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This group's actions are reprehensible and criminal, and its members deserve to be exposed, but this is all the more reason that the personal information (names, locations, personal details) of members must be removed as blatant violations of WP:BLP. All of this detailed information is pretty much solely based on an uncorroborated TSG investigative report. While prior convictions, if documented, are a matter of public record, these individuals are private citizens who have not (yet) been charged or convicted of any crime with respect to Pranknet, and if false, these serious criminal allegations would be seriously libelous. We simply cannot have these names and details recorded here based solely on a recent TSG exposé. NTK ( talk) 12:34, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
I thoroughly disagree with you. The biographical information is verifiable and is not original research. We have done our best in the writing of this article to keep it NPOV. If you feel the text needs editing for better NPOV, please go ahead. Again, the information you removed does not violate Wikipedia's BLP policies. We are simple restating information verified and published by other quite reliable sources.
Please re-add what you removed, and edit for NPOV. We can always use better NPOV. Ouellette ( talk) 15:25, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
- breaking single-sourced allegations and biographical information should not be adopted wholesale in this article regarding private individuals.
- Links to the TSG articles are perfectly appropriate; but saying "Malik Malik Malik" did each and every one of these acts that TSG alleges--even upon credible evidence--violates the BLP policy.
- Please add information back incrementally as appropriate rather than wholesale reverting this, per the living persons rules.
- Also, the cited Globe and Mail article interviewed "Dex" after the TSG report and quotes him saying "he is Canadian but not Tariq Malik." Failing to note this, while adopting the TSG report's facts, is inexcusable.
How in the world is this a blatant violation of BLP? Everything in this article is cited by reliable news sources (PLURAL), verifiable, and unoriginal research. We can't be afraid of citing reliable sources that contain difficult content. Furthermore, there is a lot of information we've intentionally LEFT OUT of the article (such as phone numbers and street addresses of the individuals which were made public by TSG), because it is not encyclopedic and also would violate BLP practices. Ouellette ( talk) 02:30, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
Once people's info has been published by a reliable news source, it is fair game -- and often important -- for Wikipedia. This is not WP:BLP, because we are not saying "So-and-so did this." We are saying that certain news organizations are reporting that they did this. And since that's verifiably true, there's no issue of libel. Tragic romance ( talk) 19:28, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
The beginning of the article states 'Dex' created the site in 2000. It later goes on to state the name 'Dex' was taken from the TV series "Dexter" Firstly, Dexter is a fictional character, not a television series. Secondly, the first Dexter novel (never mind the TV series) was not published till 2004, four whole years after the creation of the site
Yet TSG lists off that the name "Dex" was inspired by the television series. Really, great news source. They can't even fact-check their own lies for shits sake —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.23.50.248 ( talk) 16:14, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
I seriously think this article needs to be deleted. It's nowhere near important enough. -- A3RO (mailbox) 20:28, 16 September 2009 (UTC)
Are you going to offer any rationale as to why you "seriously" think it needs to be deleted, or is "nowhere near" important enough? It is about a novel use of technology that is gaining worldwide news attention, an international ring of felons causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage all over the U.S., and intense human-interest as examples of how people can be led to do the most absurd and destructive things, all because "the voice of authority" told them to. This is an ongoing international criminal case. Et Cetera. Obviously none of those on its own justifies an article, but together there is more than enough weight here. Tragic romance ( talk) 19:38, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
This may be beyond the scope of this article, but I would be interested to learn if there have been any professional or expert opinions on the motives of these individuals who have been alleged to have committed these acts. It seems as if many of these individuals have become disaffected with society in some fashion. Lulaq ( talk) 17:06, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
People keep adding stuff here saying PrankNet is now called Prank University, but there aren't any reliable sources provided. Should this be left in or removed? - Burpelson AFB ✈ 12:51, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
