This is kind of an old story (ie the BBC is on to it...), but I wanted to make a comment on it.
Dr Occult writes "BBC news is reporting misuse of Wikipedia by politicians
for 'polishing' their images. The article on President Bush has been
altered so many times - not just from within Congress - that
Wikipedia's volunteer monitors have had to block further 'editing'." From the article: "Wikipedia
says the controversy raises questions about whether it is ethical for
those with a vested interest in the subject to edit entries about it.
It said the Congressional computer network has been blocked from
editing for brief periods on a number of occasions in the last six
months due to the inappropriate contributions." (extract from slashdot.org)
For those of you who have been living under a rock, wikipedia is a free and open encyclopedia which anyone can contribute to or edit anonymously (-ish. there is almost no such thing on the internet anymore). In my opinion, wikipedia is the best example of large scale, functional democracy the world has ever seen.
It therefore seems bitterly ironic that the US congress has had to be banned from editing it because they keep attempting to paint themselves in a good light. I'm sure the Australian government won't be far behind; they're just waiting until they can get broadband...
Dr Occult writes "BBC news is reporting misuse of Wikipedia by politicians
for 'polishing' their images. The article on President Bush has been
altered so many times - not just from within Congress - that
Wikipedia's volunteer monitors have had to block further 'editing'." From the article: "Wikipedia
says the controversy raises questions about whether it is ethical for
those with a vested interest in the subject to edit entries about it.
It said the Congressional computer network has been blocked from
editing for brief periods on a number of occasions in the last six
months due to the inappropriate contributions." (extract from slashdot.org)
For those of you who have been living under a rock, wikipedia is a free and open encyclopedia which anyone can contribute to or edit anonymously (-ish. there is almost no such thing on the internet anymore). In my opinion, wikipedia is the best example of large scale, functional democracy the world has ever seen.
It therefore seems bitterly ironic that the US congress has had to be banned from editing it because they keep attempting to paint themselves in a good light. I'm sure the Australian government won't be far behind; they're just waiting until they can get broadband...
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