PDA

View Full Version : Wikipedia Bans All Scientology IPs



Vampiel
June 3rd, 2009, 04:20 PM
http://www.insidetech.com/news/articles/4912-wikipedia-bans-all-scientology-ips-from-editing


‘Ban is unprecedented in the site’s history.’ -
Wikipedia.org has just announced the biggest ban in its history (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/29/wikipedia_bans_scientology/) in an effort to stop exploitation of its online resources. The Church of Scientology has been “excommunicated” from the site, so to speak, with all IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associate banned from making contributions.

The decision was reached by the Arbitration Committee, the site’s governing body. The decision took a record amount of time and ended in a 10 to 0 vote, with one abstention. The Committee cited a lengthy record of abuse and inaccuracy by members of the Church of Scientology.
Wikipedia is currently the eighth largest site on the internet, and perhaps the largest source of compiled information. However, it has been forced to begin blocking destructive users, despite its motto that it’s “the free encyclopedia anyone can edit”. The Scientology ban is the first time a major organization has been evicted from the site, though.
.....
The reason for the ban, according to the admins, is overwhelming evidence of biased edits. Scientologists, according to the admins were “openly editing [Scientology-related articles] from Church of Scientology equipment and apparently coordinating their activities, damaging Wikipedia’s reputation for neutrality.”
.....
Tory Christman, a former officer in the Church of Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs, recently revealed details on the Church’s sneaky internet activity. He claims, “The guys I worked with posted every day all day. It was like a machine. I worked with someone who used five separate computers, five separate anonymous identities…to refute any facts from the internet about the Church of Scientology.”

I wonder how many other subjects this happens in.

Phoenix Blue
June 3rd, 2009, 04:44 PM
Wow. Abuse a Web site's terms of service, get banned. Who knew?

KC Destroyer of Worlds
June 3rd, 2009, 04:48 PM
*Does a happy swivel chair dance*

yay! now if only they could get their "church" status revoked and have to start paying taxes.

Caitlin.ann
June 3rd, 2009, 04:49 PM
Woohoo!

la tortuga
June 3rd, 2009, 04:51 PM
I'm happy about this. They were pretty much trolling wikipedia and got the boot as they deserved.

evergreen
June 3rd, 2009, 04:52 PM
I know this is kind of off topic, but I'm not really familiar with Scientology (other then they disagree with psychiatry and Tom Cruise is a member). I mean, what are their primary beliefs and why is it considered so controversial?

banondraig
June 3rd, 2009, 04:54 PM
*Does a happy swivel chair dance*

yay! now if only they could get their "church" status revoked and have to start paying taxes.

If it were up to me, all churches would pay taxes.

Whitewolf
June 3rd, 2009, 04:54 PM
I'm glad they are banned.

LostSheep
June 3rd, 2009, 04:55 PM
Couldn't they have just locked articles on Scientology, like they do with other sometimes controversial topics, like say George W. Bush?

Caitlin.ann
June 3rd, 2009, 05:00 PM
I know this is kind of off topic, but I'm not really familiar with Scientology (other then they disagree with psychiatry and Tom Cruise is a member). I mean, what are their primary beliefs and why is it considered so controversial?

Its not just their beliefs its that they have been known to commit violent crimes and even murder. And if you leave? Complete isolation from your family if you're labeled a "repressive person" or something along those lines.

There is a lot more but I'll let someone else share it all as I'm not too privy to it. Haven't done a lot of research. I'd look into "Project Chanology" or "Anonymous".

memnoch
June 3rd, 2009, 05:02 PM
I know this is kind of off topic, but I'm not really familiar with Scientology (other then they disagree with psychiatry and Tom Cruise is a member). I mean, what are their primary beliefs and why is it considered so controversial?

There primary beliefs came from one L. Ron Hubbard, the sci-fi author. They believe that 75 million years ago an alien brought billions of people to Earth. They have plenty of other crazy beliefs, but that one belief alone is enough reason to blow them off as nut jobs.

Darth Brooks
June 3rd, 2009, 05:03 PM
I am neither surprised nor disappointed.


I know this is kind of off topic, but I'm not really familiar with Scientology (other then they disagree with psychiatry and Tom Cruise is a member). I mean, what are their primary beliefs and why is it considered so controversial?

This is a rather tricky question which could flare up some potentially nasty consequences. Rather than discussing it here, you should probably read about it off-site. Here's an okay place to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology

Incendia
June 3rd, 2009, 05:12 PM
I know this is kind of off topic, but I'm not really familiar with Scientology (other then they disagree with psychiatry and Tom Cruise is a member). I mean, what are their primary beliefs and why is it considered so controversial?

Read this. (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9363363/inside_scientology) :)

Agaliha
June 3rd, 2009, 05:34 PM
Wow. Abuse a Web site's terms of service, get banned. Who knew?

What I thought as well.

evergreen
June 3rd, 2009, 05:44 PM
Read this. (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9363363/inside_scientology) :)

Thank you for sharing this!

HetHert
June 3rd, 2009, 05:50 PM
nice