Idea of Paid Entries Roils Wikipedia

Gregory Kohs sits by a computer screen at a public library in Media, Pa., on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007. Last year Kohs launched MyWikiBiz, a service that offered to write Wikipedia entries for businesses for $49 to $99. But a few days afterward, MyWikiBiz's account on Wikipedia was blocked. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales called Kohs to tell him MyWikiBiz was "antithetical" to Wikipedia's mission, as Kohs recalls the conversation. (AP Photo/George Widman) (George Widman - AP)

It's certainly understandable that Wikipedians would want to limit the rubbish they have to sweep away, given that they spend a fair amount of time fighting PR's more nefarious cousin: use of the site to denigrate rivals. Last year, for example, Wikipedia temporarily blocked access from some computers assigned to Congress after a series of partisan pranks. In one, the entry on Sen. Robert Byrd was altered to give his age as 180 rather than 88.

Still, Wales said he realizes the payments issue has some gray areas. Participants on the Reward Board, he said, have to be sensitive about avoiding conflicts of interest.

"It's all tricky, you know," he said.

The founders of one new information site, Helium.com, argue that Wales has it all wrong. As they see it, prohibiting payments is bad for Wikipedia _ and an opportunity for them.

Helium.com lets anyone write an article on a topic. But unlike at Wikipedia, one contributor doesn't overwrite another. Instead the community votes on which entries are more valuable. As a result, multiple articles on a subject appear together, with top-rated ones listed higher.

Authors are encouraged to write on something they know about, of course, but they are given an extra incentive: a cut of Helium's ad sales.

Andrew Ressler, a Helium vice president, argues that Wikipedia's ban on perceived conflicts of interest shuts out lots of people with "valuable insights and knowledge," and tends to leave the site to a small clan of diehards.

"Everybody is getting rewarded somehow," Ressler said. "Whether it's intangible or tangible, what's the difference?"