Jimbo Wales this week added a new criterion to the speedy deletion criteria. This new rule allows images without proper source information to be deleted after 7 days.

The full text is as follows:

Images in category "Images with unknown source" or "Images with unknown copyright status" which have been on the site for more than 7 days, regardless of when uploaded.

Jimbo said on his user talk page, "I am hopeful that a major push to sort through these two categories with an aim of eliminating everything in them can be completed in two weeks. If this policy change isn't enough to change the direction on these issues dramatically, we'll have to take some further steps to disallow uploads except to people who have somehow earned the right."

The numerous images uploaded without source information, usually by anonymous or new users, have created a complex legal situation for Wikipedia; the material itself is often a copyright violation.

The decision was not without controversy. A few users complained that those deleting images failed to give warning before they were deleted. However, Nv8200p noted, "Images should not have been uploaded in the first place with the proper tag. The instructions on the upload page are quite clear."

Jimbo later clarified, "In general I agree that users should be warned first, this is why there's a 7 day rule on these. But the simple sad fact is that many of these images are months or years old and nothing has ever been done about them."