Talk:Microsoft acquisition hoax

A fact from Microsoft acquisition hoax appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 5 November 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that a 1994 hoax suggesting that Microsoft had acquired the Catholic Church was considered to be the first Internet hoax to reach a mass audience?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2010/November.

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Should we move this?[edit]

I think we should. The title is too vague; there's probably been more than one hoax involving Microsoft. Any ideas on a new title? PhageRules1 (talk) 18:51, 5 November 2010 (UTC) Whylogin (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:34, 5 November 2010 (UTC).[reply]

Requested move[edit]

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: not moved. There is no consenus to move to the suggested title, though a move to some other title would probably be favored. It would be a good idea to identify an alternative before going through another RM. (non-admin closure) Calidum ^{Talk To Me} 04:44, 28 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Microsoft hoax → "Microsoft Acquires" joke – The term "Microsoft hoax" needs to point to technical support scam, a fraud where a cold caller claims to be from a legitimate-sounding third-party like "Microsoft" or "Windows" in order to trick PC users into granting remote access to desktop computers. The scammers may then install malware or rogue security software. By comparison, the "Microsoft Acquires..." series of jokes (in which Microsoft acquires the Vatican, the US government, or a self-reference in which Microsoft acquires "Microsoft Acquires...") is harmless and of no more than secondary importance. Moving this Microsoft joke page to another title would clear the way for creation of a redirect "Microsoft hoax" → "technical support scam" as the most common meaning of the term. --Relisting to allow discussion of alternative proposal(s) Andrewa (talk) 09:30, 23 June 2014 (UTC) K7L (talk) 17:18, 15 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that the current title does not fill its primary function, which is telling people what the article is about. However, the proposed title "Microsoft Acquires" joke is unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. Just in technical terms, starting the title with a quotation mark is fraught with problems, and there is no reason to capitalize the "A". But in the larger sense, why should this article be about only one of the dozens of Microsoft jokes that have achieved notability? I favor moving to Microsoft joke and expanding. I agree that the title "Microsoft hoax" should redirect to "technical support scam". --MelanieN (talk) 23:39, 21 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose this specific move but support some move; The current title is not acceptable IMO, and I think we have consensus on that. Relisting to allow a new name to gain consensus. Andrewa (talk) 09:30, 23 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.