[Foundation-l] Baidupedia copyvio collections

[Henning Schlottmann]

Dan Rosenthal wrote:
> On 6/12/08, Henning Schlottmann <h.schlottmann at gmx.net> wrote:

>> Of course it would be nice if they would acknowledge the license and
>> give proper attribution. But they can't - Wikipedia is banned and they
>> can't name this source.

> Free knowledge does not mean that the information itself is unrestricted,
> nor does it mean that the authors who make information free waive all of
> their rights. We fundamentally require attribution to our authors under our
> license. 

As if I didn't know that ... but I still don't believe it is applicable.

> If Baidupedia is not respecting that, and are not in
> compliance with the other terms of the GFDL, then it is very difficult to
> say that they are working for the freedom of knowledge. 

Who cares? They distribute encyclopedic information into mainland China. 
That's what counts. Not some nifty details about licenses and attribution.

> Copyright
> infringement != free knowledge. It == theft. 

NACK - IP piracy is not theft, it's illegal copying. Frankly, it's a 
shame when Wikipedians repeat the false analogies of the IP industry.

> By enforcing that other
> websites respect the terms of the licenses our works are published under, we
> are actually furthering free knowledge by giving our contributors some
> assurances that their work will be protected and not abused. 

Yeah sure ... try that with mainland China. Would be nice if it worked, 
but it's not that realistic for the time being. There "imitation" still 
"is the sincerest form of flattery."

> I know that I,
> for one, would have second thoughts about some of my contributions if I knew
> that it would be taken by another person and used under their name. That's
> not free dissemination, its theft.

It's not theft - if it were, something would be taken from you, so 
someone else would hold it and you would not. IP piracy is illegal 
copying, because before, during and after you still hold your work - 
just someone else has another copy of it without your consent. That's 
illegal but it is not theft.

Ciao Henning