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

[Andreas Kolbe]

Todd,

Yes, it's done via OTRS. Details are here:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Benutzerverifizierung (User
verification)

Google translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fde.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWikipedia%3ABenutzerverifizierung

It involves sending an e-mail to info-de at wikimedia.org, from a company
e-mail address.

Best,
Andreas




On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 7:03 PM, Todd Allen <toddmallen at gmail.com> wrote:

> > *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.
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