Live data from Hacker News

Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

bbc.com

31–40 of 887 posts

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#31

Wikimedia should block UK access. That will get the attention of media and popularity contest politicians might change their mind. Remember the "Repeal the Online Safety Act" petition? It has gotten over half a million signatures and the response from the government was a loud "no". > The Government has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the Act as quickly and eff…

In the age of AI chatbots having consumed all of Wikipedia, its relevance has waned. So I don't think they have the same pull as they did before.

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#32

Wikimedia should block UK access. That will get the attention of media and popularity contest politicians might change their mind. Remember the "Repeal the Online Safety Act" petition? It has gotten over half a million signatures and the response from the government was a loud "no". > The Government has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the Act as quickly and eff…

They did do that once, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3477966 ( "Wikipedia blackout page (wikipedia.org)" (2012)) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_SOPA_and_PIPA... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative

Yet this looks nothing like their reaction to SOPA and PIPA. They even explicitly state that Wikimedia is not against the legislation on the whole.

> The Wikimedia Foundation shares the UK government’s commitment to promoting online environments where everyone can safely participate. The organization is not bringing a general challenge to the OSA as a whole, nor to the existence of the Category 1 duties themselves. Rather, the legal challenge focuses solely on the new Categorisation Regulations that risk imposing Category 1 duties (the OSA’s most stringent obligations) on Wikipedia.

---

I personally find it rather frustrating that Wikimedia is suddenly so willing to bend over for fascists. Where did their conscience go?

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is how the law works? Even in the USA, the Supreme Court doesn't act on hypotheticals. They wait until someone brings an actual case. Ofcom haven't ruled Wikipedia is Category 1. They haven't announced the intention to rule it Category 1. The Category 1 rules are not yet in effect and aren't even finalised . They aren't pointing any gun. Wikipedia have a case that they shouldn't be Category 1 if that happens…

That's not how lawmaking works in the UK. I remember an example where the UK Government decided it's OK to rip CDs you own (no, really, it wasn't legal until then), and codified that in law. The parasites that run the UK Music trade organisation appealed and found that the UK had not sufficiently consulted them before deciding to make the law. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-33566933 So - ripping is completely il…

It's not that simple. The law the BBC article is referring to[1] was a regulation, i.e. secondary legislation, passed by resolution. Had it been primary legislation, the courts wouldn't have been able to overturn it (Parliament is sovereign).

[1] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111112700

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#34
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Porn is popular!

Only privately though. No politician is going to admit to watching porn. Any campaign to save porn isn't going to attract many public supporters.

https://news.sky.com/story/neil-parish-mp-accused-of-watchin...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12535038

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#35

Wikimedia should block UK access. That will get the attention of media and popularity contest politicians might change their mind. Remember the "Repeal the Online Safety Act" petition? It has gotten over half a million signatures and the response from the government was a loud "no". > The Government has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the Act as quickly and eff…

I thought people here didn’t like when American companies tried to strongarm democratic governments abroad?

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#36

All US companies should boycott the UK in solidarity. See how fast the regulators walk back the bill.

why would they? This is great for the large media corps:

- Increases barrier to entry for smaller competitors

- Reliable user data (age, race, who knows what else) derived from video age verification

Anecdote:

My mom recently visited Spain. The process of buying a local SIM card was as follows:

• Show your US passport at a major local cellular provider’s store (Movistar) to have its number associated with the SIM.

• During SIM activation, open a browser page that accesses the phone’s camera.

• Scan the first page of your passport.

• Point the selfie camera at your face, then close your eyes and smile when prompted.

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is how the law works? Even in the USA, the Supreme Court doesn't act on hypotheticals. They wait until someone brings an actual case. Ofcom haven't ruled Wikipedia is Category 1. They haven't announced the intention to rule it Category 1. The Category 1 rules are not yet in effect and aren't even finalised . They aren't pointing any gun. Wikipedia have a case that they shouldn't be Category 1 if that happens…

That's not how lawmaking works in the UK. I remember an example where the UK Government decided it's OK to rip CDs you own (no, really, it wasn't legal until then), and codified that in law. The parasites that run the UK Music trade organisation appealed and found that the UK had not sufficiently consulted them before deciding to make the law. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-33566933 So - ripping is completely il…

[deleted]

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#38
post #31

Wikimedia should block UK access. That will get the attention of media and popularity contest politicians might change their mind. Remember the "Repeal the Online Safety Act" petition? It has gotten over half a million signatures and the response from the government was a loud "no". > The Government has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the Act as quickly and eff…

In the age of AI chatbots having consumed all of Wikipedia, its relevance has waned. So I don't think they have the same pull as they did before.

Its relevance has absolutely not waned, more relevant than ever. Models need continuous retraining to keep up to date with new information right?

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#39
post #31

Wikimedia should block UK access. That will get the attention of media and popularity contest politicians might change their mind. Remember the "Repeal the Online Safety Act" petition? It has gotten over half a million signatures and the response from the government was a loud "no". > The Government has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the Act as quickly and eff…

In the age of AI chatbots having consumed all of Wikipedia, its relevance has waned. So I don't think they have the same pull as they did before.

Despite having consumed all of Wikipedia, it still can't accurately answer many questions so I don't think it's relevance or value has waned. AI has not got anywhere near becoming an encyclopedia and it never will whilst it can't say I don't know something (which Wikipedia can do) and filter the fact from the fiction, which Wikipedia does uses volunteers.

Re: Wikipedia loses challenge against Online Safety Act

#40
post #35

Wikimedia should block UK access. That will get the attention of media and popularity contest politicians might change their mind. Remember the "Repeal the Online Safety Act" petition? It has gotten over half a million signatures and the response from the government was a loud "no". > The Government has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the Act as quickly and eff…

I thought people here didn’t like when American companies tried to strongarm democratic governments abroad?

1) There are multiple posters on this site, they sometimes have contradictory opinions.

2) Lots of people like it when a company does an obviously good thing, and dislike it when a company does an obviously bad thing. I guess you’ve made a happy discovery: it turns out the underlying principle was something about what the companies were trying to accomplish, rather than some reflexive “American companies are bad” silliness.

Post reply on HN