Interesting thread on the Foundation list.

What with about 150,000 Wikipedia books out by the Alphascript and Betasricpt imprints of VDM Publishing (nudging towards 10% of the 2 million book titles that amazon offers), Pediapress keeping 90% of the proceeds they make off the Wikipedia book feature in the left sidebar, the issue of who makes money off Wikipedians' work (while the Foundation asks the public for donations) will no doubt gain in importance over the coming years.

Isn't it funny that all these companies are German? I wonder who in Wikimedia Germany has a finger in those pies.

This issue has a greater potential for killing Wikipedia than poor administration, porn scandals and BLP disasters taken together. The moment "teh community" realises they work their butts off to make some fat cat fatter, the air will go out of the balloon.

So, should every good Wikipedia Reviewer go now and buy two or three Alphascript books? Can you assure me that this will bring down the Wikimedia Foundation?

Wikipedia has actually been pretty open about this. Everyone knows that the content there can be used for almost any purpose, even commercial.

You might have some more luck if you show how the license terms have not been honored, i.e. the authors were not acknowledged properly.

As a German company will they be printing the Pr0n and the neo-nazi stuff?

Given that these are essentially computer-generated books with obviously poor production values, I seriously doubt they are making anyone seriously rich.

As SlimVirgin asked:

I, too, would like to hear the answer to those little questions........

Slim is vaguely alluding to the mistreatment of the Unkohser One Who Must Not Be Named.

If she actually names Kohs, and pushes his case, my head may explode.

Oh, I don't know. If you leaf through the European Union one, for example, it looks like it might be kind of useful.

Current catalog of books available.

Of course, there is also the vanity market for Wikipedians. Written a few FAs? Hey, you can have a book of them. In colour and all.

Would you spend $100 on that?

I would be interested to know how many people have actually bought something off of PediaPress, as opposed to just making a Book.

If Slim keeps going on like this, we may one day see a sidebar link for "Ask Wikipedia Review to create this article" whenever you land on a red-link page.

No doubt they'll sent out a RFP and take competitive bids.

Jon

No, I wouldn't. Erik Möller sez PediaPress sell about 8,000 books per annum. Assuming an average price of $50, that would make $400,000, and (at most) $40,000 for the Foundation, which I guess is small change.

The pdf feature is used to create 85,000 PDF files per day.

They're being sold on eBay for up to US$139. Sucks to be the unwary person that buys it. They have a no returns accepted policy.

Anyone found out who is Lambert M. Surhone? Possibly a pseudonym?

The eBay seller isn't getting very good marks lately.

Another publisher of repackaged WP material is coming under the hot glare of the media frenzy surrounding Wikileaks. I suspect that the attention may cause Amazon to tighten things up, particularly after the recent incident with "The Pedophile's Guide To Love and Pleasure".

I'm resurrecting this thread.

Does anyone else have a firm opinion about PediaPress? Are they legit? Would you install the extension in your own encyclopedia-like MediaWiki?

Printed books from wiki content? Looks bad. What if "Nadezhda consorted with animals" is in a page?



Not more legit than the Wikimedia Foundation. Take the cash and run away.

Only if I had a wiki with some decent articles on it that people might actually want. I myself have no such.