A businesswoman who had been harassed by an anonymous Wikipedia contributor just won a landmark legal battle to have her accuser's identity revealed. The victim reportedly had someone write 'confidential and sensitive' details about her professional life and that of her child's on her online encyclopedia page. She also received anonymous threatening letters suggesting that her accuser would reveal other incriminating information to the press.
The website has now been ordered to release technical information in order to help track down the blackmailer. This case is the latest example of Wikipedia - which has approximately 325 million visitors a month and can be edited by anyone - being used for malicious or mischievous reasons.
The alleged victim denies any wrongdoing regarding her expenses and there hasn't been any story about her published. The woman believes that her accuser might be a person she is currently 'in dispute with', but that person denies the allegation. The judge on the case said 'the range of suspects' could also include employees or professional advisors working at the same company as the victim.
Following this complaint, the woman's improperly altered web page was removed by the U.S.-based Wikimedia Foundation, which supervises the encyclopaedia. Wikipedia does not store the names of those users writing or editing its entries - but it does keep the Internet Protocol (IP) address, which can identify every computer on the Internet. Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk
