Wikipedia Boss In Money For Edit Furor
By Christopher Nickson
March 13, 2008
Wikipedia boss Jimmy Wales is accused of editing a page in the online encyclopedia in exchange for a $5,000 donation.
The BBC has reported that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has been accused by Jeffrey Merkey, the former chief scientist at Novell, of agreeing to edit Merkey’s Wikipedia page in exchange for a $5,000 donation to the Wikimedia Foundation.
On a mailing list, Merkey published as statement he’d released to AP.
"Wales agreed that in exchange for a substantial donation and other financial support of the Wikimedia Foundation projects, Wales would use his influence to make Merkey's article adhere to Wikipedia's stated policies with regard to internet libel 'as a courtesy' and place Merkey under his 'special protection' as an editor."
But on that same list, Wales responded,
"Of course I would never offer, nor accept any offer, whereby a donation would buy someone special editorial treatment in the encyclopeadia."
The Wikipedia entry for Merkey was supposedly libellous, and Wales said he often worked with people who Wiki entries included damaging, libellous or false information. On examination, Merkey’s page had last been edited by Wales and put in a state called “protection,” meaning the public could make no additional edits.
The non-profit Wikimedia Foundation runs Wikipedia. A spokesman for the foundation, Jay Walsh, denied the edit-for-donation allegation in the Daily Telegraph.
"Jimmy never made this offer, and of course this is a practice the Wikipedia Foundation would never condone."