Please leave it in, details are unfolding (nightly) as these guys do their thing. In their live feeds (www.pranku.net/live) they are actually talking about the past in more detail than we have listed here. In addition, in listening to their live feeds (orchestrated by "dex"), you can hear they have the exact same MO and utilize the same tools and social engineering exploits. I seriously doubt this is a copycat org. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.132.62.46 ( talk) 20:52, 21 October 2010 (UTC)
camon wikipedia, get with the game. Its called pranku or prank university now. you dont need solid sources. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.28.205 ( talk) 04:44, 21 September 2011 (UTC)
I think this article has too much of a negative tone about PrankNET. It focuses too much on the related investigation and legal issues. One suggestion I have is to refer to the "incidents" as pranks, despite the amount of damage they caused. 'FL a RN' (talk) 05:02, 13 July 2011 (UTC)
There are many things that are wrong with this page. First off the creator and leaders name "dex" was not inspired by a show or books. Second it is called PrankU or prank university not pranknet. Third, it says the motives for the prank calls are unknown and that is wrong. The motive for the calls is for lulz and lulz only. Lastly, i know i will probably get flamed for "not providing sources" or "breaking wikipedia code blablabla" But im pretty sure you have some exception for the whole "sources" thing when it is original research. I am a long standing member of the prankU community and i know how it works. Would you really turn down a person who has first hand experience about something because he cant back up his original research with sources? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.28.205 ( talk) 07:15, 12 January 2012 (UTC)
What is undue? If there's no discussion I'll remove the drive-by tagging in another day or so. - Who is John Galt? ✉ 18:19, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
I don't see any BLP violations. BLP says that it has to be verifiable (it is per the reliable sources), it has to be NPOV (it is), and it can't include OR (it says what the sources say). Where's the violation? Maybe some of the subjects of the article are hoping to whitewash it and getting otherwise well-intentioned editors to unknowingly do it. - Who is John Galt? ✉ 18:19, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
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Guys 2601:603:1A7F:C0B0:DD3E:B2C6:EED4:84C4 ( talk) 23:57, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
"In June 2009, The Smoking Gun launched an investigation that lasted nearly two months and included travel to Windsor, Ontario and a stakeout outside Malik's mother's home. Smoking Gun editor William Bastone emailed "Dex", and during a Skype interview provided URLs on the Smoking Gun website. The URLs were unique; when Malik viewed them, it revealed his IP address and location"
This doesn't make any sense. The Smoking Gun obtained his actual physical address from his IP? That can only be done by authorities, who the TSG are not (as much as they like to think they are). For everybody else an IP only gives you the city the person's ISP is in. The source does not explain how they did this either. — THORNFIELD HALL ( Talk) 10:42, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
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This group's actions are reprehensible and criminal, and its members deserve to be exposed, but this is all the more reason that the personal information (names, locations, personal details) of members must be removed as blatant violations of WP:BLP. All of this detailed information is pretty much solely based on an uncorroborated TSG investigative report. While prior convictions, if documented, are a matter of public record, these individuals are private citizens who have not (yet) been charged or convicted of any crime with respect to Pranknet, and if false, these serious criminal allegations would be seriously libelous. We simply cannot have these names and details recorded here based solely on a recent TSG exposé. NTK ( talk) 12:34, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
I thoroughly disagree with you. The biographical information is verifiable and is not original research. We have done our best in the writing of this article to keep it NPOV. If you feel the text needs editing for better NPOV, please go ahead. Again, the information you removed does not violate Wikipedia's BLP policies. We are simple restating information verified and published by other quite reliable sources.
Please re-add what you removed, and edit for NPOV. We can always use better NPOV. Ouellette ( talk) 15:25, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
- breaking single-sourced allegations and biographical information should not be adopted wholesale in this article regarding private individuals.
- Links to the TSG articles are perfectly appropriate; but saying "Malik Malik Malik" did each and every one of these acts that TSG alleges--even upon credible evidence--violates the BLP policy.
- Please add information back incrementally as appropriate rather than wholesale reverting this, per the living persons rules.
- Also, the cited Globe and Mail article interviewed "Dex" after the TSG report and quotes him saying "he is Canadian but not Tariq Malik." Failing to note this, while adopting the TSG report's facts, is inexcusable.
