great job, with a couple of exceptions which aren't worth panicking over. That said, just keep in mind that you've been at the receiving end of an overzealous warning in the past. The IP may have been vandalising, but the 8.8 figure matches one of the reported values for the recent quake, so it is possible that this was a mistake. For a single bad edit, which might be a mistake, an L2 vandalism warning is a bit bitey. - Bilby (talk) 13:50, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Article for deletion

I have seen that you have partcipated in the article for deletion for Techna Dye. Perhaps this AFD could be of interest to you? Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Jay Marvin --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 14:28, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 14 March 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:40, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Marking articles students are working on

Howdy, Online Ambassador!

This is a quick message to all the ambassadors about marking and tracking which articles students are working on. For the classes working with the ambassador program, please look over any articles being worked on by students (in particular, any ones you are mentoring, but others who don't have mentors as well) and do these things:

  1. Add {{WAP assignment | term = Spring 2011 }} to the articles' talk pages. (The other parameters of the {{WAP assignment}} template are helpful, so please add them as well, but the term = Spring 2011 one is most important.)
  2. If the article is related to United States public policy, make sure the article the WikiProject banner is on the talk page: {{WikiProject United States Public Policy}}
  3. Add Category:Article Feedback Pilot (a hidden category) to the article itself. The second phase of the Article Feedback Tool project has started, and this time we're trying to include all of the articles students are working on. Please test out the Article Feedback Tool, as well. The new version just deployed, so any bug reports or feedback will be appreciated by the tech team working on it.

And of course, don't forget to check in on the students, give them constructive feedback, praise them for positive contributions, award them {{The WikiPen}} if they are doing excellent work, and so on. And if you haven't done so, make sure any students you are mentoring are listed on your mentor profile.

Thanks! --Sage Ross - Online Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 18:10, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

TC 210 online mentor for "Internet Service Provider"

Hello Bilby,

I'm Gerald and you are the online mentor for my class Misplaced Pages project. My group will be editing the "Internet Service Provider" article. I look forward to learning from you and appreciate your help on this project. Part of my latest assignment was to write on your discussion page so here I am. Look forward to working with you,

Gerald

Schust38 (talk) 01:27, 16 March 2011 (UTC)


Hey Bilby,

You are the online mentor for my Wiki project as well. In fact, Gerald and I are in the same group and would be glad to get your assistance on our topic - Internet Service Provider.

Ritvik

Sh.ritvik (talk) 03:41, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Internet Backbone Project

Hello Bilby,

Sorry for taking so long to reply to your original post on my talk page as I was still learning how to use Misplaced Pages :). I just wanted to thank you for volunteering to help our group with this project and I'm looking forward to our future communication.

Wes

Warnellw (talk) 02:42, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

DYK for The Dawn (feminist magazine)

Updated DYK queryOn 17 March 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article The Dawn (feminist magazine), which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that The Dawn, Australia's first feminist magazine, was boycotted by unions because the publisher employed women to handle the printing? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Materialscientist (talk) 16:05, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Professor Obar Concerns

Got a message about an hour ago from Professor Obar of the Media and Telecommunication Policy project and I think it is viewed best in full:

Can you please communicate to the online mentors that I DO NOT want them moving student material into the main space for them. This is a big problem. I have noticed that this has happened with a number of the projects already, for example, in the broadband.gov article and the media cross-ownership article. We need the students to be doing this on their own, of course so they can learn how to do it, and also so that I can grade what they've done. How am I supposed to follow student submissions if the data is associated with online mentors? A BIG PROBLEM ALREADY... please help me with this. None of you responded to my post about this on the discussion page. This is about to get out of hand. Jaobar (talk) 05:27, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

With that, of course, please only give instructions on how to move, don't do it for them. Please only let them know what to do and let them do it themselves. If they run into problems, provide further instructions. Do not it for them. This seems to be making a mess of Prof. Obar's grading system and I would like to avoid that. Thanks. - Neutralhomer • Talk • Coor. Online Amb'dor • 06:10, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program Newsletter: 21 March 2011


The newsletter of the Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program – Volume 3, 21 March 2011

This is the third issue of the Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program Newsletter, with details about what's going on right now and where help is needed.


Delivered by EdwardsBot (talk) 22:21, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

Kym

"During his time with the RAAF, Bonython rose to the rank of Captain". Can you check that please? Perhaps it should be "group captain"? If it is indeed captain, then it better have a more tangible supporting reference, or there will be endless comments about "captain" not being a RAAF rank. Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 23:54, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

Shall do. - Bilby (talk) 23:55, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 21 March 2011


Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:26, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Lavington

At the moment, especially with all the subheadings, the article isn't really about John Lavington Bonython so much as his family - I've removed six of the subheadings, and yes, that is an improvement. However, the ratio of dad to kids&wives is still too low. Reducing the "kids&wives" section seems like a bad idea to me - adding more to "dad" seems a much better idea. Your thoughts? Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 02:13, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

P.S. I finally found his KtB - under "levington"! Pdfpdf (talk) 02:13, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

New message notice

Hello, Bilby. You have new messages at Skol fir's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

The Signpost: 28 March 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:30, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Nice!

Nice addition! . Dreadstar ☥ 15:11, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 4 April 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:25, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

Hi Bibly, I was wondering if you would be my mentor? I am a student at Syracuse University currently enrolled in a course about NGOs and global affairs. I will be making edits to a few different NGO-related articles over the next month and would appreciate your advice/help. One of the articles that I want to expand is about "Partners in Health". Let me know if you're interested. Thanks!

