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There are 18 comments on Don’t Mess with Wiki

  1. There is another interesting thing about this case which the article does not really address… If in fact the bank was doing something illegal, or against the trust of its clients or the public, don’t they have the right to know? And if they were to be acting more ethically, wouldn’t they have less to fear from such compromises that exist in technology?

    Those are the thoughts that this issue raised for me.

  2. “If this fellow from the bank steals documents and puts them on the Web, the reason he or she can do that is because the document is not secured or encrypted.”

    Or it’s because he had access to the original paper copy of the document and just scanned it himself. Or maybe he never had any original document and it was a vindictive forgery. In any case their response would make more sense to focus on demonstrating that the leaked information is false (if it is) or convincing consumers of their commitment to improve control over their confidential materials (if it was a real leak) in order to reassert their character, instead of trying to shut down internet sites that will only make people want to find more ways to disseminate the information further.

  3. “Or it’s because he had access to the original paper copy of the document and just scanned it himself.”

    Absolutely! This is why we are safer with only electronic copies of documents (but properly protected). The same argument applies to credit cards and SSNs. They are vulnerable (and hard to keep secret/private) precisely because they are accessible in their original form. Check what our resident expert in security Leo Reyzin says about this http://www.bu.edu/today/world/2007/09/16/safety-numbers

    “Or maybe he never had any original document and it was a vindictive forgery.”

    Sure, but here again the answer is to use the proper technology that can check authenticity of digital content.

    The issue is not that we don’t know how to solve some (if not most) of the challenges posed by the pervasiveness of the Internet, the issue is that we as a society are not demanding the necessary changes to allow the deployment of such solutions.

    –Azer

  4. t’s because he had access to the original paper copy of the document and just scanned it himself. Or maybe he never had any original document and it was a vindictive forgery. In any case their response would make more sense to focus on demonstrating that the leaked information is false (if it is) or convincing consumers of their commitment to improve control over their confidential materials.
    Thanks for this wonderful post.

  5. “after word of the bank’s suit against Wikileaks spread online, people started downloading and distributing the leaked bank documents.”…

    Exactly, the more restrictions you put on something, the more popular and wanted it becomes.
    And come on, this is the Internet! Do you think that shutting down one or a million websites will really solve the problem? The only thing they achieved from this is making more buzz about it and now many other people are searching for the documents and they will find them somewhere on the world wide web.
    Not so smart!

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  6. My favorite wiki outing tool to pop up is wiki scanner. Seeing corporations and news outlets exposed for self edits and edits on competitors was/is comedy gold.

    Russ Dalbey, the idiot infomercial guy, who runs Winning-2009.com even got busted.

  7. Yes, people will likely want to view things that are restricted. They curiosity is aroused as to what could be the content. They will always try to find ways to satisfy their curiosity. That is why, when it becomes public, it is difficult to take it back.

  8. Attempts to police the web and flow of online information are not well known to the general public but more intervention will eventually take place

  9. “Or maybe he never had any original document and it was a vindictive forgery.”

    Sure, but here again the answer is to use the proper technology that can check authenticity of digital content.

    The issue is not that we don’t know how to solve some (if not most) of the challenges posed by the pervasiveness of the Internet, the issue is that we as a society are not demanding the necessary changes to allow the deployment of such solutions.

  10. Yes, people probably do not want to see things that are limited. Their curiosity is aroused, what could be the content. They are always trying to find ways to satisfy their curiosity. Therefore, when it is published, it is difficult to take back.

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