24.243.12.186 at 04:21, 9 July 2007

2007-07-09T04:21:18Z

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Daniel Leslie Brandt (born circa [[1948]] to missionary parents in China<ref name=Chasnoff2005>Chasnoff, Brian ([[December 11]] [[2005]]). [http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA121105.01B.wikipedia.320ce32.html S.A. man is chasing the secret authors of Wikipedia.] ''[[San Antonio Express-News]]''</ref>) is an [[United States|American]] activist<ref name=Jesdanun>Jesdanun, Anick ([[December 28]] [[2005]]). [http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/12/28/D8EPGENO2.html NSA Web Site Puts 'Cookies' on Computers.] ''[[Associated Press]]''</ref><ref name=Guardian>Goldenberg, Suzanne ([[December 30]] [[2005]]) [http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,16559,1675273,00.html US intelligence service bugged website visitors despite ban.] ''The Guardian''</ref><ref name=CNNSR>[[Ali Velshi|Velshi, Ali]] ([[December 29]] [[2005]]). "[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/29/sitroom.02.html New Information About NSA Domestic Spying Program Emerges]", ''[[The Situation Room]]'', [[CNN]]</ref> on the [[World Wide Web]], particularly in relation to [[Google|Google Inc.]] and the [[Wikipedia]] encyclopedia project.

Brandt's current activism centers on demands for [[accountability]] from organizations he believes are operating irresponsibly, or in an unnecessarily secretive manner.<ref>Thatcher, Gary ([[July 31]] [[1989]]). Cloak-and-Dagger Database: Software Sniffs Out Secret Agents. ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' p. 8.</ref> In [[1989]], Brandt and Steve Badrich co-founded a [[non-profit organization]] called [[Public Information Research]] (PIR). Brandt launched [[Google Watch]] in [[2002]], a [[website]] stating his criticism of the Google search engine, and Wikipedia Watch in [[2005]], a similar site detailing his opinion that the Wikipedia encyclopedia lacks accountability and accuracy. Brandt also works as a [[index (publishing)|book indexer]] based in [[San Antonio, Texas]].<ref name=NYT1>[[Katharine Q. Seelye|Seelye, Katharine Q.]] ([[December 11]] [[2005]])
[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/business/media/11web.html?ex=1291957200&en=a50503d3b281b485&ei=5088 A Little Sleuthing Unmasks Writer of Wikipedia Prank.] ''New York Times''</ref>

==Student activism==
In his college years he was an anti–[[Vietnam War]] [[student activism|activist]] while at the [[University of Southern California]] (USC). According to the ''[[Daily Trojan]]'',
:"Brandt was the editor and creator of ''Prevert'', a monthly [[student activism|student activist]] newspaper, and the ''[[de facto]]'' leader of the student activist movement at this university in the late '60's."<ref name=Trojan1971> ''Daily Trojan'', [[January 12]] [[1971]]. </ref>
On [[October 4]], [[1968]], he was one of three members of [[Students for a Democratic Society]] who burned what they said were their [[conscription|draft]] cards in front of television cameras following a speech by [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Edmund Muskie]] at USC.<ref name=NYT68>Kneeland, Douglas E. ([[October 5]] [[1968]]). Muskie Urged Raid Halt; Muskie Confirms He Appealed To Johnson to Halt the Bombing. ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref>

When Brandt's student deferment classification was withdrawn by the local [[Selective Service System]] in December 1968 due to his public non-cooperation with his draft board, Brandt was [[conviction (law)|convicted]] of failure to report for a pre-induction [[physical examination|physical exam]] and refusal to submit to induction. Brandt [[appeal]]ed and his convictions were reversed on the grounds that he was entitled to student status as an [[undergraduate]] at USC.<ref name=USvBrandt> ''United States v. Brandt'', 435 F.2d 324 (9th Cir. 1970).</ref> Since [[Jimmy Carter|President Carter]] granted amnesty to all draft resisters in 1977, this would have the effect of overturning this conviction even if it had not already been reversed, with the further implication that all civil rights have been restored despite the conviction.<ref>[http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/proclamations/04483.html Proclamation 4483 -- Granting pardon for violations of the Selective Service Act, August 4, 1964, to March 28, 1973]. archives.gov. Retrieved November 6, 2006.</ref>

