hi all,
you might be interested in this article.
cheers,
joe
you might be interested in this article.
cheers,
joe
A Sydney software engineer has been embroiled in a controversy
in which Microsoft stands accused of trying to use him as a paid
proxy to finesse entries on the Wikipedia site.
Doug Mahugh, Microsoft "technical evangelist", emailed the
engineer, Rick Jelliffe, on Monday, hoping to use Mr Jelliffe's
expertise to modify a number of technical articles in the online
encyclopedia.
Mr Jelliffe holds an economics degree from the University of
Sydney and is chief technical officer at Topologi, a Pyrmont
software company.
But the Microsoft approach has been interpreted as an attempt to
disguise its hand in the editing process.
Wikipedia allows anyone to add to and modify articles, and
relies on volunteer moderators to correct inaccuracies. But
Microsoft has rejected suggestions it was being sneaky or
underhanded by approaching Mr Jelliffe.
In the email to Mr Jelliffe, which Mr Mahugh has since published
online, Mr Jelliffe was asked if he would be interested in
correcting "errors" and "slanted language" found in Wikipedia
entries relating to rival computer software standards, one of which
was developed by Microsoft.
The email encouraged Mr Jelliffe to disclose his deal with
Microsoft in his blog, and reassured him that Microsoft did not
have to approve any of the Wikipedia edits before they were
made.
Mr Jelliffe's disclosure of the offer on his blog sparked a
flurry of criticism. He denied he was pro-Microsoft.
"Full disclosure was part of the deal! I wouldn't have been
interested otherwise," he wrote.
Mr Jelliffe has refused to add to his published comments.
A Microsoft spokeswoman, Catherine Brooker, said no money had
changed hands, but did not say whether the contract had been
withdrawn.
source http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/microsoft-makes-hard-call-for-input/2007/01/24/1169594396428.html
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