Talk:Sean Parker/Archives/2011

Spotify
Sean Parker now owns a 5% share of Spotify, which is an music streaming service (http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/index.cfm?newsId=3235298) Maybe this should be included somehow —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.246.100.232 (talk) 15:33, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

he put in $15 million (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/12/mf_spotify/) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.39.172.193 (talk) 12:39, 28 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Added to article. Perhaps Spotify should be its own heading? Ckywht (talk) 17:39, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Based on your suggestion, I rerorganized the material. See what you think.--Bbb23 (talk) 17:58, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Cocaine Charges?
According to a news article on the Telegraph.co.uk By Jon Swaine in New York Published: 8:13PM BST 10 Oct 2010 titled "Facebook developer donates $100,000 to legalise cannabis campaign it states", "He (Parker) left the company the following year after being arrested for the possession of cocaine, although he was not charged." Can anyone confirm the cocaine possession incident?

32.171.246.253 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 06:03, 11 October 2010 (UTC).

Just pointing out a typo--there are currently two periods after the word "possession." I can't edit the main article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rastid (talk • contribs) 15:04, 4 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Done. Thank you.Americasroof (talk) 21:40, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Facebook
In what way was Sean Parker a "founding president" of thefacebook? --SparqMan 09:20, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

He found the company and named himself president just like he named himself "founder" of napster. Someone should tell him that just because he hears about a new company or meets the founder doesn't entitle him to call himself a "founder" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.139.113.103 (talk • contribs)

He also got booted from Facebook, and now does work with Peter Thiel's Founders' Fund... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.146.149.40 (talk • contribs)

Agreed with above. Not founder. Citation or didn't happen. Ckywht (talk) 01:26, 1 July 2011 (UTC)


 * It's cited.--Bbb23 (talk) 01:31, 1 July 2011 (UTC)


 * You're right. Sorry, I meant Napster. Ckywht (talk) 22:29, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Education
I know he went to Oakton High School, but I can't find a citation. Can anyone help with this? --205.128.3.197 17:20, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

He did go to Oakton for a while but I think he actually graduated from Chantilly, for what it's worth. --Michaelridley (talk) 13:01, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

Typo or malicious fix
In what way does "In November 2002, Parker Touched himself subsequently Plaxo" make sense? He touched himself and then touched Plaxo?

I gather that "Touched" was a company which was renamed Plaxo? If so this could be made clearer.

Edit request from 76.203.50.254, 22 December 2010
Accel should be Accel Partners. Accel is an ATM network, not the VC firm.

76.203.50.254 (talk) 21:04, 22 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Yep,, thanks. Adrian J. Hunter(talk•contribs) 15:36, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

Subjective perspective
The line:

"His father began teaching him programming when he was seven years old; at 16, he was sentenced to community service for hacking."

doesn't sound very objective. It seems to suggest that (rather than simply presenting the facts) the author of this entry has strong feelings about Sean Parker's accomplishments, or perhaps the legitimacy of being sentenced for hacking. Not a huge deal, but it could be worded differently. Rinogo (talk) 23:06, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Napster damages?
"In 1999, ASCAP composer Kristian Rex watched helplessly as 250+ Napster users downloaded, stole, and traded his copyrighted recording of his new song 'Supernova Girl' from the Disney Channel movie ZENON, 24 hours a day for more than a year, losing him and his family over $100,000 in royalties. To date Mr. Parker has never repaid Mr. Rex for the damages and severe stress this put on his family and his career."

This need some sort of citation, yes? 66.108.34.144 (talk) 05:03, 21 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Agreed. The edit was added by the eponymous Kristianrex, and I'm not terribly sure if it really belongs in the article as noted by 75.73.242.93 per WP:ROC. But hey - if it's properly sourced we can debate the semantics at that point. For the time being, I think it can stay out. Doriftu  Speak Up.  06:33, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

Sean Parker and Northeastern University
It seems that one of the most common rollbacks on this page is Sean Parker and Northeastern University - I come with the hopes of finally putting this all to rest. Sean Parker has never attended Northeastern. It is my belief that most people, when linking Northeastern and Parker, are actually thinking of Sean Fanning, the co-creator of Napster alongside Parker, who is most assuredly a Northeastern alumni.

Now, though I am loathe to use it as a reference, I offer up Parker's official Facebook profile as evidence (which is rather fitting, don't you think?) that he has never attended Northeastern. Among his many Alma Mater he lists NYU, Columbia and USC among others. Not Northeastern.

