[Wikipedia-l] Stallman on fair use

[Daniel Mayer]

Lee Pilich wrote:
>...
>This is perhaps a little off-topic, but is there a 
>quick and easy explanation of why the Wikipedia 
>is released under the GFDL and not into the public 
>domain? Somebody asked me the other day, and I 
>realised that I didn't actually know.

So that Britannica, Encarta or another proprietary encyclopedia doesn't 
cannibalize the project by incorporating our material and not making their 
modifications available under a free license. That would break the chain of 
positive feedback that has gotten us so far. 

Who would read or continue to contribute to Wikipedia if a proprietary version 
was always snatching up the best parts? I wouldn't - what would be the point? 
Any time we do something better than a proprietary encyclopedia all they have 
to do is copy what we did. Then there is a proprietary fork. Forks are bad 
and proprietary ones are really bad because they tend to tear appart the 
non-proprietary communities. We would never be able to rise above the 
proprietary crowd in quality and contributors will drift away. We would never 
be able to beat Britannica because we would be assimilated into Britannica, 
piece by piece.  

Short answer: The GNU FDL encourages people to share and discourages people to 
be selfish. 

-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)