Comments on: Non-Prophets vs. Corporate America

Non-Prophets vs. Corporate America

sophist — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:08:59 -0800

Knowmore.org is a Wiki repository of corporate information. Still in its infancy, it aims to applaud eco-friendly companies and document the failings of others. Funded almost entirely by hip-hopper Sage Francis of Non-Prophets and Anticon fame, it is no surprise Clear Channel is currently featured on the front page. Hopefully the Wiki format will keep it somewhat balanced as it grows.

By: Embryo

Embryo — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:45:46 -0800

[this is going to get really good]

By: Embryo

Embryo — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:46:17 -0800

[...'specially if we all help]

By: vodkadin

vodkadin — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:51:32 -0800

I do love Sage Francis. Hopefully he's just as good fighting non eco-friendly companies as he is rapping about slaughtering a cow.

By: NickDouglas

NickDouglas — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:25:58 -0800

Pretty cool.

By: Embryo

Embryo — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:36:43 -0800

Oh, also, Knowmore covers more than just the eco-friendliness of corporations; it deals with all facets of their business practices -- human rights, worker's rights, lobbying, globalization/fair trade, environmentalism, and overall business ethics.

By: sophist

sophist — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 22:01:40 -0800

Very true, in fact their rating system neatly breaks those categories down for a quick overview. Perhaps the proper phrase should have been social responsibility, not merely eco-friendliness. I really hope this catches on, it has great potential.

By: Tlogmer

Tlogmer — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 22:29:31 -0800

See also: Sourcewatch (formerly Disinfopedia).

By: jeffkramer

jeffkramer — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 23:19:55 -0800

Not to toot our own horn, but Knowmore was developed by the fine folks at Polycot, using MediaWiki and phpBB2. Austin, Texas represent!

By: mediaddict

mediaddict — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 11:20:37 -0800

I dislike that it's not a "real" wiki. You have to register, and then get permission to edit it. This wiki has exactly the kind of top-down command-and-control attitude that causes corporations to do evil. (I just wanted to fix a spelling mistake on the home page, but I can't.)

By: Embryo

Embryo — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 11:48:38 -0800

Mediaddict, that's totally a valid concern. For what it's worth, it's a topic that has been under discussion. The reason why you have to be a trusted user is due to the nature of the content. If this site gets to any reasonable volume of traffic, which it should, the temptation for corporations to muck with the content is going to be huge. It's really not hard at all to become a trusted user; access is not restricted based on idealogy and there's no command-and-control happening at all. Register for the site and make a post in the forums and you'll be good to go.

By: bernard@knowmore

bernard@knowmore — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 12:13:13 -0800

mediaaddict, while we do have very good reason to expect corporate tampering once the site gets larger, and the verification system was created for that purpose, your post has caused some re thinking of 'preemptively' using the verification process. we're going to talk some more with the site's designers about opening up the wiki to everyone until vandalism actually rears its head. thanks :) -bernard co founder, knowmore.org

By: sophist

sophist — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 13:22:26 -0800

anything that creates a barrier to adding information at this stage is probably bad. knowmore needs a lot more information and user input at this point, so i think removing the restrictions for now is a good idea.