Yes, I agree. Since several people have said something about this, I want to make a little clearer what I meant.
Our _primary_ purpose is to make an encyclopedia. The GNU FDL is the liberating influence that allows us all to work together freely.
A _secondary_ purpose *is* copyright activism in the sense outlined by Daniel and others. We're expanding the intellectual commons, and that's a big big part of our identity and purpose.
----
I'm not sure how to say what I was trying to say. :-) If someone wanted to start copying articles directly from Britannica into the Wikipedia as a form of protest against the copyright laws, I don't think that *kind* of activism would be within our mission. If someone wanted to post articles directly from Britannica into Gnutella or Freenet or something like that, I think that *kind* of activism *would* be within *their* mission.
That's all I meant.
Daniel Mayer wrote:
On Tuesday 06 August 2002 05:08 pm, you wrote:
But Wikipedia is not about copyright activism, it's about making an encyclopedia.
--Jimbo
Then why do we use the GNU FDL? GNU is /all/ about using copyright law to free code, content and the people who use and create code and content.
The fact that Wikipedia even exists, not to mention is so successful is a major form of GNU-directed copyright activism. I have little doubt that Wikipedia will one day be /the/ source for encyclopedic knowledge for the world. And what copyright license will all that content be under?
GNU FDL
What copyright license will anybody have to use to incorporate their work into that huge body of knowledge?;
GNU FDL
The fact that we use this license and are headed to be /the/ repository of knowledge will lead to many derivative works. All of these will have to be copyrighted with the;
GNU FDL
Forget mere activism, we are doing far more than that here -- we are beggining the process of changing the way copyrights are used for content through our continued increases in both depth and breadth.
Britannica doesn't fear us now but Microsoft likewise did not fear the Linux operating system during its first few years.
Stepping down from my soapbox.
Sorry, that's why they call me mav [Wikipedia-l] To manage your subscription to this list, please go here: http://www.nupedia.com/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-l