[Wikimedia-l] The soft underbelly of the WP: the sponsored private fiefdoms that thrive in the blind spots

[Todd Allen]

> *Answer the Second*
> *
> *
> This sort of thing is handled much better in the German Wikipedia. In the
> German Wikipedia, companies can edit with verified company accounts: so
> that if Coca-Cola Germany edits the Coca-Cola article, it will actually say
> "Coca Cola Germany" in the edit history. Transparent, and accountable.
>
>
> http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coca-Cola&diff=94427890&oldid=94244180
>
> In the English Wikipedia, however, any account named after a company is
> automatically blocked, and the operator asked to register an account with a
> funny name. This just drives this sort of editing underground, and removes
> transparency.
>
>
>

Andreas,

This is an interesting idea. Does the verification go via OTRS, or some
other means? The main reason en blocks organization-name accounts is
because they're not verified, so someone could register "Example
Corporation" as a user and then go vandalize, or even start spamming to Joe
job them. Also, how is it handled on de if such a malicious account was
already registered and blocked, or the account is created but unverified? I
could see this being a valuable tool for transparency, and done right, I
don't think such a proposal would be hopeless on en.