Peter Mackay wrote:
From: wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org [mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Thurston
Why shouldn't the companies making money from the Wikipedia data at the microscale should be the primary funders of Wikipedia?
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If, as you say, some large companies derive a commercial benefit from WP and should fund us, then what is to stop them from downloading MediaWiki, hiring some professionals, and building their own encyclopaedia, perhaps as a joint effort with Google along with toolbars and popups and so on? That way, they'd get the same benefits as well as control over the operation and a more focused product.
There's one thing they wouldn't get - control of the community. Yes, WP is primarily an encyclopedia, but it wouldn't be /anything/ without its contributors.