Social Networking sight change Digg's open news model

Over one Wired they have an Article called Digg Fights Top Users For Control
. Seem's Digg,founder Kevin Rose has changed the algorithm for weighing and ranking stories, so as to stop spammers and gaming getting false Diggs.

Wired says:-

Digg's open news model -- stories on the site are ranked on popularity among its users -- has been criticized recently for being vulnerable to fraud or abuse.

Groups of users can bump news items to the top of the site's front door by working together in a bloc, submitting and promoting ("digging") stories together. To break up groups, Rose's proposed changes will favor news items given positive votes by users who don't know one another.

It adds:-

Since the new system aims to change the way users' submissions and votes are handled, some of the site's top users will see their importance in the insular world of Digg diminished.

Many of the site's top users spend hours on the site and forums, and they often digg each other's submissions. Because of this camaraderie, the site's top users are responsible for a disproportionate number of the stories that end up on the front door.

For example, the highest-ranked recently active user on Digg, P9, has submitted 1,334 stories. 668 of those stories have been promoted within the last 7 months. In response to the changes proposed by Rose, P9 has resigned from the Digg community.

"I will no longer no supporting Digg going forward," said P9 while announcing his resignation from the site on Thursday. "I bequeath my measly No. 1 position to whoever wants to reign... Now YOU can spend all the time, all the effort and get stabbed in the back by fellow Diggers (aptly named)."

Ummmmmm, sounds like Digg might be facing a backlash. I hope note, I quite like Digg.