Wikipedia has sent a cease and desist letter to a friend, what should she do?

Posted by imazio on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @03:08PM
from the self-post dept.

Hi, a friend has received a letter from Wikipedia demanding for a change of an Instagram account handled by my friend. It’s handler is a game of words that sounds like Wikipedia. My friend is scared as it is the main source of income. Any useful advice??

( 6 comments | 5 points | on HN )

Re:Wikipedia has sent a cease and desist letter to a friend,... by AnimalMuppet on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @03:38PM (#28053199)

This might be someone pretending to be Wikipedia. What legal basis does Wikipedia have for telling someone to change something on Instagram? (Unless it's removing Wikipedia content, which would be a reasonable - and legally enforceable - request.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wikipedia has sent a cease and desist letter to a friend,... by imazio on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @03:50PM (#28053321)

I am actually surprised as well. It is because the handler sounds like “wikipedia”, but it includes a bad word (not in English though)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wikipedia has sent a cease and desist letter to a friend,... by pwg on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @03:11PM (#28052906)

The proper advice here is: consult an attorney.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wikipedia has sent a cease and desist letter to a friend,... by imazio on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @03:54PM (#28053360)

Thanks for the advice, I said the same thing. They are scared and thinking about giving up and bending to the request. I had hopes on someone providing some argument convincing enough as to consider fighting this (unreasonable request from my humble point of view).

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Wikipedia has sent a cease and desist letter to a friend,... by slater on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @03:27PM (#28053073)

^ That.

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Re:Wikipedia has sent a cease and desist letter to a friend,... by imazio on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @03:57PM (#28053388)

It is the obvious answer, I agree. But if your main source of income is at risk, there is a lot of uncertainty around standing up. Even if you think it is right.

[ Parent | on HN ]