Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 13:38, 5 September 2012

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Criminal violation of Misplaced Pages's copyright

Apologies for bothering you with this: I couldn't find another place within Misplaced Pages to send it to, nor could I find evidence of Misplaced Pages's awareness of it.

http://www.wipedia.org immediately redirects to http://global-promotions-2012.com/?sid=122514&hid=bjfjjfnhnhbnhnfj&&id=cKnowledge3style ; which apparently infringes on one of the very few copyrights held on the things around here -- your logo:

(the puzzle-piece-built sphere (globe?) above
"WIKIPEDIA"
"The 💕")

They are using:
(a puzzle-piece-built sphere (globe?) above
"KNOWLEDGE"
"We Value Your Opinion")

They are also apparently using your exact typeface {the "W" with the crossed-lines at its center is the most obvious indicator of that}. Perhaps that is also copyrighted. Furthermore, their logo and underlying text is all similarly sized and similarly located (at the extreme upper left of their page).

I suspect that they are one of the same outfits contacting Wikipedians via other routes (email, facebook, whatever) and masquerading as Misplaced Pages. I found a hint of that here. I did think that they were Misplaced Pages, but didn't even give them my gender, prior to figuring it out. (Of course, there is no close button on their site, which simulates the look of a pop-up ad; and the redirect makes the browser's "back" button more difficult to use.)

Presumably they are abusing Misplaced Pages's "good will" within the community to fraudulently obtain email addresses (or whatever their second and third questions are); and deteriorating that good will and causing yall difficulty in the process.

I think that the (primary?) standard of "infringement" is whether a "reasonable person" would be deceived by it. I certainly was. I find NO reasonable doubt as to their intent to infringe; and they are apparently infringing on Misplaced Pages's copyright, users' information, and good name.

_____________
Many thanks for your massive contribution.

Very Truly Yours,

67.91.184.187 (talk) 20:13, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

I was directed to a few different random surveys/adverts from that link, but eventually got the offending one. Here's a screenshot . So not using the actual logo, but clearly trying to pass themselves off as Misplaced Pages-related. I couldn't find an email address, but there is a contact form. the wub "?!" 20:34, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

For informational purposes, if nothing else this is an instance of typosquatting -- that article explains what can be done about it. Looie496 (talk) 02:05, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

I mailed the legal team and pointed them to this discussion. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 23:13, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages spamming its own users talk pages

I would appreciate your input on the appropriateness of Misplaced Pages using opt-in vs. opt-out for internal postings to user talk pages.

A new internal newsletter used an opt-out model for distributing a notice of itself to editors active in dispute resolution - not sure how they are defining "active" though, as I certainly would not have classified myself active; yet my talk page was one of several hundred to receive it (based on the Bot's contribs, I estimate between 900-1000 recipients.

The only way given to avoid receiving the newsletter is by adding your name to Misplaced Pages:Dispute Resolution Improvement Project/NewsletterOptOut. A sample of this notification can be found at User talk:Ocaasi#The Olive Branch: A Dispute Resolution Newsletter (Issue #1), and complaints about the spamming can be found at the same user's talk page, at User talk:Ocaasi#I feel spammed.

Is it acceptable for internal newsletters to use an opt-out model, or should we exclusively use an opt-in model as was done for distribution of the long-running The Signpost newsletter? Your comments on this would be greatly appreciated. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 20:45, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

First let me apologize. People are reasonably frustrated and their criticism has been heard. That said, a few precautions were taken to minimize the disruption:

• The full newsletter was not sent, only a link to the newsletter
• Only editors who were highly and recently active in dispute resolution received the link
• An opt-out list was provided immediately
• The issue was raised at the Administrators' Noticeboard for Incidents prior to the mailing: link to discussion

I hope that mitigates some of the frustration, though I realize it probably won't eliminate it. Our main concern was the dispute resolution is phenomenally important to all active editors and major changes are underway. We wanted people to know about what is informing that process and to participate in it. From here on out the newsletter will be opt-in only. Cheers, Ocaasi 21:14, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Ocaasi, thank you for changing future distribution of the newsletter to be op-in only, I very much appreciate your changing that element of the newsletter - which entirely eliminates my complaint on how the distribution was being executed.

