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Wikimedia Sends Cease and Desist Letter To Firm Providing Paid Editing Services

Posted by Unknown on from the going-out-of-business-sale dept.

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "For months, Wikipedia has been battling a company called 'Wiki-PR,' which purportedly sells paid editing services on Wikipedia and in October announced it had blocked or banned hundreds of Wiki-PR's sockpuppet accounts in response. Now Cyrus Farivar reports at Ars Technica that the Wikimedia Foundation (which runs Wikipedia) is escalating its game, issuing a cease and desist letter to Wiki-PR, demanding that the company immediately halt editing Wikipedia 'unless and until [Wiki-PR has] fully complied with the terms and conditions outlined by the Wikimedia Community.' The attorney representing the Wikimedia Foundation, Patrick Gunn, wrote that 'you admitted that Wiki-PR has continued to actively market paid advocacy editing services despite the ban — consistent with evidence that we have discovered independently. ... Should you fail to comply with the terms of this cease and desist letter, Wikimedia Foundation is prepared to take any necessary legal action to protect its rights.'"

5 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Charge them as felons! by NuAngel · · Score: 4, Informative

    Under our current (ridiculous) law, it is a felony to break a website's ToS. Go on, Wikimedia, don't just sue them, make them into life-long criminals!

    1. Re:Charge them as felons! by gl4ss · · Score: 3, Informative

      but the right to do business trumps that.

      besides, that law is there just as joke and as a tool for the feds so that everyone is a potential felon.

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      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  2. completely undermines Wikipedia by wiredog · · Score: 3, Informative

    as a reliable source of information

    You mean it wasn't already?

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    Best Slashdot Co
  3. Re:First world problems by Quince+alPillan · · Score: 4, Informative

    ....and erased because you commented on the story.

  4. Re:How the hell did they get their edits accepted? by melikamp · · Score: 2, Informative

    The platform you speak of is called "the Internet". Buy cheap hosting and post whatever you want. If your Wikipedia edits keep getting reverted, there's probably a good reason for it, likely having to do with editing guidelines, most likely with NPoV.