Wikipedia and FBI in spat over use of logo

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has sent a letter to Wikipedia’s San Francisco office stating, in part, “unauthorized reproduction of the FBI Seal was prohibited by US law,” a move displaying the agency’s investigative technique at work.

Wikipedia has denied any wrongdoing in response to a letter it received from the FBI suggesting “unauthorized reproduction of the FBI seal” may result in a fine or prison time, or both. "Whoever possesses any insignia...or any colorable imitation thereof..shall be fined...or imprisoned... or both," the FBI wrote, according to the BBC. Wikipedia’s entry on the FBI contains information on the US bureau along with an image of the “Seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” Although the FBI seal is published on numerous other websites, it remains unclear as to why Wikipedia has been singled out. The online free encyclopedia maintains it has done nothing wrong and that FBI lawyers had “misquoted the law.” The FBI said Wikipedia’s use of the seal was “particularly problematic, because it facilitates both deliberate and unwitting violations of restrictions by Wikipedia users.” In a response to the FBI letter, Mike Godwin, Wikipedia’s attorney, wrote there is a big difference between the words “problematic” and “unlawful”. "The enactment of [these laws] was intended to protect the public against the use of a recognizable assertion of authority with intent to deceive. "The seal is in no way evidence of any 'intent to deceive', nor is it an 'assertion of authority', recognizable or otherwise," he wrote. Godwin claims the letter sent by the FBI to Wikipedia omits key words which changed the law’s interpretation. "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," Godwin wrote, adding the firm was "prepared to argue our view in court."