The Register has posted an interesting story about the internal politics at Wikipedia. As the story puts it:

Controversy has erupted among the encyclopedia’s core contributors, after a rogue editor revealed that the site’s top administrators are using a secret insider mailing list to crackdown on perceived threats to their power.

Do we have a Wikipedia ruling class? A group of Wikipedia editors trying to maintain tight control over the content of the famous online encyclopedia?

Much of the internal uproar apparently started with the actions of one of the admins called "Durova". She banned another Wikipedia editor now referred to as "Bang Bang". Durova claimed this user was a troublemaker intent on destroying Wikipedia, saying ""He is a ripened sock with a padded history of redirects, minor edits, and some DYK work. He also indulges in obscene trolling in German, and free range sarcasm and troublemaking. If you find this user gloating, or spot his nasty side, hit him with the banhammer."

The evidence Durova had was apparently held secret until someone (apparently not happy about it) leaked one of the private emails of Durova. This private email revealed that there was a secret mailing list. In the leaked email, Durova says that Bang Bang IS a wonderfully productive editor, that the public disgrace was a fake, and that she thought Bang Bang was trying to get on the good side of the community in order to take it down from within.

Sounds like Durova is paranoid. Seen the movie Conspiracy Theory lately? Saw what happened to Mel Gibson?

Durova has since resigned her admin powers at Wikipedia, and the Arbitration Committee has admonished her "to exercise greater care when issuing blocks". Yeah.

Oh, and the super secret mailing list is hosted by Wikia. Right here, to be exact.

Is Wikipedia getting too big for itself? Is the popularity of the site giving rise to a select few who are trying to keep tight control over the information on the site? Sounds to me like the team there is starting to take themselves a little too seriously.