Can we finally put this one to rest, or am I misguided and not following protocol? Please - if I am in the wrong, let me know. Until then, I'll WP:BOLD and remove the category. --Doriftu  Speak Up.  16:39, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, That facebook profile is a strong enough assertion for your revert. Off2riorob (talk) 17:02, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Nothing else?
Come on, we should have more than this. The Forbes article had more info than his page! MyKingdom200 (talk) 11:53, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

- The personal life/pop culture section on this article is pretty weak for someone who basically had a movie based on them and is constantly in the news (and running their mouth)

Where is: -Forbes cover? -Fiance? -That crazy like 5 story mansion in NYC -Twitter? -Media appearances? -ETC ETC

Also some rich people pages have philanthropy pages. 209.117.68.2 (talk) 21:04, 16 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Agreed. There should probably be three additional sections: Personal life, Philanthropy, and In popular culture. I was trying to find somewhere to fit in all the work Parker's done with the Causes app -- seems like it would make the most sense to incorporate it into a Philanthropy section. Not sure if Twitter is necessary (even though there was some press on it) - maybe in the External links section? Svernon19 (talk) 22:47, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Sean Parker's Complete Educational Background
Dear Wikicommunity,

Please investigate whether Sean Parker attended the following Universities: Columbia University and New York University. I found information regarding his educational background on his public Google+ and Facebook profiles: https://www.facebook.com/Sean and https://plus.google.com/109910390678756726363/about

This is a support for the fact that the Google+ account is real: http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/10/03/sean-parker-uses-google-too/ His facebook page is real because he is friend with Mark Zuckerberg among other technology figures. He has over 20 thousand subscribers on his facebook profile. On his Google+ and Facebook profiles, Columbia and NYU are listed as his educational background.

Please come up with an agreement with regards to his real education.

Thank You, Zoroastrama100 (talk) 23:21, 7 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Agreement can only come with a reliable source. I can see Off2Riorob has already been through this with you, so I won't prattle on.  We unequivocally cannot use social media to source something like a uni degree.  It matters not whether the account is legit.  I suggest digging a bit deeper for a good source.  The Interior  (Talk) 23:32, 7 October 2011 (UTC)
 * What then is Sean Parker's real educational background? I would dispute that it is just Oakland High. If it is just Oakland High, we will need citation that he only attended Oakland High as his highest educational background. Also, I saw a previous discussion on Northeastern University. The previous editor used Facebook to confirm that Sean Parker did not attend Northeastern. Off2Riorob consented that it was adequate evidence. I do not understand the flipflop. However, no matter what, I agree that we must find out what is Sean Parker's real educational background, and it definitely is not just Oakland High.Zoroastrama100 (talk) 23:40, 7 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Agree with Rob and with The Interior. Also, Zoroastrama, you need to learn that edit-warring over anything is not permitted here, and, frankly, it's absurd for you to edit-war over something this unimportant. Finally, generally, social network media are not reliable sources.--Bbb23 (talk) 23:38, 7 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Dear Bbb23, it is not you to decide what is important or unimportant. If the article exists, and there is a bar for educational background. Then as editors, we must get it right. Or else, we can remove information on his education altogether. We should never provide misleading info, and that is how the article stands right now with regards to his highest educational background (the article is suggesting that Sean Parker never went on to college, which is obviously wrong).Zoroastrama100 (talk) 23:42, 7 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Please address the issues I have raised: to form a conclusion on Sean Parker's real educational background. Also, how to make the article objective with respect to his educational background. Just dwelling on the reliability of sources, which I consent to your views, is not enough to address the bigger issue: What should we put as his educational information. Thank you. Zoroastrama100 (talk) 23:59, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

dob
In this independent external from dec 12 2006, it says, the controversial entrepreneur, who has just turned 27" - resolving the subjects birth year as being 1979. This is imo a strong support for the year of birth. Any additional claims for day and months have been so far unreliable. If anyone wants to change this and add a day and month it will require clearly stating here where it is cited to and support from users here that the claim is reliable. Off2riorob (talk) 00:12, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

uncited claim
User:Zoroastrama100 .. has also been repeatedly inserting this uncited claim, perhaps after discussion here this can be cited independently or rejected. - Off2riorob (talk) 00:15, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I know, I removed it when I removed the education material. The Airtime addition wasn't cited at all.--Bbb23 (talk) 00:23, 8 October 2011 (UTC)
 * That's pure promo. And facebook as a ref for the educational item? Noes. Better refs for all items, especially d.o.b. The Interior  (Talk) 00:31, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

Airtime
In 2011 Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker are again teaming up create a new startup called Airtime.com inspired by Chatroulette. The two have completed an $8.3 million series A financing from Founders Fund, Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Yuri Milner, Ron Conway, Marissa Mayer, Ashton Kutcher, will.i.am, Scott Braun, and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington.

