

The battle to destroy Wikipedia's biggest sockpuppet army - Isofarro
http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/wikipedia-sockpuppet-investigation-largest-network-history-wiki-pr/

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tokenadult
"Only a few people on Wikipedia are trusted with sockpuppet investigations.
Like forensic investigations in the real world, they tend to reveal the most
sensitive information. In this case, that means a Wikipedia user's IP address,
the unique number that identifies the computer network you use to connect to
the Internet. For any logged-in Wikipedia user, IP addresses are usually
hidden."

There are a lot of high-profile, well liked websites that allow a broader
group of moderators to have access to this kind of user information, and at
least some (one where I am a member of the moderation team) that attempt to
use automated means to detect sockpuppets. I understand some of the cultural
reasons why Wikipedia has been reluctant to defend itself more aggressively,
but it's regrettable how little Wikipedia does to protect itself against the
kind of abuse described in the article kindly submitted here.

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mikeyouse
Reminds me of Gary Weiss (a fairly prominent financial journalist / blogger)
getting exposed for running sock puppet accounts on Wikipedia a few years ago.

There was a ton of 'drama' in the Wiki sense of the word, with numerous
bannings, several rounds at the ArbCom, corrupted admins, and then eventually
Wales got involved.

Jimmy Wales at the time:

    
    
        The evidence that Weiss has sockpuppeted all over the Internet
        is pretty compelling, and even the mainstream press has
        commented over his refusal to directly address it. Is Mantan
        one of those socks? We have no proof either way, but I think
        the evidence tends to suggest it.
    
        [...]
    
        But the issue is real. My concern is that if Mantanmoreland
        is really Gary Weiss, then it is only a matter of time until
        this is proven…either by Bagley or someone else…and we will
        find that we have been manipulated in a pretty sad way.
    
        
    
    
    

[1] -
[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overst...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/?page=1)
[2] - [http://antisocialmedia.net/the-final-word-on-gary-weiss-
and-...](http://antisocialmedia.net/the-final-word-on-gary-weiss-and-
wikipedia/) [3] - [http://www.deepcapture.com/wikipedias-jimbo-wales-
unimpresse...](http://www.deepcapture.com/wikipedias-jimbo-wales-unimpressed-
by-gary-weiss-and-his-lies/)

