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MyWikiBiz, Author Your Legacy — Sunday May 05, 2024
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2,095 bytes added ,  14:55, 10 December 2008
Virgin Killer... and a publicity idea...
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===Additional comment===
 
===Additional comment===
 
When in December 2008, Kohs [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arch_Coal&diff=255480884&oldid=255154863 sought to improve] the article about Arch Coal on Wikipedia, his improvements were [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arch_Coal&diff=next&oldid=255480884 reverted back] by a mindless administrator from Belgium.  This underscores the true system of editorial control on Wikipedia -- it matters not the '''content''' of one's edits, but rather '''who''' authors the content.  (Which, of course, directly contradicts Wikipedia's supposed credo that "anyone can edit".)
 
When in December 2008, Kohs [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arch_Coal&diff=255480884&oldid=255154863 sought to improve] the article about Arch Coal on Wikipedia, his improvements were [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arch_Coal&diff=next&oldid=255480884 reverted back] by a mindless administrator from Belgium.  This underscores the true system of editorial control on Wikipedia -- it matters not the '''content''' of one's edits, but rather '''who''' authors the content.  (Which, of course, directly contradicts Wikipedia's supposed credo that "anyone can edit".)
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==Scorpions "Virgin Killer" album cover==
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In December 2008, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) added to its "potentially illegal" list the Wikipedia image of the original album cover of The Scorpions' fourth release, ''Virgin Killer''.  The image depicted a young girl posed naked with only her vulva covered by the appearance of cracked glass. Many found the picture offensive. Internet service providers in the [[Directory:United Kingdom|UK]] followed suit with the IWF and blocked the image and page from users' browsing, and channeling those requests through a very limited set of IP addresses.
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Regardless of your opinions about whether this image constitutes child pornography, or whether the IWF engaged in "censorship" of art, one thing was clearly missed by the mainstream media in this affair:
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:''If Wikipedia did not suffer from an intractable vandalism problem, this one-page block on a 22-yr old album cover might never have been noticed. It was only noticed because the proxy IP was blocked on the Wikipedia side of the connection.''
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:''The fact of the matter is, Wikipedia admins blithely block thousands of IPs, sometimes in wholesale range-blocks that affect major metropolitan areas.'' - [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=21516&view=findpost&p=146163 Barry Kort], 12/09/2008.
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===Put images to the test===
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[[Image:St_Pete_billboard.jpg|right|thumb|275px|Would you contribute $25 to see this billboard in real life?]] Many Wikipedia zealots possess a feverish reflex urge to shout "Wikipedia is not censored" and will defend vehemently not only the ''right'' but the '''''need''''' to publish on Wikimedia servers prurient content that is neither properly sourced nor even encyclopedic in nature.  Wouldn't it be interesting to put the Wikipedia standard to the test, say, in an environment of "community standards" like St. Petersburg, [[Directory:Florida|Florida]]?  How fun would it be to start a grassroots fundraising campaign to pay for a "free speech"-testing, GFDL billboard such as this one?  Comment on [[Talk:Wikipedia_scandals|this talk page]].
    
==External links==
 
==External links==

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