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Wikipedia Hoax Author Confesses
cmholm writes "As reported in The Seattle Times, Nashville resident Brian Chase has publically admitted that he edited a Wikipedia entry for John Seigenthaler, making appear that Mr. Seigenthaler was involved in the assassination of JFK. Mr. Chase fessed up after a cyber-sleuth tracked down the business from which he had posted to Wikipedia."
Wait...so, that was illegal?
Three if you count Taco.
Wikipedia is not credible as a citation source like other encyclopedias.
If you speak out for the assassination of the President, you will likely get a visit to discuss your views.
"Free speech means that you can speak against government policies that you do not agree with and the police won't kick in your door in the middle of the night and make you disappear. "
"You may want to go back and read the bill of rights because you do not have much of a clue about them."
Hm, let's make somethin up...
OJ Simpson had a part in not only his wife's murder, but JFK's.
What, I'm now exposing myself to have charges brought against me now? Doubt it.
Our justice system is fucked if this guy has any charges brought against him.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
I can't believe this guy gave up his job over this! So what if he did what he did? Where did he break the law? Where did he do something that isn't done thousands of times a day, probably, by others? I see the moral issue, duplicity, but its a relatively mild one, and its not cause for dismissal or resignation.
Someone needs to sue Wikipedia for libel. I know there are a lot of good people contributing to Wikipedia, but the facists there have taken over and ruined it. Brandt is right... there needs to be accountability, and furthermore, some better decision-making process where not just the online bullies get their way because they feel strongly about something.
As a direct result of the creation of Wikipedia Watch, Brandt was banned indefinitely from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is fascist. I've never seen from where they get any credibility whatsoever.
The Admin and the Engineer
From Wikipedia: "Chase said he had done it as a joke to amuse a colleague when they found out anyone could edit Wikipedia."
I do that myself all the time. It's funny looking at people's reactions when I do it.
Bob: Wikipedia is such a great resource!
Brandybuck: No it's not, any idiot can edit it, even you.
What do you mean?
Here, let me show you. Look up "Dr. Pepper". Okay, now click that edit button and start typing away.
But my edit would be instantly reverted.
No it wouldn't. How many people do you think are going to fact check a Dr. Pepper article? You've got a good chance of your edit staying up there for months if you make it sound plausible. For example, type this in: "Because of this widespread belief, the company actually started using prune juice in its product during the years 1946-1947." Now come back in a month and see if it's still there...
But you can't do stuff like that to major article about a current controversy.
Sure you can. It just takes a little bit more work. Just post something bogus to Daily Kos or Little Green Footballs, then link to it from the Wikipedia article with a phrase like: "Controversy still simmers on this issue after new allegations [your link here] were later made".
Wow! I didn't know that this was possible.
Yes it is. I'm one of thousands who regularly insert false information into Wikipedia. We have our own network to coordinate our activities. Next tuesday we have an editfest scheduled for the CmdrTaco article.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
If they fail to perform their duties (write "truth" that can be confirmed), then they will be fired and possibly shunned from the journalism industry.
2005 called. It wants you to join the rest of the world in the 21st century.