WikiAnswers vs Wikianswers, Seth tries to figure out the confusion Options

[Kato]

There is a confusion going on surrounding the various "WikiAnswers" sites on the net - between Wikia and Answers.com.

Andrew Lih writes:

WikiAnswers is not Wikianswers. There is wiki.answers.com, and then there is answers.wikia.com. And confusingly, Wikianswers.com points to one of them.

Did you get that? Well you’re not the only one who didn’t.

Seth Finkelstein has a good rundown on this latest confusion among the companies spun off from the Wikipedia Revolution.

His blog and his Guardian article are pretty unequivocal:

"In my opinion, Wikia’s relaunch of its site using the name Wikianswers is sleazy and unethical in the face of the far more well-known and successful Answers.com" [site].

For those who don’t know, Answers.com has been a major donor and supporter of the Wikimania conference over the years, as has Wikia, which makes this showdown all the more intriguing.

[Random832]

The "official line" from none other than Angela:

http://answers.wikia.com/wiki/Is_wikianswe...iki.answers.com

[dogbiscuit]

The "official line" from none other than Angela:

http://answers.wikia.com/wiki/Is_wikianswe...iki.answers.com

One wonders, with that answer, what legal right Wikia have in the trading name WikiaAnswers? Do Wikia own the rights, is it their trademark to grant permission for.

Random - supplementary question required.

[One]

She seems to be right. Wikianswers has been around since at least May 2006, while WikiAnswers was not renamed until at least November 2006, when FAQ Farm was acquired. http://ir.answers.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=217782 Looks like that's the first time they even used "WikiAnswers," and FAQ Farm was still the main name for a few more months.

And now this very thread might be cited as evidence of market confusion in some future trademark suit rumblings.


EDIT: I didn't realize that the PTO had prosecution histories for trademark applications online. Answers.com has answered three office actions and does not yet have a Federal trademark in WikiAnswers--examiner seems to think it's a generic term with no secondaryal meaning, but I have no reidea what that means. I hate trademark.

This post has been edited by One: Thu 12th February 2009, 10:00pm

[Doc glasgow]

This is the first time I'd ever seen Wikianswers, so I clicked on one of the questions suggested on its mainpage:



What is a doughnut?

A doughnut is all that is heavenly put in a pastry and has had a hole cut in it because the poeple that make them know they are delicious and want to taste test them!

Well, nice to know it is up to the usual high standards of a Wales-endorsed project:


It's a joke-site? Right?

""Wikianswers uses the unique characteristics of a wiki to form the very best answer to any question." Jimmy Wales founder of Wikipedia and Wikianswers"

This post has been edited by Doc glasgow: Thu 12th February 2009, 10:24pm

[Eva Destruction]

Who founded Wikipedia?

Larry Sanger and Jimbo Wales

See how long that lasts.

[Doc glasgow]

Who founded Wikipedia?

Larry Sanger and Jimbo Wales

See how long that lasts.

I was tempted to vandalis amend that with The Truth ™ to say Jimmy alone. But, suprisingly Wikia needs an e-mail to account create.

So I can write an encyclopaedia with no checks on me, but they need more to let me answer a doughnut question?

This post has been edited by Doc glasgow: Thu 12th February 2009, 10:40pm

[Eva Destruction]

Honestly, this is like shooting fish:

Can a male dog get a girl pregnant?
Can I give my cat morphine to sedate him?
Can snorting kool-aid kill you?
Do all animals have skeletons?
Do men masturbate in the shower?
Do people lick girls' buttholes?

Jimbo, with all due respect this site would be improved by redirecting it to Last Measure.

This post has been edited by Eva Destruction: Thu 12th February 2009, 10:44pm

[dtobias]

Do men masturbate in the shower?

The answer provided by the site:

Yup. Men masturbate pretty much anywhere.

(Though I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there's actually a law in the state of Pennsylvania making it illegal to masturbate... has this ever been enforced?)


This post has been edited by dtobias: Thu 12th February 2009, 11:41pm

[One]

(Though I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there's actually a law in the state of Pennsylvania making it illegal to masturbate... has this ever been enforced?)

