User:Spliffy/Squid

The Chicago Public Library CPL Harold Washington Library Center 400 South State Street Chicago, Illinois 60605

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to inform you of gross misuse and abuse of your free internet network (which has been confirmed to have been committed by xxxxxxxxxxx and maybe others, as he has suggested in abusive e-mail contact with administrators). I refer to incidents that occured originally on the 14th of February, and then to a lesser extent on the 13th. Since then, the abuse has occured on numerous other occasions, far too many to list here individually.

The abuse consisted of vandalism and other abuse of Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/), a website dedicated to producing a non-commercial encyclopedia which anyone can edit. Wikipedia is a wiki, whose main characteristic is that anyone can edit pages on it to improve them (see "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki" for more information), within certain limits. Edits to encyclopedia articles must be written using unbiased wording, not be plagairized or copyrighted by someone else, not contain uncivil or offensive remarks, and all edits must be made with an intent to improve the content overall. Any edits which deliberately deface pages are refered to as "vandalism" ("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_vandalism"). Users making such edits are given several warnings, before ultimately being blocked from editing if their behavior persists.

Around 5AM (UTC/GMT), or 11PM CST, on February 14th, & 13th, Wikipedia administrators and users determined that the abuse in question was being conducted from computers registered to the Chicago Public Library. The vandalism involved removing all text from a page, and inserting in its place an irrelevant image. Wikipedia records all changes, even ones totally removed; an example of the actions in question can be seen at this URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_Varenne%2C_Maine-et-Loire&diff=39694695&oldid=33278175

Your website mentions a policy explicitly banning users of your computers from accessing open proxies, which we have determined this particular user did. The following proxies were used (The parenthesis indicating ownership of the proxy):


 * 202.60.234.68 (Cyber Express)
 * 203.186.238.128/25 (City Telecom), specifically:
 * 203.186.238.129
 * 203.186.238.130
 * 203.186.238.132
 * 203.186.238.137
 * 203.186.238.143
 * 203.186.238.145
 * 203.186.238.148
 * 203.186.238.149
 * 203.186.238.150
 * 203.186.238.151
 * 203.186.238.158
 * 203.186.238.162
 * 203.186.238.163
 * 203.186.238.168
 * 203.186.238.170
 * 203.186.238.171
 * 203.186.238.173
 * 203.186.238.175
 * 203.186.238.178
 * 203.186.238.181
 * 203.186.238.184
 * 203.186.238.186
 * 203.186.238.188
 * 203.186.238.192
 * 203.186.238.197
 * 203.186.238.199
 * 203.186.238.201
 * 203.186.238.203
 * 203.186.238.208
 * 203.186.238.210
 * 203.186.238.211
 * 203.186.238.213
 * 203.186.238.214
 * 203.186.238.219
 * 203.186.238.221
 * 203.186.238.224
 * 203.186.238.229
 * 203.186.238.238
 * 203.186.238.240
 * 203.186.238.242
 * 203.186.238.244
 * 203.186.238.245
 * 203.186.238.246


 * 210.0.188.194 (Hutchison)

South Korea


 * 58.140.28.216 (C&M Communication)
 * 58.238.185.89 (Hanaro Telecom)
 * 59.16.136.251 (Korea Telecom)
 * 61.72.21.108 (Sahmyook University)
 * 61.100.140.84 (Enterprise Networks)
 * 61.248.72.131 (Shinbiro)
 * 125.177.31.204 (Dacom)
 * 125.181.142.60 (Dacom)
 * 125.183.136.155 (Dacom)
 * 125.185.98.56 (Dacom)
 * 125.188.154.8 (Dacom)
 * 125.240.1.131 (Dacom)
 * 203.254.146.68 (Chonbuk National University)
 * 203.232.99.212 (Korea Telecom)
 * 210.92.30.30 (Korea Telecom)
 * 210.118.228.42 (Shinbiro)
 * 210.123.32.144 (Korea Telecom)
 * 210.183.42.18 (Korea Telecom)
 * 210.183.174.171 (Korea Telecom)
 * 210.222.202.28 (Korea Telecom)
 * 211.43.206.161 (KIDC)
 * 211.48.24.223 (Korea Telecom)
 * 211.108.96.84 (Hanaro Telecom)
 * 211.183.29.233 (DreamX)
 * 211.193.69.77 (Korea Telecom)
 * 211.205.231.22 (Hanaro Telecom)
 * 211.208.179.224 (Hanaro Telecom)
 * 211.212.147.109 (Hanaro Telecom)
 * 211.217.197.149 (Korea Telecom)
 * 211.219.167.231 (Seoul University)
 * 211.220.247.254 (Korea Telecom)
 * 211.222.184.89 (Korea Telecom)
 * 211.227.172.112 (Korea Telecom)
 * 211.242.192.75 (DreamX)
 * 218.235.231.44 (Hanaro Telecom)
 * 220.82.111.179 (Korea Telecom)
 * 221.154.238.83 (Korea Telecom)
 * 222.103.89.30 (Korea Telecom)
 * 222.105.28.47 (Korea Telecom)
 * 222.114.24.30 (Korea Telecom)
 * 222.116.186.123 (Korea Telecom)
 * 222.118.74.62 (Korea Telecom)

