At 07:19 PM 8/10/02 -0700, Stephen G. wrote:
So, I was browsing in dmoz's open content encyclopedia section (http://dmoz.org/Computers/Open_Source/Open_Content/Encyclopedias/), and what did I see? The Fact Factory: http://the-fact-factory.com/
Someone has copied a fist-full of Wikipedia content and started his own "collaborative project to create a complete encyclopedia from scratch". This one is loaded with ads. It's been very poorly done; many of the edit links are broken and things like the Wikipedia FAQ have been left unchanged.
Of course, there's nothing to stop anyone from doing this, so long as they comply with the GFDL. However,I'm not convinced that The Fact Factory is in compliance. It mentions on the front page that the content was originally from Wikipedia, "but has now taken on a life of its own". The article pages, however, do not mention the original sources of the articles.
So, do we want to do anything about this? Looking at the site, I don't think it's going to do any harm, especially considering the shoddy feel of the place. I thought maybe Jimbo would want to contact the webmaster and ask him what his intentions are.
Well for one thing the copy was made a few months ago and you can't edit the pages, despite a link to do so. All the ads remind me of Netscape.com. Looks like it's going to fall of it's own weight.
Fred Bauder