==Political activism==
===Networking with other activists===
Brandt states that during the 1980s, when living in [[Arlington, Virginia]], he introduced a number of political activists and researchers to computing and how to work with databases, including former [[Central Intelligence Agency]] officers [[Philip Agee]]<ref name=CounterPunchInterview>Hand, Mark ([[January 3]] [[2003]]). [http://www.counterpunch.org/hand01032003.html "Searching for Daniel Brandt"]. ''[[CounterPunch]]''</ref> and [[Ralph McGehee]], as well as [[John F. Kennedy]] assassination researchers [[Bernard Fensterwald]] and [[Mary Ferrell]].<ref name=JFKFerrell>McCarthy, Jerry (January-March 1994). [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKferrell.htm Mary Ferrell Profile.] ''NameBase NewsLine'', cited on Spartacus Educational</ref>

===Deep indexing and its discontents ===
From the 1960s onwards, Brandt collected [[Clipping (publications)|clipping]]s and [[citation]]s pertaining to influential people and [[intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] matters. In the 1980s, through his company [[Micro Associates]], he sold a database of citations of these clippings, books, government reports, and other publications. He told the ''[[New York Times]]'' that "many of these sources are fairly obscure so it's a very effective way to retrieve information on U.S. intelligence that no one else indexes."<ref name=NYT87>Gerth, Jeff ([[October 6]] [[1987]]). Washington Talk: The Study of Intelligence; Only Spies Can Find These Sources. ''[[New York Times]]''</ref>

These prior efforts were the basis of his NameBase ('''namebase.org''') website, described as "a quirky index of names cross-indexed," focusing on "foreign policy, spy, conspiracy, media, etc."<ref>[[Bill Dedman|Dedman, Bill]] (ed.). [http://powerreporting.com/category/Beat_by_beat/Military Power Reporting: Beat by beat: Military]. via PowerReporting.com, accessed [[19 April]] [[2006]].</ref> Currently the names are drawn from over 800 books, serials, and other publications.<ref><nowiki>http://www.namebase.org/unique.html</nowiki> PIR website, "Why is namebase unique?", retrieved [[15 April]] [[2006]]</ref> On October 10, 2006, the NameBase site was blacklisted as spam by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], preventing linkage to Brandt's non-commercial, research-oriented index pages from within Wikipedia articles, and causing existing hyperlinks to be deactivated. The administrators cite redirects from Brandt's site to the ''Wikipedia Review'' site as the reason behind the blockage.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spam_blacklist&oldid=448830 Spam blacklist at meta.wikipedia.org, revision of 10 October 2006], retrieved [[19 February]] [[2007]]</ref> As of early 2007, the redirects are no longer operative,{{Fact|date=February 2007}} but the blocks are maintained as a hedge to concerns that they might be reinstated.

===Split within the PIR===
Between 1990 and 1992, three members of Brandt's Public Information Research (PIR) advisory board, including [[Chip Berlet]], resigned over a dispute concerning another board member, [[L. Fletcher Prouty]], and the republishing of Prouty's book ''[[The Secret Team]]''.<ref>Dan Brandt, "An Incorrect Political Memoir," ''Lobster'', No. 24 (December 1992); Chip Berlet, "Right Woos Left: Populist Party, LaRouchite, and Other Neo-fascist Overtures To Progressives, And Why They Must Be Rejected", Cambridge, Massachusetts: Political Research Associates, 1991. See Berlet's version of events at [http://www.publiceye.org/rightwoo/rwooz9-23.html Political Research Associates' ''The Public Eye''] article ''Other Right-Wing Groups and the Gulf War'' (no by-line and no publication date) and Brandt's version of events at [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5315 Wikipedia Review] General Discussion : ''A general question regarding Brandt and WP: NPA — One rule for one?'' Published [[7 December]] [[2006]]</ref>

