[Foundation-l] Offering Wikibooks content for sale

Tue Jul 4 13:21:36 UTC 2006

Jimmy Wales wrote:

>Robert Scott Horning wrote:
>  
>
>>There is a control issue here that does need to be resolved, and that 
>>would be how much control does the WMF want to have directly over this 
>>kind of activity as well?  That would also involve the use of Wikimedia 
>>trademarks (aka Wikijunior) and logos.
>>    
>>
>
>I have no particular stance on the overall issues here, other than some
>broad general principles that I think would be widely accepted by almost
>everyone.
>
>However, in the short term, since this came as a complete surprise
>without any information given to the broader community, I have removed
>the link from wikibooks, and also asked lulu to pull the book
>immediately (but perhaps temporarily).
>
>The important message I want to give here: this is not an issue of the
>foundation versus the community, but rather about an individual versus
>both the community and the foundation.  We should have been told first,
>there should have been a discussion and some consideration given to a
>number of important factors.
>
>--Jimbo
>  
>
But you were told... here and now.... that the content is available.  It 
didn't take a long time to put this together, and the point of even 
raising this issue at all is because there is much more content on 
Wikibooks that can be made available this way.  And I for one think it 
should be in one form or another.  Help me to find a legitimate way for 
Wikibooks users to accomplish this task.  

As I've been trying to point out, this is just the first raindrops 
before the huge storm of activity is going to be coming this way, and 
trying to dam up the efforts is just going to make things worse.  OK, 
you don't like how the link has been put onto the web page.  Fine. 
 Let's find a way that we can accomodate something like this, and I 
think a reasonable solution can be found that would also protect WMF 
trademarks.

BTW, I don't think you can reasonably stop publication by Lulu Press of 
this content.  The only thing you can do is to force the person doing 
the publication to remove any references to the Wikimedia Foundation.  I 
don't want this issue blowing up in the face of the WMF, and turn into 
an ordinary user with lawyer vs foundation lawyer legal fight that has 
to be settled in a courtroom.  Yet this kind of stance is headed exactly 
in that direction if you are not more careful.  Please help me to 
diffuse this situation.

This is also nothing new.  I have raised this issue in a theoretical 
basis several times on this mailing list and have made quite inquiries 
to several others as well, knowing this is a delicate issue.  Indeed, 
the way this user has acted is precisely what was recommened by several 
others on this mailing list, other than adding the link to the project page.

-- 
Robert Scott Horning