How in the world is this a blatant violation of BLP? Everything in this article is cited by reliable news sources (PLURAL), verifiable, and unoriginal research. We can't be afraid of citing reliable sources that contain difficult content. Furthermore, there is a lot of information we've intentionally LEFT OUT of the article (such as phone numbers and street addresses of the individuals which were made public by TSG), because it is not encyclopedic and also would violate BLP practices. Ouellette ( talk) 02:30, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
Once people's info has been published by a reliable news source, it is fair game -- and often important -- for Wikipedia. This is not WP:BLP, because we are not saying "So-and-so did this." We are saying that certain news organizations are reporting that they did this. And since that's verifiably true, there's no issue of libel. Tragic romance ( talk) 19:28, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
The beginning of the article states 'Dex' created the site in 2000. It later goes on to state the name 'Dex' was taken from the TV series "Dexter" Firstly, Dexter is a fictional character, not a television series. Secondly, the first Dexter novel (never mind the TV series) was not published till 2004, four whole years after the creation of the site
Yet TSG lists off that the name "Dex" was inspired by the television series. Really, great news source. They can't even fact-check their own lies for shits sake —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.23.50.248 ( talk) 16:14, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
I seriously think this article needs to be deleted. It's nowhere near important enough. -- A3RO (mailbox) 20:28, 16 September 2009 (UTC)
Are you going to offer any rationale as to why you "seriously" think it needs to be deleted, or is "nowhere near" important enough? It is about a novel use of technology that is gaining worldwide news attention, an international ring of felons causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage all over the U.S., and intense human-interest as examples of how people can be led to do the most absurd and destructive things, all because "the voice of authority" told them to. This is an ongoing international criminal case. Et Cetera. Obviously none of those on its own justifies an article, but together there is more than enough weight here. Tragic romance ( talk) 19:38, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
This may be beyond the scope of this article, but I would be interested to learn if there have been any professional or expert opinions on the motives of these individuals who have been alleged to have committed these acts. It seems as if many of these individuals have become disaffected with society in some fashion. Lulaq ( talk) 17:06, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
People keep adding stuff here saying PrankNet is now called Prank University, but there aren't any reliable sources provided. Should this be left in or removed? - Burpelson AFB ✈ 12:51, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
Please leave it in, details are unfolding (nightly) as these guys do their thing. In their live feeds (www.pranku.net/live) they are actually talking about the past in more detail than we have listed here. In addition, in listening to their live feeds (orchestrated by "dex"), you can hear they have the exact same MO and utilize the same tools and social engineering exploits. I seriously doubt this is a copycat org. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.132.62.46 ( talk) 20:52, 21 October 2010 (UTC)
camon wikipedia, get with the game. Its called pranku or prank university now. you dont need solid sources. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.28.205 ( talk) 04:44, 21 September 2011 (UTC)
I think this article has too much of a negative tone about PrankNET. It focuses too much on the related investigation and legal issues. One suggestion I have is to refer to the "incidents" as pranks, despite the amount of damage they caused. 'FL a RN' (talk) 05:02, 13 July 2011 (UTC)
There are many things that are wrong with this page. First off the creator and leaders name "dex" was not inspired by a show or books. Second it is called PrankU or prank university not pranknet. Third, it says the motives for the prank calls are unknown and that is wrong. The motive for the calls is for lulz and lulz only. Lastly, i know i will probably get flamed for "not providing sources" or "breaking wikipedia code blablabla" But im pretty sure you have some exception for the whole "sources" thing when it is original research. I am a long standing member of the prankU community and i know how it works. Would you really turn down a person who has first hand experience about something because he cant back up his original research with sources? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.28.205 ( talk) 07:15, 12 January 2012 (UTC)
What is undue? If there's no discussion I'll remove the drive-by tagging in another day or so. - Who is John Galt? ✉ 18:19, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
I don't see any BLP violations. BLP says that it has to be verifiable (it is per the reliable sources), it has to be NPOV (it is), and it can't include OR (it says what the sources say). Where's the violation? Maybe some of the subjects of the article are hoping to whitewash it and getting otherwise well-intentioned editors to unknowingly do it. - Who is John Galt? ✉ 18:19, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 23:11, 28 January 2016 (UTC)
Guys 2601:603:1A7F:C0B0:DD3E:B2C6:EED4:84C4 ( talk) 23:57, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
"In June 2009, The Smoking Gun launched an investigation that lasted nearly two months and included travel to Windsor, Ontario and a stakeout outside Malik's mother's home. Smoking Gun editor William Bastone emailed "Dex", and during a Skype interview provided URLs on the Smoking Gun website. The URLs were unique; when Malik viewed them, it revealed his IP address and location"
This doesn't make any sense. The Smoking Gun obtained his actual physical address from his IP? That can only be done by authorities, who the TSG are not (as much as they like to think they are). For everybody else an IP only gives you the city the person's ISP is in. The source does not explain how they did this either. — THORNFIELD HALL ( Talk) 10:42, 28 December 2023 (UTC)