United States


 * 24.15.62.36 (Comcast)
 * 24.61.134.135 (Comcast)
 * 24.91.80.71 (Comcast)
 * 24.131.237.219 (Comcast)
 * 24.211.148.232 (Road Runner)
 * 63.161.48.222 (National Water and Power)
 * 65.2.198.37 (Bell South)
 * 65.169.112.145 (Saint Francis Medical Center)
 * 66.98.134.34 (Everyone's Internet)
 * 66.161.222.163 (Fuse Internet Access)
 * 66.207.103.165 (All-Connect Logistical Services)
 * 67.97.145.135 (Broadwing)
 * 68.8.88.170 (Cox)
 * 68.32.84.54 (Comcast)
 * 68.34.254.222 (Comcast)
 * 68.37.195.108 (Comcast)
 * 68.47.59.154 (Comcast)
 * 68.56.213.199 (Comcast)
 * 68.84.63.122 (Comcast)
 * 68.101.251.238 (Cox)
 * 68.231.40.31 (Cox)
 * 69.62.153.174 (SureWest)
 * 70.121.189.197 (Road Runner)
 * 70.161.35.162 (Cox)
 * 70.186.206.200 (Cox)
 * 70.225.245.198 (One Design Company)
 * 71.116.225.170 (Verizon)
 * 71.138.149.62 (San José Downtown Association)
 * 72.3.220.130 (Rackspace)
 * 72.3.231.82 (Rackspace)
 * 72.3.231.83 (Rackspace)
 * 158.121.118.220 (University of Massachusetts at Boston)
 * 165.139.114.1 (Indiana Higher Education)
 * 169.153.184.80 (Tech Data)
 * 199.219.184.51 (Medgar Evers College)
 * 207.96.1.22 (RCN Corporation)
 * 207.119.86.17 (CenturyTel)
 * 208.194.225.150 (3W Concepts)
 * 209.169.122.19 (Consolidated Communications)
 * 216.55.183.199 (Abacus)

Japan


 * 61.115.149.226 (Cable Television Kobe)
 * 202.131.196.149 (Bit-Isle)
 * 202.131.196.150 (Bit-Isle)
 * 203.165.187.147 (AtHome)
 * 210.132.80.164 (Far East Regional Management Center)
 * 218.220.50.29 (J-Com)
 * 219.113.216.20 (Broadgate)
 * 220.1.232.25 (BBTech)
 * 220.17.4.38 (BBTech)
 * 220.51.100.50 (BBTech)
 * 221.91.132.4 (BBTech)

France


 * 81.56.37.235 (Proxad)
 * 82.67.131.182 (Proxad)
 * 82.245.193.202 (Proxad)
 * 192.44.60.146 (Centre National d'Etudes des Telecommunications)
 * 193.252.53.22 (France Telecom)
 * 194.143.150.163 (Imingo)
 * 194.250.151.179 (Mairie de Chambray Les Tours)

Russia


 * 62.141.89.158 (Combellga)
 * 62.141.108.242 (Combellga)
 * 81.23.104.114 (Severen)
 * 82.204.242.14 (Comstar)
 * 83.237.85.114 (MTU-Intel)
 * 85.192.4.78 (RDM Company)

Brazil


 * 200.99.133.133 (Editora Confianca)
 * 200.102.213.205 (Brasil Telecom)
 * 200.204.53.98 (Telecom de Sao Paulo)
 * 201.21.22.211 (NET)
 * 201.31.183.80 (Aichi Eletronics do Brasil)

United Kingdom


 * 62.121.22.35 (Diocese of Edmundsbury & Ipswich)
 * 62.171.194.4 (Internet for Learning shared IP)
 * 62.171.194.44 (Internet for Learning shared IP)
 * 80.193.25.47 (Telewest)
 * 213.249.155.240 (East Midlands Broadband Consortium)

Taiwan


 * 139.223.14.40 (TATUNG)
 * 140.116.39.112 (Ministry of Education Computer Center)
 * 140.134.4.80 (Feng Chia University)
 * 163.27.228.193 (National Chung Cheng University)
 * 202.39.237.196 (Taipei City Wan Fang Hospital)

Vietnam


 * 203.160.1.170 (Vietnam Posts and Telecom)
 * 203.162.27.81 (Vietnam Posts and Telecom)
 * 203.162.27.85 (Vietnam Posts and Telecom)
 * 203.162.27.86 (Vietnam Posts and Telecom)
 * 203.162.27.87 (Vietnam Posts and Telecom)

