Wikipedia 'shows CIA page edits'

From BBC News:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6947532.stm

An online tool that claims to reveal the identity of organisations that edit
Wikipedia pages has revealed that the CIA was involved in editing entries.

Wikipedia Scanner allegedly shows that workers on the agency's computers made
edits to the page of Iran's president.

It also purportedly shows that the Vatican has edited entries about Sinn Fein leader
Gerry Adams.

The tool, developed by US researchers, trawls a list of 5.3m edits and matches them
to the net address of the editor.

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopaedia that can be created and edited by anyone.

Most of the edits detected by the scanner correct spelling mistakes or factual
inaccuracies in profiles. However, others have been used to remove potentially
damaging material or to deface sites.

Mistaken identity

On the profile of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the tool indicates that a
worker on the CIA network reportedly added the exclamation "Wahhhhhh!" before a
section on the leader's plans for his presidency.

A warning on the profile of the anonymous editor

reads: "You have recently vandalised a Wikipedia
article, and you are now being asked to stop this type
of behaviour."

Other changes that have been made are more

innocuous, and include tweaks to the profile of former
CIA chief Porter Goss and celebrities such as Oprah
Winfrey.
It is claimed the entry was changed by a CIA
computer user
When asked whether it could confirm whether the
changes had been made by a person using a CIA computer, an agency spokesperson
responded: "I cannot confirm that the traffic you cite came from agency computers.

"I'd like in any case to underscore a far larger and more significant point that no one
should doubt or forget: The CIA has a vital mission in protecting the United States,
and the focus of this agency is there, on that decisive work."

Radio change
The site also indicates that a computer owned by the US Democratic Party was used
to make changes to the site of right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

The changes brand Mr Limbaugh as "idiotic," a "racist", and a "bigot". An entry about
his audience now reads: "Most of them are legally We really value
retarded." transparency and the scanner
really takes this to another
level
The IP address is registered in the name of the Democratic
National Headquarters. Wikipedia spokesperson

A spokesperson for the Democratic Party said that the changes had not been made
on its computers. Instead, they said that the "IP address is the same as the DCCC".

The DCCC, or Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is the "official

campaign arm of the Democrats" in the House of Representatives and shares a
building with the party.

"We don't condone these sorts of activities and we take every precaution to ensure
that our network is used in a responsible manner," Doug Thornell of the DCCC told
the BBC News website.

Mr Thornell pointed out that the edit had been made "close to two years ago" and it
was "impossible to know" who had done it.

Voting issue

The site also indicates that Vatican computers were

used to remove content from a page about the leader
of the Irish republican party Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams.

The edit removed links to newspaper stories written in

2006 that alleged that Mr Adams' fingerprints and
handprints were found on a car used during a double
murder in 1971.
Wikipedia already collects the IP address or
The section, titled "Fresh murder question raised" is no username of editors
longer part of the main online encyclopaedia entries.

Wikipedia Scanner also points the finger at commercial organisations that have
modified entries about the pages.

One in particular is Diebold, a company which supplies electronic voting machines in

the US.

In October 2005, a person using a Diebold computer removed paragraphs about

Walden O'Dell, chief executive of the company, which revealed that he had been "a
top fund-raiser" for George Bush.

A month later, other paragraphs and links to stories about the alleged rigging of the
2000 election were also removed.
The paragraphs and links have since been reinstated.

Diebold officials have not responded to requests by the BBC for information about
the changes.

Web history

The Wikipedia Scanner results are not the first time that people have been uncovered
editing their own Wikipedia entries.
Wikipedia Scanner may
prevent an organisation or
individuals from editing articles
Earlier this year, Microsoft was revealed to have offered that they're really not supposed
money to trawl through entries about document standards it to

and other companies employ.

Wikipedia spokesperson

Staff at the US Congress have also previously been exposed for editing and removing
sensitive information about politicians.

An inquiry was launched after staff for Democratic representative Marty Meehan
admitted polishing his biography

The new tool was built by Virgil Griffith of the California Institute of Technology.

It exploits the open nature of Wikipedia, which already collects the net address or
username of editors and tracks all changes to a page. The information can be
accessed in the "history" tab at the top of a Wikipedia page.

By merging this information with a database of IP

THE EDITORS' BLOG
address owners, Wikipedia Scanner is able to put a When BBC staff edit Wikipedia, they
name to the organisation and firms from which edits should not bring the BBC into
disrepute
are made.
Pete Clifton,
The scanner cannot identify the individuals editing BBC head of interactive news
articles, admits Mr Griffith. Read Pete's
comments in full
"Technically, we don't know whether it came from an
agent of that company, however, we do know that edit came from someone with
access to their network," he wrote on the Wikipedia Scanner site.

A spokesperson for Wikipedia said the tool helped prevent conflicts of interest.

"We really value transparency and the scanner really takes this to another level,"
they said.

"Wikipedia Scanner may prevent an organisation or individuals from editing articles

that they're really not supposed to."

BBC News website users contacted the corporation to point out that the tool also
revealed that people inside the BBC had made edits to Wikipedia pages.