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Microsoft Busted on Paid Wikipedia Modification

Published Friday, August 1, 2008 by bloggerblognet83460 | E-mail this post

Wikipedia has become one of those odd internet sites that have evolved into a phenomenon. Alas, some companies dont like what is written about them.

Unless you have been living offline, you probably know about Wikipedia. The site is a giant information source where the content is written and provided by posters. The community content site is open to just about anyone that wants to post with one major exception. People cannot post if they have a conflict of interest in regard to the information they are providing. A classic example of this would be a sales person uploading a profile of their products or company. Surprisingly, this doesnt happen all that often. That being said, one company just got caught with its hands in the proverbial cookie jar.

Microsoft is a huge force in the software and web world. To say that it has a lot of haters is a slight understatement. Simply put, the company does not have the best of reputations. Given this fact, you can see where I am headed in regard to Wikipedia. Yep, Microsoft tried to pay someone to upload some positive information.

The situation when down like this. Microsoft is unhappy with some information posted on Wikipedia regarding open source software and Microsofts efforts in the area. Specifically, Microsoft felt the section had been written primarily by IBM employees and was biased. To correct what it calls mistakes in the information, the company approached Rick Jelliffe, a blogger, about reviewing the articles and uploading any changes he independently felt were needed. Imagine that!

The effort was apparently cut off before it got anywhere. There isnt any clear indication of how the scheme was discovered, but Wikipedia apparently found out about it. When confronted, Microsoft admitted to being a party to the situation and apologized.

While Microsoft may have been caught in this interesting little strategy, one has to wonder how many other companies have not been snagged. With a community platform like Wikipedia, it is always important that you remember to take the information with a grain of salt. After all, you never know who might have written it.

Richard A. Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - California incorporation services.