That said, I would still like to hear Jimbo's thoughts on using opt-in vs. opt-out for future reference. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 21:23, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Since this has been raised here, I'd also be interested to here Jimbo's thoughts on whether or not Ocaasi was simply following WP:Bold and if the editors who got all up in arms over this were violating WP:AGF. I know that my defense of Ocaasi may be unpopular, but he was only trying to be helpful. I think the outrage has gone too far. AutomaticStrikeout 21:17, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

• I don't think a forensic examination is necessary here. The issue is resolved, and rather quickly at that (see Misplaced Pages:Bot_owners'_noticeboard#Did_someone_seriously_approve_a_bot_to_spam_people.3F). The newsletter will not be distributed via an opt-out model in the future. --Hammersoft (talk) 21:24, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

• The extent to which people got upset over this is really silly. I can understand getting slightly annoyed at the notification and telling Ocaasi that it should be opt-in, not opt-out, but the amount of negativity and rudeness in the Bot noticeboard discussion is rather sad. Kinda agree with the one comment in there that, if this is how the people involved in dispute resolution areas act...maybe they shouldn't be involved in those areas. Silverseren 01:05, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
  • Exactly. Makes you wonder why they are really there, doesn't it? Viriditas (talk) 07:23, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
    • OMG here too? Folks, this is not a big deal. There is no need to open multiple discussions about the same issue in multiple areas. Here, bot owners noticeboard, the bots talk page, enough is enough. Ocassi sent a few newsletters, its really not the end of the world and we are spending too much time arguing about insignificant issues like this. IF you don't want the newsletter just ignore it, or delete it from your talk page. Ocassi has changed it to opt in. Problem solved. Kumioko (talk) 10:02, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

The New Misplaced Pages?

• On this mediation page, the word "judge/judgement" is mentioned 20 times, including "a three-person panel of judges".
• The phrase "the threshold for a decisive outcome be set at a minimum of 67%", is also there. Could you please look at it?--andreasegde (talk) 21:07, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Very interesting but this sort of thing just hurts my head. I cannot for the life of me imagine why on earth anyone cares enough to spend this many hours fighting about it. I advise the world to relax a notch or two.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 21:26, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

• Indeed. Fighting over "T" vs "t"? This place is jumping the shark. I'm reminded of Golgafrinchams not being able to invent the wheel for lack of agreeing what color it should be. --Hammersoft (talk) 21:30, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

• Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 21:46, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Ahem! Let It Be... Formerip (talk) 21:49, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Hammersoft: I thought the Golgafrinchams were unable to invent fire because their marketing consultants couldn't agree on why people needed fire... or was it that they couldn't agree on what parliamentary procedure to use in their meetings to discuss inventing fire? My commanding officer swore that the entire planet was about to be eaten by a mutant star goat... sorry about that. Back to your regularly scheduled grammatical dispute. I try to Imagine (get it?) what John Lennon would think about all this were he here to see it. I think he would find it very funny, after all, here's a guy who, whenever asked where the name "Beatles" came from, came up with a different fake story every time, just because he got tired of giving the same answer, and now this project has expended gigabytes of storage (and counting) debating, with great earnestness, the crucial issue of whether to put a "The" or a "the" in front of it. There's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend... Neutron (talk) 22:30, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Maybe Jimbo could just flip a coin. And someone could make a template On 4 September 2012, Jimbo flipped a coin. From that day forth this article consistently uses..... Just think how many pointless arguments could be solved this way - French pancakes, Cultured milk products, hyphens vs n-dashes.... --Elen of the Roads (talk)

This idea amuses me greatly. I am thinking of the natural objections and next steps. Why is Jimbo's coin so special? Even Jimbo himself acknowledges that he'd like to have systems in place so that his authority continues to be diminished over time. Is it really right for any one man's coin to have so much power? What we need is a consensus of coin flips. Decisions can only be made when at least 80% of coins agree.

The point I'm driving at is that I think there

I take issue with the dispute being trivialized. Somehow, I don't think everyone's reaction would be the same if we had a contingent of editors going around insisting that every occurence of the indefinite article "a" be capitalized, or that we be banned from using it in the middle of a sentence. It's precisely because the community at large has refused to address this issue in the past that I and other editors have gotten so fed up with the constant bickering that we've quit Beatles-related articles entirely. Evanh2008 21:57, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

You may say Jimbo's a dreamer, but he's not the only one . . . Alanscottwalker (talk) 22:03, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Get back, Jimbo. (This is terrible, it reminds me of the time I got involved in a fish-pun match, just for the halibut, for cod's sake.) Neutron (talk) 22:35, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

• Evan, my comments do not in an sense mean that I trivialize the dispute. Quite the contrary. The fact that such a debate can occur and cause such massive upheaval is a testament to how at least some aspects of this editing model have failed. --Hammersoft (talk) 22:17, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Well, I do want to trivialize the issue. There is no reason you can't handle this the same way I handle American/British spelling changes in the articles I watch, namely, ignore it. Just ignore it. Really. Looie496 (talk) 22:40, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Um... No. I can't ignore it. Not when it's being brought up on a continual basis by trolls and sockpuppets engaged in a campaign to drive away everyone who disagrees with them. Not when I've dedicated a good portion of my time online to making sure no one ever has to deal with it again, only to be rewarded by constant personal attacks and threats against my life. If you don't want to care about it, that's fine, but don't presume to tell me what to do unless you know the full details of the situation. It's easy to look at it from afar and say, "Dur-hur-hur; ass-hats fighting over a tee! Funny!" But unless you've spent month after month being degraded and attacked because you tried to help resolve this like I have, you haven't a clue what you're talking about. Evanh2008 22:51, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Can't one of you code-bot-wizard guys (or gals) invent a thing where you put in your preferences whether you want to see "The" or "the" in front of Beatles, Yardbirds, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (really dating myself here I guess) and whatever, and it automatically capitalizes the "T" if you want. I've seen more amazing things done on here, that shouldn't be any problem at all. I guess it would be tough for names that are also words, like t/The Who, and let's not even talk about t/The t/The. (A little punctuation humor, or is it humour, there.) Neutron (talk) 22:58, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Or, as an alternative, siteban everybody involved. There you go – problem solved. That would at least get rid of the first over-obsessive batch until, inevitably, another batch comes around. --MuZemike 04:51, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

