Attorneys for Palisades Collection LLC, an Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey international debt collection agency certainly thought so.
The attorneys in question introduced claimed a Steven Graubard owed the collection agency $30,000 in credit card debt, and introduced a wiki page to the Superior Court in Hackensack to back up their claim. They produced the wiki page and used it to show that the debt collection agency held the debt and, as such, were able to sue Mr Graubard for payment.
The company, after a trial last year, prevailed.
However, upon appeal, a New Jersey court reversed the decision stating that a Wikipedia page does not meet the legal requirement as a “source whose accuracy cannot be legally questioned.”
“Anyone with an Internet connection can create a Wikipedia account and change any entry in Wikipedia,” said the court upon stating it’s opinion.
“It is entirely possible for a party in litigation to amend a Wikipedia article, print the article, and therefore offer it in court in support of any given position,” the Court wrote. “Such a malleable source of information is inherently unreliable.”
If Palisades Collections LLC choose to re-appeal awaits to be seen.