==Online activism==
===Government cookies===
In March 2002, Brandt was credited with finding persistent [[HTTP cookie]]s on one of the Central Intelligence Agency's websites that could be used to track users for approximately 10 years, in contravention of [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] rules.<ref name=CBS2002>Associated Press ([[March 20]] [[2002]]). [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/20/tech/main504131.shtml CIA Caught Sneaking Cookies] via ''[[CBS News]]''</ref><ref>Aftergood, Steven ([[March 19]] [[2002]]). [http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2002/03/031902.html CIA cookies exposed and eliminated.] ''Secrecy News''</ref> On [[December 25]] [[2005]], Brandt found that the [[National Security Agency]]'s website was using two HTTP cookies set to expire in 2035. Brandt contacted the NSA to remind them they were in violation of federal rules and the cookies were removed. The event gained international publicity.<ref name=Guardian/><ref name=CNNSR/>

===Criticism of Google and Yahoo!===
Main article: [[Google Watch]]

In 2002, Brandt launched the website [[Google Watch]] through PIR, reportedly in response to Google's low ranking of deep content within NameBase.org, which is placed far below competing information.<ref name=ManjooonBrandt>{{cite web |url= http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/08/29/google_watch/ |title= Meet Mr. Anti-Google |author= |last= Manjoo |first= Farhad |date=2002-08-29 |work= [[Salon.com]] |archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20050329091022/http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/08/29/google_watch/ |archivedate=2005-03-09}} See <nowiki>http://www.google-watch.org/gaming.html#case3.</nowiki>, Brandt's response</ref>

Google Watch documents Brandt's views on privacy, long-living HTTP cookies, and advertising policies within Google and [[Gmail]]. Brandt has also described the issue of "made for [[AdSense]] pages" — [[spam (electronic)|spam]] pages with content often scraped from other sites that sometimes enjoy high rankings in [[search engine]]s due to [[Search engine optimization|optimization]] techniques. In addition, PIR has released [[Scroogle]], a screen-scraping proxy that circumvents Google's tracking of user activity via HTTP cookies.

In addition to Brandt's PIR, other privacy and civil rights organisations including the [[Australian Privacy Foundation]], [[Consumer Federation of America]], and [[Katherine Albrecht]]'s [[CASPIAN]], have endorsed an open letter drafted by the [[Privacy Rights Clearinghouse]] and the World Privacy Forum requesting that Google suspend their Gmail service on account of privacy concerns, such as "the unlimited period for data retention that Google�s current policies allow."<ref name=PRC>Privacy Rights Clearinghouse ([[April 19]] [[2004]]). [http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/GmailLetter.htm Thirty-One Privacy and Civil Liberties Organizations Urge Google to Suspend Gmail.] via privacyrights.org</ref>

Brandt also maintains an anti-[[Yahoo!]] website, Yahoo! Watch. His principal complaint is that the Yahoo! feature [[Site Match]] embeds paid links into the main index and search results.

===Criticism of Wikipedia===
Brandt launched the Wikipedia Watch website through PIR on [[October 13]], [[2005]],<ref>{{cite web
| title = Alexa traffic details
| url = <nowiki>http://www.alexa.com/data/details/?url=www.wikipedia-watch.org</nowiki> }}</ref>
in response to a user authoring a biographical article on him within the [[Wikipedia]] peer-edited online encyclopedia project. He has published some logs from Wikipedia [[Internet Relay Chat]] channels on Wikipedia Watch,<ref><nowiki>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/findchat.html</nowiki> - Wikipedia-Watch: The Wikipedia Hive Mind Chat Room]</ref> and has listed dozens of examples of plagiarism by Wikipedia editors on the English portal.<ref><nowiki>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/psamples.html</nowiki> - Wikipedia-Watch: Plagiarism by Wikipedia Editors]</ref> Several PIR domains have been placed on Wikipedia's spam blacklist.<ref>
See [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Spam_blacklist the spam blacklist] for a current listing of sites.The relevant policy prohibits automated insertion of links by bots, as well as widespread placement of marginally relevant links. See [[Wikipedia:Spam#External link spamming]]</ref>

