FBI Tries To Bully Wikipedia

It's nice to know that there are no more federal criminals or spies here in the United States and there is nothing left for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to do. What? That's not true? Then what the hell is the FBI doing trying to bully a noncommercial internet site that is breaking no laws (and is protected under First Amendment free speech rights)?

Last month, the FBI sent a threatening letter to the good folks over at Wikipedia -- a noncommercial internet information site (and a very good one). It seems that Wikipedia posted a copy of the FBI seal beside its article about the federal organization. That makes perfect sense to me, but the FBI decided they didn't like that.

The misguided people running the FBI told Wikipedia they were breaking the law by posting a picture of the FBI seal. They asked them to remove the image and said, "Failure to comply may result in further legal action." FBI spokesman William Carter said, "You can't use the FBI seal, by law, unless you have the permission of the FBI director."

That's a load of bunk. The law referred to is to prevent people from "flashing fake badges or profiting from the use of the seal", neither of which Wikipedia was doing. In fact, other internet sites, including the Encyclopedia Britannica, have posted pictures of the same FBI seal. This makes me wonder why they are picking on Wikipedia.

But the folks at Wikipedia don't scare that easily. Wikipedia's own attorney, Michael Godwin, sent a letter back to the FBI saying, "While we appreciate your desire to revise the statute to reflect your expansive vision of it, the fact is that we must work with the actual language of the statute, not the aspirational version. . .we are prepared to argue our view in court. . .with all appropriate respect."

The fact is that the United States government, including the FBI, belongs to the citizens of the United States and the use of government symbols, within the law, is a free speech right. It looks like someone needs to remind the dunderheads at the FBI about this. They exist to see that the laws of this country are upheld -- not to try and intimidate law-abiding citizens and organizations.