Wikipedia and nofollow - the outcry, why?

I'm not surprised at the number of SEOers who are deeply annoyed at Wikipedia adding "nofollow" to its links. Why would it bother anyone? Lots of SEOers are stating that they're not wiki spammers and they're annoyed. They're not wiki spammers so why are they annoyed?

1. The principle of thing
2. They might be affected later
3. They dislike the "nofollow" concept and oppose its use

I'm reminded of the anti-speed camera popular opinion here in the UK. "I never speed" is a common claim, "But why should the police get money from speed cameras? It's just a way to earn money." Drivers hate speed cameras - even those who don't speed. My pet theory - and it applies to wikipedia - is that even safe drivers subconsciously acknolwedge that sometimes they might speed. They might get caught. That would even more "unfair" as they're generally a safe driver. They can't reason with or explain that to a speed camera and therefore they hate speed cameras.

SEOers who don't spam wikipedia may sometimes benefit from a link in wikipedia. Now they can't. They can't debate or reason with the code. Therefore these SEOers dislike the "nofollow" policy.

I'm indifferent. Wikipedia still has a place in any online marketing campaign. If you work with big names and big brands you need to make sure that their wiki page does not have any inaccuracies in it.

I'm also a cynic (my default nature). Is there a connection between Wikiseek and the nofollow rules. This quick little diagram attempts to see if there is a connecting line.


Wales said that Google's algorithm couldn't out perform human decisions. I wonder if wikipedia's human decision has helped or hindered Google?