did cathay pacific start a wiki war?

The PR departments and related agencies of many of the world's largest organisations are quaking in their boots following the release of Wikiscanner. This tool basically allows users to dish the dirt on people who have edited entries on Wikipedia. In the United States, this has already landed many people in deep water. Check out, for instance, these hilarious edits to Rush Limbaugh's biographical details by someone from the Democratic Party. Closer to home, this caught out Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang, who was found to have 'spruced up' his image up on the online encyclopaedia.

Cathay Pacific & Singapore Airlines

Perhaps an amusing example of how firms can use Wikipedia to sort out their competitors is demonstrated by Hong Kong's flagship airline Cathay Pacific. Using Wikiscanner, we now know that on 19th November, 2006, someone with an IP location of "Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Ltd." appears to have logged into Wikipedia and effectively downsized competitor Singapore Airlines' fleet. As you can see, the entry originally said there were 168 planes in service– But by the time our Cathay researcher exited, some 64 jets had been erased from the Singaporean operator's books. Whoops!

At a conservative estimate, that could represent the loss of around US$3.2 billion of assets, leaving the Singapore Airlines balance sheet somewhat lop-sided. Nice one - That'll show those pesky Singaporeans! (Other edits from the same Cathay Pacific IP location can be seen here).

Other oragnisations in Hong Kong

1. See how Lenovo refuse to accept any connection with the Chinese Communist Party - "We know nothing!"(Other edits, same IP location).

2. Dairy Farm seems concerned that second place means first loser for Wellcome supermarket! (Other edits, same IP location).

3. Funnily enough, Hong Kong's Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) ain't too fond of the Taliban! (Other edits, same IP location).

4. Meanwhile, HSBC employees have been trying to share their expert financial knowledge with the world. See their edits on the Asian financial crisis here, and some minor changes to the Black-Scholes theory here. And oh yes, if you look at their full list of edits, you'll see (near the bottom) that someone even kindly shared their knowlegde of 'acrobatic sexual positions' with us. *Wow, those bankers sure are talented!

Finally, hkob! notes that the number of aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines has been updated since the revisions above were made. Apparently, they now have 106, and a few more in the pipeline.

Technorati Tags: Wikiscanner, Cathay+Pacific, HSBC, Hong+Kong, China