Book review / advise

[Stephen Hansen]

On 6/22/10 9:48 PM, John Bokma wrote:
> alex23 <wuwei23 at gmail.com> writes:
>> Given the current propensity for people to scrape web sites like
>> Wikipedia and publish them on Amazon without the rights holders'
>> consent,
> 
> Can you explain were exactly it states that you can't print a book out
> of wikipedia articles?:
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Terms_of_Use

There's a difference between what is legal, and what is ethical. There
are many, many people who re-use Wikipedia content in ethical ways and
some even make money off of it. That's fine.

Its when you package it up in such a way that the buyer doesn't realize
what they're buying, that's where the problem comes-- and that's what is
happening quite a lot these days.

>> my initial impression was exactly the same as Stephen's. I
>> don't think there's anything contractually binding about the product
>> description that would guarantee the PSF even see any returns at all.
>> But hey, as long as the page _looks_ and _sounds_ official, it must
>> be, right?
> 
> And if it looks like a scam, it must be, right?

If it looks like a scam, some due-diligence and concern is appropriate.
Especially when asked by someone like the OP who is not you, is not
sophisticated in their knowledge of the community and the resources
available to it.

If it looks like a scam, take care personally. If it looks like a scam
and someone is asking about it, you don't sit by and say nothing. That's
inhuman.

-- 

   Stephen Hansen
   ... Also: Ixokai
   ... Mail: me+list/python (AT) ixokai (DOT) io
   ... Blog: http://meh.ixokai.io/

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