17 agosto 2007

Pormenores (actualizados)

A propósito da alteração de perfil de Sócrates na Wikipedia, aqui desvendada e seguida hoje pelos media (omitindo que da lista de 22 eventos alterados a partir da rede do CEGER, só quatro são relativos a Sócrates e ali consta igualmente o nome de Luís Amado), o Público escreve no final do seu texto: "As regras da Wikipédia pedem uma edição neutral dos artigos, sem intervenção de partes interessadas, e classificam como vandalismo a eliminação não justificada de informação".

Pela mesma lógica, o próprio Público não tem sido neutral. Pesquisando no Wikiscanner, descobre-se que da gama de endereços IP do Público se têm feito algumas alterações (interessando-se até pelas biografias de Cavaco Silva ou acrescentando a Paulo Portas "Also he is a VERY gay person!!"...). No seu próprio caso, passou de simples "daily" para "quality daily".

Já no DN, nada descobri. Ou seja, Fernanda Câncio não usou os computadores da empresa quando desinformou a Wikipedia...

(Ainda sobre estes assuntos, convém ler o que se anda a passar entre a Electronic Arts e a Wikipedia)

[Act. a 18.08:
A ler...
Wikipédia [I a IV]
Wikipédia congela Sócrates e "Wikipedia 'congela' Sócrates"
José Sócrates e a Wikipedia: mais factos e questões
Sócrates, a Wikipedia, os Jornais e aquela coisa… o blog
Guerra chega a Portugal?

...e duas notas rápidas:
1) ainda ninguém se deu ao trabalho de explicar que o CEGER gere mais de 130 de domínios de dezenas de ministérios e organismos do Estado, desde a Direcção-Geral de Informática e Apoio aos Serviços Tributários e Aduaneiros à Unidade de Coordenação do Plano Tecnológico. Em resumo, segundo o CEGER, ele ocupa-se da rede para:
* Gabinetes de membros do Governo;
* Serviços e organismos integrados na Administração Directa do Estado;
* Serviços e organismos integrados na Administração Regional;
* Estruturas não permanentes directamente dependentes das entidades referidas nos números anteriores, e mediante requerimento destas.

2) só isto justifica ser impossível dizer que "Governo 'censura' biografias na Wikipedia" ou falar em "preocupação governamental", "um cuidado desmedido do Governo" ou que o gabinete do PM reescreve o seu passado académico - apesar de ser algo que nem o próprio gabinete de Sócrates parece interessado em explicar. Correctamente, só se pode falar de que esses actos foram efectuados por alguém com acesso à rede do CEGER - e são muitos...]

[act.1: A ler: Seeing Corporate Fingerprints in Wikipedia Edits: In general, changes to a Wikipedia page cannot be traced to an individual, only to the owner of a particular network. [...]
Most people using company networks to edit Wikipedia entries dabble in subjects that appear to have little to do with their work, although sometimes they cannot resist a silly dig at the competition.
Last year, someone using a computer at the Washington Post Company changed the name of the owner of a free local paper, The Washington Examiner, from Philip Anschutz to Charles Manson. A person using a computer at CBS updated the page on Wolf Blitzer of CNN to add that his real name was Irving Federman. (It is actually Wolf Blitzer.)
And The New York Times Company is among those whose employees have made, among hundreds of innocuous changes, a handful of questionable edits. A change to the page on President Bush, for instance, repeated the word “jerk” 12 times. And in the entry for Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, the word “pianist” was changed to “penis.”]

[act.2 (obrigado, D.): Student’s program sends PR chaos in Wiki-scandal:
Among many revelations, Wikipedia Scanner reported that:
- Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate

- Apple edit Microsoft entries, adding more negative comments about its rival

- Bill Gates revenge? Microsoft edits Apple entries, adding more negative comments about its rival

- The Vatican edits Irish Catholic politician Gerry Adams page

- In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11”

- Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article

- FBI edits Guantanamo Bay, removing numerous pictures

- Oil company ChevronTexaco removes informative biodiesel article and deletes a paragraph regarding fines against the company

- Scientology removes criticism and negatives article from Scientology page

- Al Jazeera TV station adds that the foundation of Iraq was just as bad as the Holocaust

- Amnesty International removes negative comments

- Dell Computers deletes negative comments on customer services and removes a passage how the company outsources work to third world countries

- MySpace removes paragraph when their website was hacked

- EA Games deletes whole paragraphs of criticism about employment practices and business methods

- Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans
- US Republican Party changes the "Post-Saddam" section of the Baath Party article to a different account of the war, changing the language from "US-led occupation" to "US-led liberation"

- Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page

- News of the World deletes a number of criticism against the paper

- Nestle removes negative comments on its business practices from its page

- UN address calls journalist Oriana Fallaci a racist ‘prostitute’

- Portuguese government removes entries about Prime Minister’s scandals

- DieBold, the company that controversially supplied computerised polling stations in the US elections, removes numerous paragraphs with negative comments

- Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce

- Sony removes harmful paragraphs against blu-ray systems

- Someone at Reuters calls Bush “a mass murderer”

- Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects

- British Conservative Party removes negative references of its MPs and deletes paragraph of the party’s old policies

- US University adds the “prestigious” adjective to its page

- Boeing edits from “Boeing is a leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer” to “Boeing is the leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer”

- MSN Search is “a major competitor to Google”. That’s what MSN added to their page

- BBC changes Blair's drink from coffee to vodka and his workout from the gym to the bedroom. Someone from the BBC also changes Bush’s page, changing the name from ”George Walker Bush” to “George Wan*** Bush”

- Someone from The Guardian edits the Wikipedia page of rival newspaper The Times. Originally in the article it is said that The Times sells more than The Guardian. After the edit, The Guardian sells more.]