[Foundation-l] What are the assets of the Foundation, anyway?

[Erik Moeller]

On 4/19/07, Kelly Martin <kelly.lynn.martin at gmail.com> wrote:
> However, the Foundation nonetheless owns some very valuable
> properties: the names "Wikipedia" and (to a lesser degree)
> "Wikimedia", the wikipedia.org and wikimedia.org domain names, and the
> related service marks.  It is these that the Foundation needs to do
> much more to both protect and exploit than it has to date.

Yes - and no. Yes, we should explore the strategy of protecting the
brands through a trust or by other reasonable means. (I do not agree
with Danny that it should be "done immediately", as we also need to
carefully investigate any associated risks.)  I also agree that the
domain name and brand has tremendous short term value.

But for long term impact, the core contributors are going to make the
difference. If the vast majority of these people _know_ that there is
a project that follows the same principles, under a new name, which
has been officially endorsed for exactly this purpose, they will go
there. And the press will help with that (it's a nice story).

The two strategies - of a trust for the brands, and a designated
successor organization - are not necessarily distinct. They could be
combined: In the event of failure of the mothership, the (presumably
US-based) trust licenses the brands to the designated successor.
-- 
Peace & Love,
Erik

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