On the Wikipedia Watch website, Brandt advances his view that a website whose content is copied as widely as that of Wikipedia should have higher standards of accountability, and that members of the public who contribute or edit articles should make their identities public for this reason; this includes the facilitation of article subjects bringing litigation against editors, although since this multiple wikis now have articles about him. Brandt considers Wikipedia to be a privacy risk, and stated, "It [Wikipedia] needs to be watched closely." Brandt's view is that the creation of biographical articles on Wikipedia is broadly unacceptable due to the inaccuracy of information included and a lack of accountability.<ref>Public Information Research. <nowiki>http://wikipedia-watch.org</nowiki> - Wikipedia Watch, Retrieved on April 2006</ref>

Since [[November 19]], [[2005]], the Wikipedia Watch site has included a page stating alleged personal details that he claims pertain to individual Wikipedia editors and administrators who have supposedly edited Brandt's biography or responded to his complaints in a way he does not like, and to:<ref><nowiki>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/hivemind.html</nowiki> - Wikipedia-Watch:The Wikipedia Hive Mind</ref>
<blockquote>discourage irresponsible editors from applying for adminship, and encourage others to be more considerate of those who would rather not have an article about themselves.</blockquote>
Brandt states that his reasoning for maintaining the list is that, "if I ever decide that I have cause to sue, I'm not sure who should be sued."<ref><nowiki>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/hivemind.html</nowiki> - Wikipedia-Watch:The Wikipedia Hive Mind</ref> This is, according to Brandt, due to a lack of any party within the project claiming content responsibility.

Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to Brandt in a letter to ''[[Editor & Publisher]]'', stating:<ref>{{cite web
| last = DeFoore
| first = Jay
| title = Wikipedia Founder, Readers Respond to Seigenthaler Article
| publisher = [[Editor & Publisher]]
| date = [[2005-12-01]]
| url = http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1001612839 }} Membership required.</ref>
<blockquote>I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all, based on my interactions with him. I tried very hard to help him, and he misrepresented nearly everything about our conversation in his very strange rant. He considers the very existence of a Wikipedia article about him to be a [[invasion of privacy|privacy violation]], despite being a [[public figure|public person]]. I find it hard to take him very seriously at all. He misrepresents everything about our procedures, claiming that we have a '[[secret police]]' and so on.</blockquote>

A sidebar on Brandt's site contradicts this letter: "Wales never tried to help Brandt at all, and he and Brandt have never had a conversation."<ref><nowiki>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/wikitort.html</nowiki> - Wikipedia-Watch: Can You Sue Wikipedia?]</ref>

In November 2006, the [[Associated Press]] reported Brandt's claim to have uncovered 142 "examples of suspected [[plagiarism]]" among the 12,000 Wikipedia articles he searched to illustrate the need for "Wikipedia to conduct a thorough review of all its articles." According to the report "Wikipedia editors have been reviewing the 142 articles in question and have declared a handful to be OK because copied passages came from the [[public domain]]. Editors found others where Wikipedia appeared to be the one plagiarized. But editors found extensive problems in several cases, with many still not yet fully checked."<ref name=plagiarism>{{cite web
| last = Jesdanun
| first = Anick
| title = Wikipedia Critic Finds Copied Passages
| publisher = [[Associated Press]]
| date = [[November 3]], [[2006]]
| url = http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061103/wikipedia_plagiarism.html?.v=2}}</ref>

===Seigenthaler Wikipedia biography controversy===
{{main|John Seigenthaler Sr. Wikipedia biography controversy}}
In May 2005, an anonymous editor added [[slander and libel|defamatory information]] to the [[John Seigenthaler Sr.]] Wikipedia biography. In December 2005, Seigenthaler criticized his Wikipedia biography in a ''[[USA Today]]'' column that generated considerable publicity.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Seigenthaler
| first = John Sr.
| authorlink = John Seigenthaler Sr.
| title = A False Wikipedia 'biography'
| publisher = [[USA Today]]
| date = 2005-11-29
| url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm }}</ref>

