It's a difficult challenge. I agree with David; on English Wikipedia, we have masses and masses of articles of borderline notability that are so obviously blatant spam....and they have a terrible tendency to be kept at Articles for Deletion. It's a reflection of our still-optimistic outlook that there are still people who believe that someone will come along and magically turn the spam into something encyclopedic; the reality is that those articles tend to stay pretty much as they are unless someone who has dug up the sources that supposedly make a subject notable actually edit the article to transform it from advertorial to encyclopedic.
I do not know enough about how other Wikipedias handle such spam, although I have heard from some people editing on some projects that similar articles there would be speedy-deleted without a second thought. I do not think that it is likely that English Wikipedia will get to that point unless more people who feel strongly about spam actively participate at AfD.
As to the WMF investing in trying to track down and take down "paid editing companies", there are a few things to keep in mind. First, it's very expensive to develop the evidence that makes the direct link from the spam article to the real identity of the writer of the article. Many of those "companies" are individual people, and there are also plenty of people who call themselves "advisors" who may not edit directly but facilitate companies getting their spam on Wikipedia. And just finding those people/organizations isn't enough - then the course of action usually involves the courts (of varying jurisdictions) which means more lawyers and more external legal fees. We're talking a lot of money here, and that's the area where I have significant concern - a concerted effort covering the 10 largest projects could easily cost as much as the WMF's annual budget. One more thing to keep in mind: many courts would expect some evidence that the problematic organization is causing harm to the brand and financial position of Wikipedia. That part is tough - it's almost impossible to demonstrate a financial cost to Wikipedia for having a spammy article, especially as such a large percentage of the articles on many projectst are barely of "start" quality. The fact that there is a conscious decision not to take advantage of mitigating remedies that are already available to us (such as confirmed identity or not permitting article creation until after a certain number of edits) would also be a potential barrier to legal remedies against paid editing. (I'm not advocating those changes at all, just looking at it from an external perspective.)
Is undisclosed paid editing a violation of the terms of use? Of course it is. But outside of security and safety issues, the WMF has historically left it to the volunteers to interpret the TOU and apply it on individual projects. Frankly, it's how the WMF manages with only a $75 million budget, which is less than many similarly large and popular sites spend on client services, let alone legal fees. Given the longterm frustration of many community members about fundraising, it may be a very tough sell within our own broad community to have to raise more money for the purpose of hiring the staff and paying the bills to address undisclosed paid editing to the point that there is a genuine effect.
Risker/Anne
On 5 January 2017 at 13:53, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
I should add: I spent a few months following the various AFD queues on WP lately, and MY GOODNESS THERE ARE SO MANY BLATANT SPAMMERS. What Jytdog raises is an actual problem. The short reason for a lot of the Problems with Wikipedia is actually "spammers mean we can't have nice things".
- d.
On 2 January 2017 at 22:08, Jytdog jytdogtemp1@gmail.com wrote:
Christophe
Thanks for replying!
This is something the board should be paying attention to, as
undisclosed
paid editing that causes scandal that reaches mainstream media on a
regular
basis, damages the reputation of Wikipedia, and is something that both
Jimmy
Wales and Sue Gardner (when she was ED) made strong public statements
about.
See:
foundation-employee-ousted-over-paid-editing/
2012-10-01/Paid_editing
scandal-uk-head-was-paid-to-promote-topics.html
And there are many more references to this issue in mainstream media.
Doing nothing, especially when WMF representatives make strong statements and there are legal remedies available (WMF legal sent a cease-and-desist order to Wiki-PR with regard to use of the Wikipedia name even before the ToU were strengthened) opens the WMF to criticism and makes those strong statements appear to be just empty rhetoric. Action is possible. Where
is
it?
------ Original Message ------ From: "Christophe Henner" chenner@wikimedia.org To: "Wikimedia Mailing List" wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: 1/2/2017 3:51:49 AM Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Where is WMF with pursuing companies that
offer
paid editing services
Heu
To be fair it's a topic that isn't currently in our plate.
So to be honest, from a board level, I can't really give you an answer right now. As said before, there might be legal constraints we can't foresee.
I made a not to work on that topic, but it might take some time as the current focus is on the strategy process.
Have a very good day,
Le 2 janv. 2017 9:46 AM, "Gnangarra" gnangarra@gmail.com a écrit :
Like most in western countries you'll find most of the WMF staff are currently out of office so I wouldnt expect much back especially not officially from them until after the 9th January.
On 2 January 2017 at 16:42, Jytdog at Wikipedia jytdogtemp1@gmail.com wrote:
This is something that people can natter over endlessly.
The question is to the WMF board and management. These are the people who can authorize action or not. Anything else is just talk.
Again - what discussions has the WMF had, at the corporate decision-making level, about taking legal action against companies that advertise WP editing services and that have no evidence of disclosure as required under the ToU?
Thanks.
