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Wikipedia Dustup: Take Two

Posted by: Heather Green on December 13

So now a group has been formed to potentially pursue a class action suit against Wikipedia. The site says the group was spurred on by the apparent prank that drew a stinging criticism of Wikipedia and prompted the service to change some of its rules. In May, a delivery company manager in Nashville posted fake information on Wikipedia that stayed there for four months suggesting that John Seigenthaler, a former journalist, was part of the JFK and Robert Kennedy assasinations.

Rex Hammock and Shel Holtz have thoughts.

I am uncertain, though, how this class action suit will gain ground, since according to an article from CNET, Wikipedia is free from liability (since it’s a service provider and not a publisher) under the Federal Communications Decency Act.

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Reader Comments

Jim Dermitt

December 14, 2005 10:03 AM

Trouble in utopia. If people are going to spam you with email, it seems probable that they are going to spam an open wiki page. I don't think it's that big of a deal. I've seen questionable stuff on wikipedia. It's not like the wiki developers are saying that the content has been fact checked. Maybe they need a strongly worded disclaimer. Even newspapers write corrections from time to time and people pay for them to be accurate.

Jim Dermitt

December 14, 2005 10:40 AM

I just checked the Rex link. Funny! I guess next everyone who ever used wikipedia, quoted it or posted something on it will be getting sued. We don't have enough problems with terrorism, drugs, faulty products and such. Everybody can be suing everyone. Don't hold your breath waiting for your share of the wikipedia settlement. I guess it could be a boom for online ads looking to cash in on wiki fever. Feed a fever, starve a cold.

schadenfreudisch

December 14, 2005 12:05 PM

i thought the idea behind wikipedia is that it's self-correcting. yes, people can enter false information, but it gets caught and edited as it did in this case. seems like it's still working fine.

Jim Dermitt

December 14, 2005 12:17 PM

Wiki disclaimer
This is your brain.
This is your brain on wiki.
This is a picture of a fried egg.
Any questions?

An attempt at humor.

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In Blogspotting Senior Writer Stephen Baker and Associate Editor Heather Green take a look at how cutting-edge technologies are changing business and society. Whether its blogs or wikis, data crunching or data targeting, technology’s advances are reshaping the world that we live in.

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