[Foundation-l] Wikipedia trademark being used incorrectly

[Rowan Collins]

On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 22:45:14 -0800, Scott Nelson <scott at penguinstorm.com> wrote:
> If Microsoft decided to launch an MSN encyclopedia that was developed
> using Wiki software, then MSN Wikipedia would be a perfectly good name
> for it, in my view. Many (you included, I suspect) would argue
> otherwise - quite vigorously in all probability.

I think my main concern, if this happened, would be what we would then
call the original Wikipedia, since anything we could well find
ourselves with the word "Wikipedia" becoming associated *first* with
the rival version. So we'd have to highlight that this was the
"Wikimedia Wikipedia" or something equally ugly, in order to avoid
just giving someone else all our publicity.
 
You are also assuming that Wikipedia would only ever be used to refer
to a wiki-based encyclopedia, not just, say, some vaguely
collaborative online one. If we're not going to take control of the
term, people can use it for *whatever they like*. I don't think it's
all that unlikely that a service like MSN or AOL or Yahoo! would
decide that what you and I would think of as a "real" wiki was just
too open to put their name to, but some "watered down" version would
capitalise on our work nicely.

> Rather than try to protect Wikipedia, let it spread and flourish.
> Wikipedia is the Wiki software's flag on the moon.

The other thing that you're not considering here is that there's a lot
more to the ideal of Wikipedia than the fact that it runs on wiki
software. In fact, some people would argue that the Wiki is just a
means to an end, and what the project is really about is creating a
freely available, neutrally compiled, comprehensive collection of
information. And even if you think the concept of "The Wiki Way"
itself is more central than that, it's still possible to have
something that resembles a wiki in many ways, but doesn't adhere to
the same ideals as are traditionally attached to them.

I guess what I'm saying is that it would be a shame to voluntarily
give up control of our name, only to find it being applied to
something we'd want to distance ourselves from - or even something
against which we would feel fundamentally opposed - and then being
powerless to change our minds.

-- 
Rowan Collins BSc
[IMSoP]