For years now editors at Wackypedia have satisfied themselves with making people they did not like "disappear" from the online encyclopaedia claiming they were not notable enough. While their favourite porn stars received full entries, people they did not like, such as Mike Magee and the Everywhere Girl, none of whom took their clothes off, had their entries purged.
Now it seems a group of editors have started contacting small businesses and celebrities, and telling them that if they do not pay up, their entries will be edited to oblivion.
The victims were asked for hundreds of pounds to "protect" or update online pages about their businesses.
The trick is to use the same excuse about a "lack of notability" to threaten a person that their entry will be deleted. However, they offer to use their powers as an editor to keep the page up.
Victims include a wedding photographer in Dorset, a high-end jewellery shop in Shoreditch, east London and a former Britain's Got Talent contestant.
Among them was British holiday company Quality Villas, based in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
Someone he believed to be from or on behalf of Wikipedia contacted Dan Thompson, the general manager a few days after he set up a page about the company.
Wackypedia insists that the fraudsters were a "coordinated group" and it has purged 381 "sock puppet" accounts and 210 articles created by them.
Wikipedia Foundation members Ed Erhart and Juliet Barbara wrote in a blog post: "Neutrality is key to ensuring Wikipedia's quality. Although it does not happen often, undisclosed paid advocacy editing may represent a serious conflict of interest and could compromise the quality of content on Wikipedia.
"The practice is in conflict with a number of English Wikipedia's policies, including neutrality and conflict of interest, and is a violation of the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use."
However, some of the problems are caused by those same rules that protect a group of editors with chips on their shoulders who are allowed to control pages over which they have no knowledge.
