Wiki'd

A British Government Minister may have thought he was keeping up with modern trends when he put a draft policy on the Internet on Friday, but he was soon left red-faced when hundreds of pranksters defaced it.

Weblogging, techno-savvy Environment Secretary David Miliband, tipped as a bright young spark in Prime Minister Tony Blair's administration, had put a draft "environment contract" on his department's website, setting out social responsibilities for people, government and businesses.

But embarrassed administrators were forced to haul it down after more than 170 cyber-jokers trashed the document by adding in bizarre paragraphs for fun.

The page used "wiki" editing techniques, which allow readers to alter the content.

A heading of "Who are the parties to the environmental contract?" became, "Where is the party for the environmental contract? Can I come? Will there be cake? Hooray!"

Another asked: "What would an environmental contract for energy look like? Will it look like my face? My beautiful face?"

The tricky question of "what tools can be used to deliver the environmental contract?" received the answer: "Spade, Organic Yoghurt Stirrer, Old washing up liquid bottle, Sticky Back Plastic."

Meanwhile, a list of tools that "create the right incentive frameworks" was doctored to include "Big stick" and "Owl magnet".

Some of the Internet pranksters put the boot into the Government when monkeying around with the text.

Under a list of things citizens should do, one wag added: "Pay a higher proportion of their income to the government, and see little tangible improvement in their standard of living".

One passage said everyone had the capacity to tackle environmental problems, but that people were too often dissuaded by "doubts about whether our actions will make any difference".

One joker swiftly tagged on: "Besides which we just can't help but meddle, interfere, impose our views on others, and generally use taxpayers' resources in ways that are wasteful except in our own self-aggrandisement".

Word about the document spread like wildfire across several Internet weblogs.

Administrators were forced into action and left a message of their own: "Please note - the Wiki has been 'locked' for the time being to prevent editing.

"Thanks to everyone for their interest so far - do visit again and continue the discussion. In the meantime, you're welcome to read the comments and materials submitted."

A spokeswoman for the red-faced Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said the page was an experiment.

"It's unfortunate that these things do happen. We are currently looking at security on the site," she said.