It's the kind of silly disagreement that has led to a complex mediation request and fights across the project, that could easily make one accidentally say "grow the fuck up" in frustration, whether you've been involved in the case or not. dangerouspanda 09:06, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

My point was about the setting up of a court with a panel of judges, who would accept a 7-to-3 decision to enforce a rule.--andreasegde (talk) 07:51, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

I thought it might have been about the cultural implications of adopting a judicial model to decide details of our Manual of Style. Like, isn't there some easier way of doing this (eg WP:CONSISTENCY)? —MistyMorn (talk) 10:31, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

I see no reason to believe that would be any more effective than any of the other non-solutions that have been tried over the reasons. It's taken outside (MedCom) intervention to put a stop to this because some people can't let it go. Consensus isn't enough anymore. Evanh2008 10:52, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

Saying "Consensus isn't enough anymore" is what is most worrying. Creating a precedent in this way will give credence to people saying "consensus isn't enough anymore" at any time in the future. It's a long and slippery slope.--andreasegde (talk) 12:26, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

Scientology articles and our policy on biographies of living people

Recently, a couple changes to List of Scientologists that were in violation of our policy on biographies of living people (WP:BLPCAT in particular) popped up on my watchlist. A few days later, when no one had fixed them, I took a closer look and started some threads on our BLP noticeboard (, , , & ). These were all dealt with quickly. The next set of BLP issues I posted there, however, got no response and were archived without being addressed (, , & ). After all the attention that this topic area got some time ago, I am surprised to see that edits like this can be made by anon IPs on the main list article and remain uncorrected when there are over 100 people watching the list. I have no special interest in Scientology except that it serves as a conveniently polarized arena. If Misplaced Pages cannot enforce its own policies on Scientology where the opposing sides are easy to tell apart, what hope is there for the more nuanced religious subject areas? Delicious carbuncle (talk) 21:51, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

If the article continually gets IP vandals adding BLP issues to it, I would think it should be a candidate for indefinite semi-protection. Silverseren 01:10, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

Misinformation deliberately planted cannot be removed.

Why is it that misinformation is allowed to be spread by people without any counter allowed? When I try to edit the page my remarks are removed when I try to remove the erroneous information it is put up again. Despite the fact it is untrue and is being used to defame and create hatred against a certain individual and his group.

This planted story is not true and there is substantial evidence to say that it is not true yet I am blocked from amending it and the planted story is allowed to stand. Seems to me that admin should at least ask why the editing is occurring before they simply block one party from making changes.

The pages are below

http://en.wikipedia.org/MPACUK

http://en.wikipedia.org/Asghar_Bukhari

I think people should sue you if you allow misinformation to be printed about people, why should your site be used to slander people. It's disgusting.

Plus why can't you make it easier for people to talk to someone, in order to complain you have to trawl through a hundred pages, deliberately intended to put people off. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chetch the Letch (talk • contribs) 00:38, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

You should discuss your desired edits on the article talk page. If there are BLP concerns (if there is unsourced information about people which is negative in the article) please be specific and it will be removed immediately. KillerChihuahua 01:06, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

The OP has been blocked as a sock. The editor's ongoing edit-wars are being discussed at WP:ANI#Crazy edit-war at Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK. Singularity42 (talk) 01:52, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

I would just like to note that "Chetch the Letch" is absolutely correct on the substance here -- the material he objects to was a major BLP violation -- but the articles are currently protected with the offending material removed, so the situations seems to be stabilized. It would have been easy for an editor who understands Misplaced Pages procedures to get that material removed without resorting to socking and edit-warring. Looie496 (talk) 02:15, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

The key there is " understands Misplaced Pages procedures". I have been here for years and I don't even know every rule. There are just too many, spread across too many areas. Kumioko (talk) 10:07, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

How indeed is an editor who doesn't understand Misplaced Pages procedures supposed to instantly transform himself/herself into one who does? This problem is endemic on BLP pages, and your statement, Looie, only underscores the justice of the user's plaint "Seems to me that admin should at least ask why the editing is occurring before they simply block one party from making changes." After all that has been said along these lines, not least by Jimbo, do admins sometimes still not "at least ask why the editing is occurring"? Bishonen | talk 10:10, 5 September 2012 (UTC).