Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2007-03-10 Beatport

Mediation Case: 2007-03-10 Beatport
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Request Information

 * Request made by: Xander Llewelyn 02:03, 10 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Where is the issue taking place?
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatport


 * Who's involved?
 * Anonymous Beatport representative(s) and myself


 * What's going on?
 * Recent edits to the page have been carried out from a IP address with the Beatport.com domain. It is, of course, appropriate that Beatport should correct any factual errors on a page about themselves. However, Beatport representatives seem to be attempting to "airbrush history"...


 * In September 2006, Beatport introduced pricing changes that resulted in a price increase of approximately 75% for UK customer and 30% for EU customers. Not surprisingly, these proved very controversial. Some customers were caught out by this policy change (not realising the currency symbol had changed) and had to pay much more for their orders than they had expected. Other customers cannot understand why they should pay so much more - as Beatport doesn't have any shipping costs to worry about! A subset of these customers advocate using proxy servers to avoid Beatport's localisation. (More details on Beatport customer concerns at http://www.beatport.com/forums/showflat.php?Number=7255).


 * While the page does include Beatport's international costs in the right hand column, Beatport's edits have removed anything that was even slightly controversial from the main copy, claiming that the prices have simply been "localized" with customers "shown pricing in their respective currencies". This only tells part of the story, and I believe it distorts the truth.


 * Furthermore, the copy is starting to read like an ad for Beatport ("Beatport is recognized as the leader in online digital dance music") which is, of course, completely inappropriate.


 * Having had my edits removed by Beatport, I understand it would be against Wikipedia policy for me to put them back in. (Maybe a better approach would be to add a "controversy" paragraph instead?) I do not seem to be able to contact Beatport about this, as they seem to have made their edits anonymously. Hence, my turning to mediation...


 * ''What would you like to change about that?
 * Beatport's view is clearly biased. But I can accept that mine may be too. However, this controversy is real, and I believe it should be fairly described on the Beatport page. Maybe Beatport and I should be blocked from editing the page and an independent, unbiased third party (such as a mediator) should ensure that the facts are accurately portrayed, without allowing either side to "spin" them...


 * Would you prefer we work discreetly? If so, how can we reach you?

Compromise offers
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