Wikipedia reminds me of the NCAA
March 12, 2008
Update: The New York Times is now covering this story here.
Each week there is a new scandal surrounding Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales. This week the BBC is reporting that Jeffrey Merkey, chief scientist at Novell, claims that he paid Wikimedia $5,000 in exchange for edits to his Wikipedia entry. Surprise, surprise, Jimmy Wales denies the claim, but Merkey is sticking to his story. The irony is that the circumstances Merkey describes are not scandalous. Specifically, Merkey detailed a situation where his Wikipedia entry was being vandalized with libelous remarks. He asked Jimmy to ‘use his influence to make [the] article adhere to Wikipedia’s stated policies with regard to internet liable ‘as a courtesy’ and place [his] page under [Wales] special protection as an editor’. Jimmy agreed and then asked Merkey to help support Wikipedia by making a donation of $5,000 and ‘other financial support’ of the Wikimeida Foundation. In the Wikipedia world this is a HUGE no, no.
Did Jimmy REALLY do anything wrong? Suggesting Merkey make a donation? Agreeing to edit the page so that it would adhere to Wikipedia’s stated policies? I don’t think so (of course I am not a wiki-zealot). The only mistake Jimmy made was to deny that it happened. Of course, what can you expect from a guy who broke up with his girlfriend using Wikipedia?
The truth is Wikipedia’s ‘tin-cup apprach’ to fund raising isn’t hacking it according to the LA Times. We are talking about one of the world’s most popular websites (300,000,000 pages views a day) and these guys run on an annual budget of $4.6MM per year (50% going to run 300 or so servers). Executive Director Sue Gardner explains, “The most difficult issue for a nonprofit is always how to raise money in ways which are consistent with the mission and don’t distract too much from the mission-related work.” I would argue that the current cash situation, combined with the various Jimbo-eruptions are VERY distracting. These guys need to grow up and protect, what has become an amazing resource.
Oh, and the NCAA should let schools pay players to play. Come on, get real…
