Auction giant eBay unveiled a community-edited website, ebaywiki.com, at its annual eBay Live conference in Las Vegas in June 2006, inviting any of its roughly 185 million registered users to contribute, revise, or remove content related to buying and selling online.
The wiki was built by JotSpot, a Palo Alto, California company. Its founder, Joe Kraus, described the format as moving wiki technology from a niche technical audience into the mainstream, allowing users to collaboratively build practical guidance on topics such as handling international buyers, managing foreign-currency transactions, and settling disputes.
Ken Walton, who pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud after selling a forged painting on eBay in 2000 and later wrote a book about the experience, offered cautious praise. He said the wiki could raise awareness of fraud but warned that many schemes go undetected, adding that inexperienced shoppers are often lured by the prospect of an unlikely bargain.
Walton also raised concerns about eBay's credibility and potential liability for unmoderated content. Kraus acknowledged the risk of inaccurate entries but said the wiki community typically self-corrects through a process he called "gardening," arguing that most users want reliable information.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in June 2006, in its own words.