Message: 9 Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 17:20:25 -0800 From: "George Herbert" george.herbert@gmail.com Subject: [WikiEN-l] Microsoft offering to pay people to edit WP articles To: "English Wikipedia" wikien-l@lists.wikimedia.org Message-ID: 38a7bf7c0701221720s2526bfc9x267b55bae89fb0e7@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Found on Slashdot: http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2007/01/an_interesting_offer.html
Targeted articles was apparently: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OOXML
-- -george william herbert
I think we should protect it.
On Jan 23, 2007, at 3:34 AM, Mathias Schindler wrote:
I think we should protect it.
I think we should help Rick to fix the article. Since when are we opposed to people who try to improve articles?
Although I absolutely agree with the sentiment (and think we should clean up any POV problems in the article), my answer to your question would be, "when people are being paid by the subject to do so", which in my opinion is a clear [[WP:COI|conflict of interest]].
[[User:bbatsell]]
On 1/23/07, bbatsell wikipedia@theskeptik.com wrote:
Although I absolutely agree with the sentiment (and think we should clean up any POV problems in the article), my answer to your question would be, "when people are being paid by the subject to do so", which in my opinion is a clear [[WP:COI|conflict of interest]].
I certainly dispute the fact that an ECMA standard (propsal) is a subject, nor it can pay anyone; extending the COI even to people not affiliated with the subject behind a topic will end up with another conflict of interest: We do want the best people familiar with a subject to contribute to Wikipedia.
We say (for a good reason): "So fix it" to people who spot a mistake in a Wikipedia article. Telling "So don't fix it" especially to the people familiar with a topic is simply annoying (IMHO). In the end,you will not prevent MS from paying 3rd parties to contribute to Wikipedia but you will prevent them from disclosing it.
Mathias
On 23/01/07, Mathias Schindler mathias.schindler@gmail.com wrote:
We say (for a good reason): "So fix it" to people who spot a mistake in a Wikipedia article. Telling "So don't fix it" especially to the people familiar with a topic is simply annoying (IMHO). In the end,you will not prevent MS from paying 3rd parties to contribute to Wikipedia but you will prevent them from disclosing it.
I just did a press phone call to IDG where I expressed our disappointment at Microsoft feeling it had to act in an underhanded round-the-back manner - pointing out that if they made a donation, they'd have gained goodwill, they'd have gotten goodwill, it would have been tax deductible and their articles would have had a decent NPOVing from it anyway. "Give the money straight to US, dammit!"
- d.