Wikipedia threatens lawsuit over false changes

Wikipedia is demanding that Wiki-PR, a company that makes money by customizing Wikipedia pages for businesses, cease operations or comply with Wikipedia rules. If it doesn’t, there may be a lawsuit.

Wikipedia accuses Wiki-PR continues to edit Wikipedia pages for money, while 250 accounts of the company were blocked last month. That’s why the free encyclopedia sends a ‘cease and desist’ letter to Wiki-PR. If the company does not stop its ‘unfair business practices’, the Wikimedia Foundation can take legal action, the organization writes.

The encyclopedia’s objection to Wiki-PR is not so much that the company edits Wikipedia pages for money, but more that the company registers fake accounts for it, with company employees posing as normal users. This could jeopardize the reliability of Wikipedia, Wikipedia says, and put the Wikipedia volunteers under unnecessary pressure, because they have to look for fake accounts.