On 22/10/05, Jimmy Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
Yes, but I think mostly because Amazon is under a boycott by RMS for their patent policies.
Reading back through posts from that time, most the objections seem to be about the "slippery slope" - a quite understandable view. It's also notable that the income from the Amazon was pathetic - it would be nice if there was some assurance that this 1-Click business might actually be worthwhile before we try it.
I also note that the recent posts on the wiki are against this idea. The legal issues are very far from clear, and it's also apparent that there is opposition to this.
I think it was rather presumptious of the board to "announce" this without consulting editors first. The board may have "signed up" to a trial of this, but *we* haven't, and I think the board may well have a hard time stopping editors removing this advertisting from the site.
Dan