On Sun, Jan 1, 2017 at 11:04 PM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Good points, Gnangarra. I started to write out a reply before
realizing
that maybe I would give ideas to our adversaries, so I'll wait here
for
Legal to talk. Perhaps some of us can continue this conversation
behind
closed doors.
Pine
On Sun, Jan 1, 2017 at 7:59 PM, Gnangarra gnangarra@gmail.com
wrote:
I think it would be nice for a more direct input from the WMF over
those
not following the Terms of use.
I see some potential pitfalls, even in chasing companies that
charge
for
content;
- would this draw WMF into a legal editorial position
- would it drive them to further hide their activities
- what would damage would be done if a court says its ok for a
company/individual to control its image even on Wikipedia. we
already
deal with the EUs right to vanish
sometimes its better to not open the can. I think a lot more
discussion
over the implications and impact is needed unfortunately some of
that can
only be behind closed doors it going to need community
trust(something I
think isnt all there at the moment), before asking the WMF legal
to
pick a
fight with anyone.
On 2 January 2017 at 08:52, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
> (: I think that Legal could at least describe in general terms
what
they
> are currently doing and have plans to do in the near future. > > If it turns out that the answers are "we aren't doing much and
we
aren't
> planning to do more", then yes, asking the higher-ups to do
something
about > this sounds like a good idea. By the way, I think the timing for
this
> discussion is good, because WMF should be in the early stages of > formulating the 2017-2018 annual plan. > > Happy new year! > > Pine > > > On Sun, Jan 1, 2017 at 3:53 PM, Jytdog at Wikipedia < jytdogtemp1@gmail.com > > > wrote: > > > Pine, thanks for your reply, but Legal will not do anything
like
this
> > unless they are instructed by management. That is why I
directed my
> > question to the board and management. > > > > I've asked at Jimbo's talk page (bad timing, archived over the holidays, > > will repost) and at Katherine's WP talk page. > > > > Am very interested to hear from the board and/or WMF
management
on
this. > > > > Jytdog > > > > > > > Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2016 10:50:07 -0800 > > > From: Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com > > > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
,
> > > Wikimedia Legal legal@wikimedia.org > > > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Where is WMF with pursuing
companies
that
> > > offer paid editing services > > > Message-ID: > > > <CAF=dyJhC8UqxkOY9FG9diGyobdgbbQaK_ > +M=m9E5Bo3aysPAOw@mail.gmail. > > > com> > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > > > > > Forwarding to Legal. I'm aware of the general problem of
undisclosed
> COI > > > editing, and agree that there should be some enforcement of
this,
> > > particularly given that WMF wants to use Wikipedia's NPOV
and
RS
> policies > > > as part of WMF's marketing. I also wonder if WMF might be
able
to
> recover > > > the costs of enforcement expenses somehow, perhaps by
including
a
> > statement > > > in the TOS that says that people and their employers who
engage in
> > certain > > > types of undisclosed COI editing must (1) reimburse WMF for
attorney
> > fees, > > > court fees, and other related costs of investigations and enforcement, > > and > > > (2) forfeit all revenue from their related activities to
WMF.
My
guess > is > > > that significant financial penalties would be a bigger
deterrent
than
> > > name-and-shame and cease-and-desist letters. > > > > > > Pine > > > > > > ------------------------------
> > > > > > > > > Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2016 03:50:03 -0500 > > > From: Jytdog at Wikipedia jytdogtemp1@gmail.com > > > To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Where is WMF with pursuing companies
that
offer > > > paid editing services > > > Message-ID: > > > <CAAOzcj3cLaJOhvV6LvtqPTtULdj+
9Ccanmht7EJQVLv+Lqa=Ww@mail.
> > > gmail.com> > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > > > > > I am interested to learn if WMF management or the board has
discussed
> > > taking legal action against companies that offer services to
edit
> > Wikipedia > > > and that have no on-Wiki presence disclosing their edits (in
en-WP
at
> > > least) per the Terms of Use. We all know the companies and
their
> > websites, > > > where they use the Wikipedia name, etc. I have looked and
never
found > > > disclosure by any of those companies in en-WP. I have
looked
and
found > > no > > > public evidence of WMF legal engaging with these companies,
other
than > > > Wiki-PR. > > > > > > Some en-Wiki editors recently identified a long-term paid
editor
and
> > > brought the matter to ANI: thread is here > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia: > > Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=757170150# > > > Earflaps_-_accusations_of_being_an_undisclosed_paid_ > > > editor_and_a_sock_puppet>. > > > This brought this whole thing to mind, and is something I
have
been
> > wanting > > > to ask about. > > > > > > Three questions: > > > > > > Has this been discussed, and if so, what has/have the
outcomes
been?
> > > > > > Also, is there budget for WMF legal to take action against
such
> > companies? > > > > > > If not, would you all please consider that? > > > > > > Thanks. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/
mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
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unsubscribe>
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