QUOTE(thekohser @ Fri 16th October 2009, 12:22am)
Don't be an idiot, Abd.
Why not? Isn't it more fun? If not, why would anyone bother trying? Only idiots get to blither, and if you haven't blithered, you haven't lived.
Do you know what is in the books themselves about license? "by So-and-So (editor) means the same as Edited by So-and-So. And simply by selecting and putting the pages together, So-and-So did edit. Remember, anyone can edit. Wikipedia, at least!
What's the problem here? Somebody puts together compilations of Wikipedia articles and probably uses a book-on-demand service, so he makes money with every sale. This could be done well or it could be done poorly, like much of anything else.
I've seen no evidence that these are "unauthorized copies." Looks to me like the license allows these copies. The statement by the editor that there are no restrictions wasn't true, but, remember, that's a media reporter and the meaning of "no restrictions" may not be "no restrictions," it means "we can do this, the restrictions, such as they are, don't prevent us." And if he has fail to properly note what the license requires, that's an error, but what will come of it? And why do you care?
Myself, I like the idea. Anyone could do this. Like me or you. Why not? And, of course, I mean, do it right. A URL to history can be used to cover the requirements of the license, if I'm correct.
Where they are off, of course, is that they don't disclose that the book is a copy of Wikipedia articles. They are correct, probably, that they don't legally have to do this, in the Amazon advertising.
But, you want an example of idiocy, how about the idea that what you were offering, a pile of copies of articles, would be the same as what they were selling, a bound book? Same content, but a pile of copies is far from as desirable as a bound book, particularly if the book is organized properly. Dalmatia. If I had some interest in Dalmatia, that would make a nice addition to a coffee-table, even if it is a copy of Wikipedia articles. I'd expect better thinking from you, Greg, what got you on a rant about this?