Brandt found that the [[IP address]] used by the editor was also used to host a website, with the text, "Welcome to Rush Delivery." Brandt contacted a company in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Tennessee]], known by that name, and the IP address on the email they sent back to Brandt matched that in the edit history of the Seigenthaler article. Within the week, Brian Chase, a manager at Rush Delivery, resigned and personally confessed to Seigenthaler.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Terdiman
| first = Daniel
| title = In search of the Wikipedia prankster
| publisher = [[CNET|CNET News.com]]
| date = [[2005-12-15]]
| url = http://news.com.com/In+search+of+the+Wikipedia+prankster/2008-1029_3-5995977.html?tag=st.num }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*[http://www.webpronews.com/enterprise/enterpriseonline/wpn-13-20050112GoogleLibrariesandPrivacy.html "Google Libraries and Privacy"] by Daniel Brandt, ''Web Pro News'', [[1 December]] [[2005]]
*[http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/issue24.php "An Incorrect Political Memoir"] by Daniel Brandt, ''Lobster'', December 1992

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
===Sites run by Daniel Brandt===
*<nowiki>http://www.cia-on-campus.org</nowiki> - CIA on Campus
*<nowiki>http://www.google-watch.org</nowiki> - Google Watch
*<nowiki>http://www.namebase.org</nowiki> - NameBase
*<nowiki>http://www.scroogle.org</nowiki> - Scroogle
*<nowiki>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org</nowiki> - Wikipedia Watch

===Media coverage===
*[http://www.alternet.org/story/14001/ "Conspiracy Researcher says Google's no good"] by Farhad Manjoo, ''[[Salon.com]]'', [[30 August]] [[2002]] with <nowiki>http://www.google-watch.org/gaming.html#case3</nowiki> Brandt's response (down the bottom)
*[http://www.marketingsource.com/articles/view/2026 "Paranoid or Prescient? Daniel Brandt is concerned about Google Print"] by Jim Hedger, ''Concept'', 2003
*[http://battellemedia.com/archives/001178.php "Scraping Google to see what happens"] by John Battelle, ''Searchblog'', [[11 January]] [[2005]]
*[http://google.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2005/05/15/anti-google-campaign-by-lenz/ "Anti-Google campaign by Lenz?"] by Nathan Weinberg, ''Blog news Channel'', [[15 May]] [[2005]]
*[http://google.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2005/10/30/whats-in-a-wiki/ "What's in a Wiki?"] by Philipp Lenssen, ''Blog News Channel'', [[30 October]] [[2005]]
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/06/wikipedia_bio/ "Who owns your Wikipedia bio?"] by [[Andrew Orlowski]], ''The Register'', [[6 December]] [[2005]]
*[http://smh.com.au/news/technology/cyber-vandal-confesses-his-sins/2005/12/12/1134235996862.html "Caught red handed"] ''Sydney Morning Herald'', [[12 December]] [[2005]]


{{Persondata
|NAME=Brandt, Daniel Leslie
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Activist
|DATE OF BIRTH=1947
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[China]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}




[[Category:Living people|Brandt, Daniel]]
[[Category:American activists|Brandt, Daniel]]
[[Category:People from San Antonio|Brandt, Daniel]]
[[Category:1947 births|Brandt, Daniel]]
[[Category:Public Information Research|Brandt, Daniel]]
[[Category:University of Southern California alumni|Brandt, Daniel]]

[[es:Daniel Brandt]]
[[eo:Daniel Brandt]]
[[fr:Daniel Brandt]]
[[he:דניאל ברנדט]]
[[hu:Daniel Brandt]]
[[pl:Daniel Brandt]]



====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Daniel_Brandt" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Brandt, used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]], update February 24, 2007

User:Abwayax/db - Revision history

24.243.12.186 at 04:21, 9 July 2007