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Wikipedia needs some explaining to doooooo
Enigma
Member UncommonPosts: 11,384
Web Time Stamps Indicate Nancy Benoit's Death Reported on Web at Least 13 Hours Before Police Found Bodies in Her Home
Thursday, June 28, 2007
By Blane Bachelor
AP
Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit
An anonymous user operating a computer traced to Stamford, Conn. — home to World Wrestling Entertainment — posted an entry to pro wrestler Chris Benoit's biography on Wikipedia.org announcing the death of his wife Nancy at least 13 hours before police in suburban Atlanta said they found her body along with her husband's and that of their 7-year-old son, FOXNews.com has learned.
Employees at Wikipedia.org said the posting went live on their site on Monday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Police, however, said they found the bodies Monday at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
The posting reads: “Chris Benoit was replaced by [[Johnny Nitro]] for the ECW Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.” According to a Wikipedia.org report published after FOXNews.com made inquiries, the edit was reversed just under one hour later with the comment:
"Need a reliable source. Saying that his wife died is a pretty big statement, you need to back it up with something."
The posting apparently was made in reference to Benoit's scheduled appearance on Sunday night at an Extreme Championship Wrestling event in Texas.
An employee from Wikipedia.org told FOXNews.com that he called and left a message with investigative authorities in Fayetteville, Ga., at around 11 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, after the posting was brought to the attention of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Web site.
“I chat with other editors on IRC — Internet relay chat — and somebody pointed it out to me on a relay chat and that it came from a Stamford connection, and that it took place at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Monday morning,” said Wikipedia.org volunteer coordinator Cary Bass. “I called and left a message with the police department.”
The computer-generated time and date stamp of the Benoit entry are listed as 4:01, 25 June 2007. Wikipedia.org lists its entries according to Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time.
Further investigation, according to Wikipedia.com, shows that one hour after the first edit reversion, another anonymous edit by 125.63.148.173 using unwiredAustralia.com.au, a wireless Internet service provider, was made adding about the aforementioned personal issues: "which according to several pro wrestling websites is attributed to the passing of Benoit's wife, Nancy."
That edit was reverted less than 20 minutes later, with the following comment: "Saying 'several pro wrestling websites' is still not reliable information." The second edit was made by a computer in Australia from a wireless network, according to Wikipedia.org.
A message left by FOXNews.com with Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department was not immediately returned.
Investigators so far have ruled the Benoit killings as a double homicide-suicide.
Wikipedia.org claims to be one of the largest reference Web sites, and is written collaboratively by users from around the world. Approved users can make submissions and change entries that are posted on the site almost immediately. Bass said the site is constantly monitored to correct inaccuracies.
Bass said when there is a high-profile case, such as the Benoit killlings, Wikipedia.org limits postings to registered users, which is now indicated at the top of the Benoit entry. According to the listed history on the Benoit entry, the computer used to post the 12:01 a.m. entry had a Stamford, Conn., Internet Protocol — or IP — address, a numeric designation that is assigned to every computer with an Internet connection, and that same address has been used to post about a dozen other messages on the site, dating back to May 16, 2007.
In related news, FOXNews.com also has learned, through widely posted Web reports, that former pro wrestler Sherri Martel, who was found dead on June 15, was linked to former wrestler Kevin Sullivan — ex-husband of Nancy Benoit.
Click here to read more about the death of Sherri Martel.
Martel, who had a reputation as one of the top managers in pro wrestling, was found dead at her mother’s home in near Birmingham, Ala., on June 15. She was 49.
Investigators, who have not yet determined Martel's cause of death, say foul play is not suspected but that Martel did not die of natural causes.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
Comments
"The IP in question, listed by wikipedia as 69.120.111.23, also made a series of other edits to different entries, including former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler, current WWE star Chavo Guerrero, basketball star Ron Artest and HBO series The Sopranos. Many of the edits were misspelled or explicit in nature, leading one to believe that the postings were made by a hoaxer. For those of you who want to read the edits for yourself, they can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/69.120.111.23. If you click the links listed as (diff) you will see the changes made by the user highlighted in red, even if they have been removed from the wikipedia entries as they currently stand.
Although the IP address is traced back to the Stamford, CT area, it's also entirely conceivable that the user was concealing his true IP address. According to one person I spoke to with a masters in Internet technology, "They have software out there that you install on your computer that will change your IP address and location or origin that people will see on the Internet. IP spoofing is a little more technical so with this user, based on the grammar, looks to be someone young using a software program of that nature."
Given the other postings, it appears most likely the user was taking part in the act of Sporgery, where one falsifies objectionable material and attempts to credit to a third party. In this case, what may have been someone playing games may turn into a much more serious matter for the hoaxer, considering the tragic Benoit incident."