Napster, co founder comments

 * - (at 24:35) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAFUAgDJTEU&t=25m22s

Posted to assist investigation and discussion and not for republication - co-founder or founder comments from Parker about his wiki page - "I was definitely, technically a co founder of Napster" ....."there are a variety of weird people that are on the Internet that are constantly mangling my wikipedia" .... "there were three founders of the company who held founding stock at the time we incorporated the company" - "me, Shawn Fanning and a character by the name of John Fanning,who was Shawn's uncle" - "I was actually working on the product long before the company was incorporated, so if that doesn't qualify me I don't know what does" Off2riorob (talk) 16:24, 20 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the link. Rather than watch it (lazy me), I'm just going to assume it says what you say. But how does it help us? We can't rely on a self-serving statement from the subject. We still have these lousy secondary sources indicating different things, often without any sense that they even know what they're talking about.--Bbb23 (talk) 23:28, 20 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Its easy to watch - start at 24mins 35seconds - it only lasts for a couple of mins - quite interesting. Who is it exactly that says he wasn't a co founder? Off2riorob (talk) 23:32, 20 October 2011 (UTC)
 * The co-founder/early employee dispute has a long history. I think my involvement began last July because the Napster and the Parker articles were inconsistent. Based on the secondary sources (not self-published), I felt that co-founder was correct. However, based on the the Bloomberg source, I got a lot of push-back from other editors, particularly on the Napster Talk page. The Bloomberg article does NOT say Parker didn't co-found Napster, but some of the language seems to indicate the Fannings are the only real co-founders - see phrases like "Shawn Fanning, the 19-year-old college dropout who created Napster" and the text after the phrase "its founders". If you're masochistic, you can take a look at the sources and tell me what you think. :-) --Bbb23 (talk) 00:21, 21 October 2011 (UTC)
 * One more thing. Some of this may depend on how people interpret the word "founded", particularly in the context of something that in the beginning did not have typical company-like or organization-like substance.--Bbb23 (talk) 00:54, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

Clean-up
I'm going to go through this page and perform some clean-up over the next few days. I found a bunch of sources that aren't currently listed on the page, and a lot of the info from the Forbes and Vanity Fair articles is missing. It looks like this page is pretty sparse on details for a guy who's been so active in the internet community. Mark Zuckerberg's and Peter Thiel's pages are two or three times as long -- Parker's page should have a similar length. Svernon19 (talk) 01:34, 12 November 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure why Parker is not listed as a Napster co-founder. I found articles from The New York Times, CNN, Wired, TechCrunch, The Huffington Post, The Financial Times, and The Washington Post that name Parker as a Napster co-founder. Currently, the dipsuted sentence looks to violate WP:OR, so I'm going to change it, as well as clean up the section. Svernon19 (talk) 03:40, 15 November 2011 (UTC)


 * This looks good to me. I was doing some reading and there's a pretty long article on Sean Parker's new startup Airtime: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2011/10/06/sean-parker-and-shawn-fannings-secretive-airtime-gets-big-backers/ Do you think this should have its own section or be a part of Napster's? MountainMan11 (talk) 21:40, 15 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I was actually thinking about writing a section on that. Here are two more sources. Let me know if you want any help. Svernon19 (talk) 00:41, 16 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Airtime section looks good, by the way. Cleaned up some a few of the references and the wording. Svernon19 (talk) 02:22, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Svernon, with respect to the co-founder issue, I don't have the energy to review your cites as compared to the cites that were there before. This has been disputed over and over by many editors. One more thing: the current state of the Parker article is now inconsistent with the Napster article on this issue.--Bbb23 (talk) 01:12, 16 November 2011 (UTC)


 * The sources strongly support that Parker was a co-founder, as stated above. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN all definitely meet WP:RS. I'll go ahead and change the wording on the Napster page, so there's consistency. Svernon19 (talk) 02:09, 16 November 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm not going to buck you on this because I think it's a bit of a tempest in a teapot. I would be perfectly happy with consistency and peace. As a friendly aside, you should really get in the habit of using the edit summary every time you make an edit and being a little more expansive in its use as well. For example, you made a major change to the Napster article with no edit summary at all. To your credit, you announced what you were doing on the Napster Talk page.--Bbb23 (talk) 02:25, 16 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Oops, meant to reference the talk page in the edit summary. Made a slight change and alluded to the previous edit -- thanks for catching this. I'll help to monitor the co-founder dispute, thanks for your help. Svernon19 (talk) 02:44, 16 November 2011 (UTC)
 * I noticed, thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 02:46, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Svernon: I noticed that you didn't think that Sean Parker's work with The Founders Fund warrants a new section. There are lots of references on his work there so I am going to rewrite the section and then you can look over it. MountainMan11 (talk) 21:52, 17 November 2011 (UTC)


 * OK, this revision looks much better. Cleaned up some wording, but otherwise I agree -- definitely enough references to support a Founders Fund section. Svernon19 (talk) 22:59, 17 November 2011 (UTC)