[Foundation-l] depraved neutrality / influencing Wikipedia contents on behalf and in favor of industry and organizations

[Rui Correia]

Hi Thomas

Thanks for sharing this. We need more people like you, willing to display
our own rot! We all know why Rome collapsed - nobody would hold up a mirror
to see what had become of them.

We can't allow that to happen to us. It is bad enough that hundreds of
thousands of people out there are turned away from contributing becase of
the thousands of - as we would say in Portuguese - "pequenos poderes", that
is "small powers". Tin-pot dictators come to mind. These are the people who
- like tiny minions of the emperor - do nothing but make everybody else's
life miserable. And yes, they exist. Worst of all, they cover up for each
other, as you can see from following their contributions. These include
so-called "contributors" of any rank - people with barnstars, admins, and -
something I found more recently - "autopatrolled" users. Autopatrolled
indeed! Behave nicely long enough, and then, when you are above suspicion,
do what you want.

THE FIRST (and only) ARTICLE I EVER CREATED* WAS PROPOSED FOR DELETION
WITHIN 1 MINUTE. ONE MINUTE**!!! Now, that's quite an incentice for new
contributors!

It is time to wake up! The emperors ar naked, so when a little child shouts
it out, we should listen and not do what every other damn spehre of society
does - cover up for each other! Let's us work as a tem, yes, but as
sportspeople, not politicians/ businessmen/ etc with a hidden agenda.

Best regards,

Rui

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danilo_Caymmi
**
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Danilo_Caymmi&action=historysubmit&diff=384448943&oldid=384448776

2011/7/1 Thomas Goldammer <thogol at googlemail.com>

> Hoi all,
>
> as a recent lengthy CU case on de.wp showed, there is clear evidence
> that two people (a lawyer and a PR entrepeneur) working at the law
> school of a university in Germany, but on outside funding, have
> influenced contents of de.wp (away from a neutral point of view) on at
> least two different sites. Aggravatingly, these two work on a project
> "Wiki Watch" to evaluate Wikipedia articles on their quality and
> contents... The university probably did not even know (now they do,
> reaction still pending) about the shenanigans of these people.
>
> The first incident involves a company who fabricates drugs including a
> type of insuline, which was deemed possibly potentially cancerogene by
> an institute. From WP accounts associated (by checkuser and other
> evidence) to these Wiki Watch people, the articles about the
> institute, about that drug and about the drug company (and some more
> related to this) were changed (in general positivizing/promoting the
> company and the drug and adding critics to the article about the
> institute).
>
> The second incident involves articles in the field of evangelical
> organizations (including such who want to cure homosexuality and stuff
> like that, all highly non-scientifical). One of the Wiki Watch guys
> worked for such an organization until recently. A number of WP
> accounts, also associated to the Wiki Watch people (by CU), was found
> editing in this field, adding the views of this sort of organizations
> to articles and promoting such views.
>
> For those of you who read German, the FAZ, one of the most widespread
> daily newspapers in the country, have published a long article on this
> matter online:
> http://www.faz.net/artikel/C31013/die-dubiosen-verstrickungen-von-wiki-watch-hier-prueft-der-buerger-das-insulin-noch-persoenlich-30452874.html
>
> So, heads up, everyone, this can happen in other Wikipediae, too. (or
> it might already have...)
>
> Best regards,
> Thogo.
> p.s. thanks to the CU people at dewiki and to others who helped to reveal
> this.
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>



-- 
_________________________
Mobile Number in Namibia +264 81 445 1308
Número de Telemóvel na Namíbia +264 81 445 1308

I am away from Johannesburg - you cannot contact me on my South African
numbers
Estou fora de Joanesburgo - não poderá entrar em contacto comigo através dos
meus números sul-africanos

Rui Correia
Advocacy, Human Rights, Media and Language Consultant
Angola Liaison Consultant

_______________