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Archiver > MAWORCES > 2008-03 > 1205333287


From: sherry trout <>
Subject: Re: [MAWORCES] Problems ?
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:48:07 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <47D7ED0A.3010801@earthlink.net>



I am in total agreement with Susan's comments.......I hate monopolies!
Sherry

Susan Hedeen <> wrote:
Ancestry owns RootsWeb, USGen Web, and has been goggling up many many
small on-line genealogy sites, programs, databases, etc. It will be
only a short time until they will have worse than a monopoly on the
on-line information available--All of the volunteered family(s)
information; all of the volunteered transcriptions, all of the
volunteered public documents, all of it.

I have been rattling my sabre about this and ancestry for some years
now; I received all kinds of rebuttals as to perceptions of Ancestry's
motives and costs in the name of public good. Bah--sheep to the
slaughter is more like it. This is big business, we all are a part of
it albeit very unwittingly early on. Watch for fees and increasing
fees. The professional genealogists love it because it helps them and
their fee schedules as well. We give up access but want more
information--who do we turn to. Think about it. How many have bought
ancillary information because it was less than a subscription to some of
these sites where there may be only an index--on purpose I might add.

Will it go away? NO, it won't unless everyone moves their sites,
supports one another and there is whole sale exit from Ancestry and all
that they own. The information already donated, however, will also
remain with them for sale; and less and less of that information will
remain free.

alfred and arline larson wrote:
> I have been wondering the same as Dick Bolt, because of the message Betty sent. Is Ancestry having a problem with rootsweb etc ?
> Arline
>
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