-Mack — Preceding unsigned comment added by Photobymack (talk • contribs) 17:34, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

Possible pictures for Union County College

Hi I'm the Wikipedian who got into the brouhaha with pictures. Thanks for your help with the article. I took more pictures but as you probably know I had an incident with campus police about this whole subject. But I kept the pictures. Just in case of any privacy concerns, I digitally altered them to remove faces, names, email addresses and such. If you don't mind I'll post some of the pictures here in case you wish to add them to the article; some are already in the article; others don't help much (like you pointed out); at this point I'm removing the UCC article from my watchlist and won't do much else with it so I'm glad to turn this over to others, and I have other stuff to do! btw never been to Australia but did get as far as New Zealand, and never did check if the water does, in fact, swirl down drains the opposite way! :) --Tomwsulcer (talk) 18:47, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 11 April 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 09:14, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

re: Regional Indian Penis Size‎

Yup. Saw that and replied why I don't think it's relevant in the AfD discussion. I'm checking for deleted versions at capitalization variants. I'm going to check a couple of other projects, too. It might have been lifted from SimpleEnglish or one of our other sister projects. Rossami (talk) 01:38, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

Re:Yellow Monkey

No problem at all. I understand that this button sometime can cause trouble. And if you think my redirects aren't good and you know any better solution for them, please feel free to do as you wish. I'm not an expert in English Misplaced Pages.--AM 14:26, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Georgetown Student

Hi Bilby!

I was wondering if you could please take a look at a page I am working on and give me some feedback on the content/style/format of the page before I make it public. It is still in its draft form and needs a little more information but its close to being done I would say. Thanks!

Here is the link to what I have so far: http://en.wikipedia.org/User:Ka_Yaffa2/sandbox

Ka Yaffa2 (talk) 20:55, 18 April 2011 (UTC)Ka Yaffa2

The Signpost: 18 April 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 05:35, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program Newsletter: 22 April 2011


The newsletter of the Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program – Volume 4, 22 April 2011

This is the fourth issue of the Misplaced Pages Ambassador Program Newsletter, with details about what's going on right now and where help is needed.


Delivered by EdwardsBot (talk) 16:31, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 25 April 2011

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 23:31, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Copyright

Hey dude! Howzit? I would just like to ask you quickly if images of national sport teams are allowed to be used on Misplaced Pages, and if so, which category they fall under? Thanks! --Another Type of Zombie 11:03, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Australia WWI Flyers

Thanks for info about Australians within the RFC. I'm a big fan of WWI flying history so its always good here new information.--Factchk (talk) 17:32, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Dell

I did a search inside the book. There's no mention of Dell on pg. 110 and existing references to Dell don't back up the edit. --NeilN 23:51, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

My apologies. By "the ref is not there" I thought you meant the book as a whole. - Bilby (talk) 23:57, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
No worries. Thanks for the revert. --NeilN 23:59, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

On hosting preprints, etc.

I hope you don't mind this comment, Bilby. If you do, you have no obligation to read it, you may revert it, or whatever, I won't take offense.

You are correct, an author may not, in some cases, be able to give permission. However, we normally trust a claim by an author to have right, if they, for example, are known to be the author and they make the claim of right! We don't demand absolute proof.

The web site in question is like that. They only host papers when the author offers the paper and claims to have the right to do so. These papers are generally preprints, and I've often found that publishers do allow these, no problem, it's explicit on their author instructions.

I know of one case where a hosted paper was, however, a copy of the original publication, original pdf from the publisher. What happened? I asked. The author is a well-known scientist, highly reputable in the field, and aged. The web site owner was not about to challenge the claim of permission from that author. However, It's highly likely that he did with it what I think he does with all the papers, if they have been published elsewhere, he writes the publisher and informs them that he's been given permission, to give them an opportunity to deny it.

It totally protects him, since he's nonprofit. If an error is made, the publisher has only one remedy: a takedown notice. Only if he neglects that would he be in hot water.

So is there copyvio? Maybe, it depends on how you interpret the term, and it would be unusual.

Is there legal risk to Misplaced Pages from linking to such a page? No, such a risk isn't real, it isn't illegal in itself, but could be a problem, from precedent, only if the linking was deliberate, to known copyvio.

The general principle I've seen asserted is that Misplaced Pages should not link to a site known to massively violate copyright, i.e., a "copyvio site." The existence of isolated cases doesn't negate linking, and even extensive violation, in some cases, might not justify prohibiting linking. Youtube, for example!

I requested a whitelisting of one page that was, in fact, a copy of the publisher PDF. That was challenged, and I withdrew the request. That one was arguable, even though, I'll still assert, there would be no risk. We do not know that the publisher did not give permission.

And to find out is tedious and not worth the effort, if it's even possible. If someone was really concerned, they could write the publisher and inform them of the possible "violating paper." Most likely, there would be no response. Which makes it likely that the hosting is not copyvio. If I were a publisher, I would not pay an employee to respond to requests like this, but if I were upset about the hosting, I'd respond, "Thanks," and send a takedown notice. Given the prominence of the web site under consideration -- it's often linked from papers published by the copyright owners! and it shows up prominently in searches for the papers, normally -- it's highly unlikely that there are major copyvio problems. --Abd (talk) 01:12, 30 April 2011 (UTC)