Not sure this has been shared here. So I wanted to share this here for info and possible discussion.
Summary from Writer
Enterprising Angolans have used two free services—Facebook Free Basics and Wikipedia Zero—to share pirated movies, music, television shows, anime, and games on Wikipedia. And no one knows what to do about it.
Because the data is completely free, Angolans are hiding large files in Wikipedia articles on the Portuguese Wikipedia site (Angola is a former Portuguese colony)—sometimes concealing movies in JPEG or PDF files. They’re then using a Facebook group to direct people to those files, creating a robust, completely free file sharing network. A description for a Facebook group with 2,700 members reads https://www.facebook.com/groups/1553180724893584/: “created with the objective of sharing music, movies, pictures, and ANIMES via Wikimedia.” I was not admitted into the Facebook group and none of its administrators responded to my messages for an interview.
Long read https://motherboard.vice.com/read/wikipedia-zero-facebook-free-basics-angola...
No, I don't think it's been shared here.
Their approach is the last thing I would ever think of to use Wikipedia for.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say.
2.5$ for 50 MB? That's insanely expensive. Just, why? One can get 0.4$ for 750 MB each day, *even,* Ghana
I'm sure a solution to the problem regarding the wikis isn't overly complex as can be handled by a bot that runs through recently uploaded pictures and documents on the Portuguese wiki, verifying the uploaded content are actually what they are and deleting the ones that do not match specific filters. Might be processing intensive, but I'm sure will be a great compromise.
The only surprising part for me is how long the WMF has known about it, and I can't tell if the bad use of the wiki is still happening, because if it is, then well.... On Mar 26, 2016 10:19, "Ato Ulzen-Appiah" abocco@gmail.com wrote:
Not sure this has been shared here. So I wanted to share this here for info and possible discussion.
Summary from Writer
Enterprising Angolans have used two free services—Facebook Free Basics and Wikipedia Zero—to share pirated movies, music, television shows, anime, and games on Wikipedia. And no one knows what to do about it.
Because the data is completely free, Angolans are hiding large files in Wikipedia articles on the Portuguese Wikipedia site (Angola is a former Portuguese colony)—sometimes concealing movies in JPEG or PDF files. They’re then using a Facebook group to direct people to those files, creating a robust, completely free file sharing network. A description for a Facebook group with 2,700 members reads https://www.facebook.com/groups/1553180724893584/: “created with the objective of sharing music, movies, pictures, and ANIMES via Wikimedia.” I was not admitted into the Facebook group and none of its administrators responded to my messages for an interview.
Long read
https://motherboard.vice.com/read/wikipedia-zero-facebook-free-basics-angola...
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I like that saying “Desperate times call for desperate measures” 😉
It appears the “bad use of Wikipedia” is still happening, unfortunately. Obviously it’s a difficult problem to solve. One way it is currently being handled is to mass block IP range addresses - I think it isn’t the best solution. Some good faith editors are affected by that, many of whom do not know they can request an IP block exempt. The good news is that people are discussing this thoroughly and looking for ways to stop it.
@Rex: I’m curious to know more about this “0.4$ for 750 MB each day” thing. Which provider is that?
-Masssly
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Nkansah Rexford Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2016 3:04 PM To: Wikimedia Ghana User Group Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-GH] Interesting revelations of Wikipedia use inAngola
No, I don't think it's been shared here. Their approach is the last thing I would ever think of to use Wikipedia for. Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say. 2.5$ for 50 MB? That's insanely expensive. Just, why? One can get 0.4$ for 750 MB each day, even, Ghana I'm sure a solution to the problem regarding the wikis isn't overly complex as can be handled by a bot that runs through recently uploaded pictures and documents on the Portuguese wiki, verifying the uploaded content are actually what they are and deleting the ones that do not match specific filters. Might be processing intensive, but I'm sure will be a great compromise. The only surprising part for me is how long the WMF has known about it, and I can't tell if the bad use of the wiki is still happening, because if it is, then well.... On Mar 26, 2016 10:19, "Ato Ulzen-Appiah" abocco@gmail.com wrote: Not sure this has been shared here. So I wanted to share this here for info and possible discussion. Summary from Writer Enterprising Angolans have used two free services—Facebook Free Basics and Wikipedia Zero—to share pirated movies, music, television shows, anime, and games on Wikipedia. And no one knows what to do about it. Because the data is completely free, Angolans are hiding large files in Wikipedia articles on the Portuguese Wikipedia site (Angola is a former Portuguese colony)—sometimes concealing movies in JPEG or PDF files. They’re then using a Facebook group to direct people to those files, creating a robust, completely free file sharing network. A description for a Facebook group with 2,700 members reads: “created with the objective of sharing music, movies, pictures, and ANIMES via Wikimedia.” I was not admitted into the Facebook group and none of its administrators responded to my messages for an interview. Long read https://motherboard.vice.com/read/wikipedia-zero-facebook-free-basics-angola...
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