[Foundation-l] Advertisements?

[White Cat]

We might as well sell wikipedias operation to Google or Microsoft... Who
needs the foundation?

On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 10:23 PM, Nathan <nawrich at gmail.com> wrote:

> To answer White Cat: an encyclopedia that efficiently and effectively
> accomplishes its mission - not simply maintenance of the status quo.
>
> The ultimate goal is not "longterm web hosting of a web based
> encyclopedia"
> its "distribute the sum of human knowledge, free, to all people." Its a
> big
> vision, and its apparent that the big vision is not shared by all who
> contribute - many construe only the narrow responsibility of keeping the
> lights on. There is far more that can and should be done, and Wikimedia is
> in a unique position to go much, much further towards accomplishing such a
> broad goal than we are now. A hundred Wikimedia Academies, conferences at
> universities around the world to involve content experts in specific
> fields,
> the fast and responsive development of new features, etc. There are many,
> many other worthy ideas that deserve consideration and attention from
> those
> who can provide serious support. If we wanted to have that capacity, we
> could have it.
>
> The single most important aspect of the revenue impact from advertising
> would be the preservation of Wikimedia and its projects for the duration -
> right now, each year is a question that we rely on individual donors to
> answer. Its just not necessary - when we have the tools to guarantee
> Wikimedia survives and pursues its missions for decades to come, why do we
> let it hang on the precipice year after year instead?
>
> I honestly do not understand the point of view that any ads in
> articlespace
> whatsoever immediately compromises all of our content. I don't even see
> evidence to reflect the notion that all of our contributors will
> immediately
> fork. I think the prospect of a severe fork of the English Wikipedia is
> rather slim, to tell you the truth, and any fork would immediately become
> obscure and useless for most purposes. What is the difficulty with
> distinguishing between "content" and "stuff alongside content"? All of our
> readers do this effortlessly throughout their day - in fact, a significant
> portion of them probably think there already are ads somewhere on
> Wikipedia.
> The reactionary opposition to advertising in any form needs to stop - it
> is
> uninformed, because no comprehensive investigation of what is involved and
> what the community thinks has ever been performed. It claims the authority
> of a majority where no evidence of such majority exists. At least permit
> the
> Board and staff to look into the possibility without demanding a
> preemptive
> statement that advertising is evil. Something that hurts no one, does not
> negatively impact our actual content or our community and ensures the
> survival and expansion of Wikimedia is not evil on its face.
>
> Nathan
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 3:56 PM, White Cat <
> wikipedia.kawaii.neko at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > What kind of an encyclopedia advertises Toyoto on an article on Ford or
> > vice
> > versa?
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 7:07 PM, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/googles-thin-skinned-lawyers/index.html
> > >
> > > From Google Ads terms of service:
> > >
> > > "5. Prohibited Uses. You shall not, and shall not authorize or
> > > encourage any third party to:
> > > …
> > > (xi) engage in any action or practice that reflects poorly on Google
> > > or otherwise disparages or devalues Google's reputation or goodwill."
> > >
> > > So much for NPOV.
> > >
> > >
> > > - d.
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > foundation-l mailing list
> > > foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > foundation-l mailing list
> > foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> >
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>