Wikipedia Actively Battling PR Sockpuppets 166
Nerval's Lobster writes "Over the weekend we discussed news that PR firms have been selling their ability to modify Wikipedia entries to help clients clean up their image. Now, the Wikimedia Foundation's executive director has confirmed that Wikipedia editors are actively engaged in a wide-ranging battle against those PR firms. Over the past couple weeks, those editors have isolated several hundred user accounts linked to people 'paid to write articles on Wikipedia promoting organizations or products,' according to Sue Gardner. Those users' accounts violate Wikipedia's guidelines, 'including prohibitions against sockpuppetry and undisclosed conflicts of interest.' Some 250 suspicious user accounts have already been nuked. Correcting biased text is a thankless job for those Wikipedia editors — the literary-world equivalent of killing endless hordes of zombies approaching your protective fence. But that job gets even harder when a PR agency deploys dozens, or even hundreds of writers to systematically adjust clients' Wikipedia pages."
Re:Wow, I'm going through this now.... (Score:4, Informative)
it might be sleazy, but prostituion is a legal service - there's no reason why it shouldn't be advertised (with restrictions on appropriate style and location of advertising, of course).
presumably, his magazine is for adults and the readers know what it's about?
being accused of child prostitution is not the same thing as being guilty of it. if he's arrested, charged, and found guilty in court, then he should be sent to jail. if not, the accusation shouldn't be used as a stick to beat him with.
Re:A pox on all PR/marketing firms (Score:5, Informative)
Cease and Desist orders for violating the terms of service would be more effective than just naming and shaming - although that's useful/satisfying too.
also, accessing computer systems without proper authorisation is a criminal offense, not just a civil liability - so evidence can be handed over to the police for prosecution.
Re:Wow, I'm going through this now.... (Score:5, Informative)
He also has a site (backpage.com)
Your edit was reverted because it was factually incorrect as demonstrated by your own links. Backpage.com is owned by Village Voice Media. Dan Pulcrano has no ownership interest in VVM or Backpage. It looks like Backpage pays for a link from the metroactive.com website but that's about the extent of it.
Re:Wow, I'm going through this now.... (Score:5, Informative)
You're either confusing words or countries here. How the hell was this modded Informative in the first place?
Re:Wow, I'm going through this now.... (Score:5, Informative)
There's an entire world outside the US.
Illegal use of computer resources (Score:5, Informative)
If someone cracks into a system, they get charged with illegal use of computer resources. if someone violates the EULA for a website, they can be similarly charged.
I see no reason why these PR firms couldn't therefore be charged with similar violations in court.