I don't see this as a fundamental flaw with Wikipedia's structure - faked credentials (and improper vetting of them) can plague almost any organization or community: * Michael Brown at FEMA: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/ 0,8599,1103003,00.html * George O'Leary (football coach): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ George_O%27Leary#Notre_Dame_Controversy * "Security consultant" posing as Fed Agent to stalk "Brangelina": http://www.tmz.com/2006/09/14/fake-fed-wanted-to-get-near-brangelina/ And, of course, it was the New Yorker (who has greater resources for fact-checking) who got fooled here just as much as the Wikipedia community.... -mz ----- Michael T. Zimmer Doctoral Candidate, Culture and Communication, New York University Student Fellow, Information Law Institute, NYU Law School e: michael.zimmer@nyu.edu w: http://michaelzimmer.org On Mar 8, 2007, at 3:20 PM, Homero Gil de Zuniga wrote:
Once again Wikipedia raises controversy by the weakness of its very structure. Although I guess that it is the same structure that makes it an attractive global encyclopedia.
HGZ
BBC:
Fake professor in Wikipedia storm
Internet site Wikipedia has been hit by controversy after the disclosure that a prominent editor had assumed a false identity complete with fake PhD.
Complete article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6423659.stm
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