The Australian news site News.com.au is currently reporting that "Refugee Tribunal Hit For Relying on Wikipedia." The tribunal's decision was set aside because it has used unreliable information. Ironically, the site was not Wikipedia (as suggested by News.com.au), but rather armeniapedia.org.
Unreliable Information
July 23, 2007
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Episode 264: Jon Penney on Chilling Effects in the Digital Age
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A very recent decision from the Arbitration Center for .EU Disputes ([ link ]) vigorously criticizes the use of Wikipedia:
“… collaborative websites with permissive edits have little probative value. “[A]nyone can alter the content of Wikipedia at any time, casting doubt on the validity of the information contained therein”, the International Trademark Association wrote in a June 23, 2006 letter (published at shapeblog.com/Beresford Wikipedia.pdf).
A Wikipedia article cannot be seen as reliable information in proceedings, as it can be manipulated before the proceedings, to serve the interests of a party …”