Canada


 * 67.70.221.51 (Bell)
 * 69.159.144.202 (Bell)
 * 70.24.151.118 (Rogers)
 * 142.179.243.223 (Stentor)

Italy


 * 83.103.69.86 (Fastweb)
 * 83.103.96.130 (Fastweb)
 * 85.39.252.243 (G.F. Studio))
 * 151.11.128.13 (AREA Science Park)

Spain


 * 80.58.0.44 (Telefonica)
 * 80.58.12.42 (Telefonica)
 * 194.179.38.19 (Telefonica)
 * 194.179.85.15 (Telefonica)

Poland


 * 80.55.170.78 (Czarna Bialostocka)
 * 82.210.157.97 (Aster City Net)
 * 82.210.184.254 (Aster City Net)
 * 83.18.249.238 (Polish Telecom)

Colombia


 * 200.21.242.98 (Colombia Telecom)
 * 200.118.117.248 (TV Cable)
 * 201.245.183.18 (ETB)

The Netherlands


 * 193.173.252.10 (Asus Holland)
 * 213.132.184.189 (Stichting St. Jacob)
 * 213.247.44.42 (Rokscom)

Philippines


 * 202.72.117.87 (eCube)
 * 203.115.152.111 (Bayantel)
 * 203.213.217.244 (Digitel One)

Argentina


 * 24.232.133.87 (Cablevision)
 * 200.43.69.18 (Intercom)

Australia


 * 150.101.8.197 (TPA)
 * 220.245.179.130 (TPG)

Austria


 * 62.116.40.112 (EUnet)
 * 212.41.250.34

Germany


 * 82.165.238.15 (Schlund)
 * 217.188.61.9 (Telefonica Deutschland)

Malaysia


 * 202.75.41.46 (Telekom Malaysia)
 * 219.93.21.20 (Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan)

Slovakia


 * 81.88.142.214 (Quadia)
 * 84.47.38.45 (Slovak Telecom)

South Africa


 * 147.110.61.39 (Eskom)
 * 168.209.98.35 (Dimension Data, shared IP)

Sweden


 * 82.182.40.115 (Bostream)
 * 82.183.178.227 (Bostream)

Turkey


 * 82.222.64.180 (Ankara Ostim IP Network)
 * 212.175.240.139 (Nethouse Bilgi Islem Merkezi)

Other countries


 * 62.197.126.10 (Belgium)
 * 81.193.127.41 (Portugal)
 * 82.103.70.116 (Bulgaria)
 * 85.30.96.106 (Macedonia)
 * 85.115.96.171 (Latvia)
 * 132.248.103.131 (Mexico)
 * 164.78.252.185 (Singapore)
 * 193.188.77.2 (Jordan)
 * 193.219.247.64 (Central African Republic)
 * 194.126.115.36 (Estonia)
 * 200.11.92.90 (Chile)
 * 200.49.176.131 (Guatemala)
 * 202.129.12.14 (Thailand)
 * 210.212.217.172 (India)
 * 212.92.1.62 (Hungary)

I am confident you can see that this was a heavily planned attack from people who completely understood what they were doing and its malicious nature. Its nature took many hours of other contributors' valuable time to fix. It also required several administrators of Wikipedia to combat this misuse, time that could have been better spent improving Wikipedia rather than having to protect it from this sustained attack. I implore you to investigate this abuse of your network and take any action that is appropriate.

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to e-mail me and I will try my best to help you or find someone who can provide you with the information you need.

Yours faithfully:- Benon 19:18, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

The original version and all drafts of this letter can be seen here: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Benon/Squid"

Co-signers
Wikipedians who voice their support for this letter; please sign below.


 * Tawker 19:25, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Ian13/talk 19:21, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Ichiro (会話| + |投稿記録|メール) 22:25, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * 151.204.72.122 02:43, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Graham/pianoman87 talk 04:54, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Adam [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|25px| ]](talk) 16:11, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Co-signing Wikipedia admins

 * Ilmari Karonen (talk) 19:46, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Alhutch 19:50, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 *  Sceptr e  ( Talk  ) 20:29, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * [[Image:Weather rain.png]] Soothing R  19:28, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * If the Chicago Public Library can't take care of this problem, we'll just be forced to keep them blocked.  ALKIVAR &trade;[[Image:Radioactive.svg|18px|]] 22:40, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Sasquatch t|c 22:54, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Thryduulf 22:56, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * --Shanel 22:58, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Chick Bowen 23:41, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
 * —Guanaco 03:58, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
 * David | Talk 13:32, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Bratsch e talk 18:40, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Superm401 - Talk 06:08, 20 February 2006 (UTC)