OpenSource Connections
Category: Uncategorized
The founder of the World Wide Web fears it has become a web of lies.
At the initial test run of the Large Hadron Collider, Sir Tim Berners-Lee cited the spread fears of the world about the impact of the LHC on Earth via the Internet as an example of the Web gone wrong. While his World Wide Web Foundation looked at labeling websites, similar to a simple IQ rating, they decided that multiple ways were needed by multiple users to brand the usefulness and viability of websites.
This leads to the need for a reputation engine for the Internet. Just as Stephen Colberts assertion on Wikipedia that rabbits are carnivorous, should have been flagged as questionable because of Colberts lack of previous contributions and lack of previous information acceptance. All it takes is a few people to believe what they see, tell their friends, and the wildfire of an urban legend is born. Its how Nigerian scamsters work.
Andy Gregorowicz and Mark Kramer at MITRE have come up with an initial pass at how to validate the information presented by multiple contributors. Their paper points out the difficulty of determining provenance of information and the many to many relationship of contributors and information. Still, it is good start towards separating truth from fiction on the Internet.