[Foundation-l] Britannica became free

Tue Dec 23 22:21:57 UTC 2008

2008/12/23 Mathias Schindler <mathias.schindler at gmail.com>:
> On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 11:06 PM, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:

>> Britannica is notoriously antagonistic toward Wikipedia in its
>> advertising, but Brockhaus for instance isn't anywhere near as
>> obnoxious (they're not *fans* of Wikipedia, but they have more class
>> than to trash a perceived competitor the way Britannica try to). What
>> other important language encyclopedias of comparable renown are there?

> Well. The BIFAB AG (Bibliographic Institute & F. A. Brockhaus inc.)
> has announced last week ("happy x-mas") to sell the usage rights and
> brand name of "Brockhaus" to Bertelsmann (section Arvato, subsection
> inmedia one, business unit wissen media Group). The remaining staff of
> 60 editors of Brockhaus at Leipzig was not bought and will receive
> pink slips.
> Brockhaus might be transformed into an "imprint" of various content
> for door-2-door sales people.

Eek! What's happening to the content?

- d.