If only there were a Web 2.0 site to submit such questions...

Someone should ask Random's question of WikiAnswers to see what they say.

[dogbiscuit]

She seems to be right. Wikianswers has been around since at least May 2006, while WikiAnswers was not renamed until at least November 2006, when FAQ Farm was acquired. http://ir.answers.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=217782 Looks like that's the first time they even used "WikiAnswers," and FAQ Farm was still the main name for a few more months.

And now this very thread might be cited as evidence of market confusion in some future trademark suit rumblings.


EDIT: I didn't realize that the PTO had prosecution histories for trademark applications online. Answers.com has answered three office actions and does not yet have a Federal trademark in WikiAnswers--examiner seems to think it's a generic term with no secondaryal meaning, but I have no reidea what that means. I hate trademark.

Ah, that was the point I was getting at. The problem it seems is that Wiki has been established as the generic term for editable web pages (or whatever) and Answers is a pretty generic term, and bolting them together in an unimaginative way doesn't help, so as nobody bothered to register a trademark (or the name itself was rejected by the trademark office), I would guess that nobody has exclusive rights.

Therefore it hints that Sue is being misleading to suggest that it is Wikia's right to determine who gets to use the name. If they'd used something like WiQandA they would have had a case (dashes down the road to register it).

[Bottled_Spider]

Do men masturbate in the shower?

The answer provided by the site:

Yup. Men masturbate pretty much anywhere.

(Though I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there's actually a law in the state of Pennsylvania making it illegal to masturbate... has this ever been enforced?)

I'd love to know. Apparently there's an old law still in force in the British Isles that legally entitles a resident of the Isle of Man to kill a Scottish person on sight. Bad history, y'see. Could be an urban myth - I don't know - but it would be interesting to find out what happens in the event of shit happening. I myself have been there several times and have survived, so things are probably OK. I'd see if it's been asked in WikiAnswers, or whatever, but I can't be arsed.

[One]

She seems to be right. Wikianswers has been around since at least May 2006, while WikiAnswers was not renamed until at least November 2006, when FAQ Farm was acquired. http://ir.answers.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=217782 Looks like that's the first time they even used "WikiAnswers," and FAQ Farm was still the main name for a few more months.

And now this very thread might be cited as evidence of market confusion in some future trademark suit rumblings.


EDIT: I didn't realize that the PTO had prosecution histories for trademark applications online. Answers.com has answered three office actions and does not yet have a Federal trademark in WikiAnswers--examiner seems to think it's a generic term with no secondaryal meaning, but I have no reidea what that means. I hate trademark.

Ah, that was the point I was getting at. The problem it seems is that Wiki has been established as the generic term for editable web pages (or whatever) and Answers is a pretty generic term, and bolting them together in an unimaginative way doesn't help, so as nobody bothered to register a trademark (or the name itself was rejected by the trademark office), I would guess that nobody has exclusive rights.

Therefore it hints that Sue is being misleading to suggest that it is Wikia's right to determine who gets to use the name. If they'd used something like WiQandA they would have had a case (dashes down the road to register it).

Again, I don't know much about this process, but the trademark examiner seems to be rejecting answer.com's application for want of "acquired distinctiveness." See the trademark prosecution history. The examiner's first office action (July 11, 2007) seems to say what you said above Wiki = generic, Answers = generic, and they need to show more distinctiveness.

[Milton Roe]

[quote name='Eva Destruction' date='Thu 12th February 2009, 3:43pm' post='156037']
Honestly, this is like shooting fish:

Shooting fish is hard due to light diffraction and very nasty splashing. Also illegal most places.

Can a male dog get a girl pregnant?

No, and this makes Brian Griffin happy.

Can I give my cat morphine to sedate him?

Actually, yes. The idea that morphine makes cats crazy is a myth. Vets use many drugs in this class on cats, and would use morphine too if they weren't so paranoid about keeping it in stock around their employees.

Can snorting kool-aid kill you?

No, but it's very painful. See Wikipedia Arbcom.

Do all animals have skeletons?

No. Many Wikipedia editors are invertebrates. Jimbo Wales is said to be an animal, but his skeletons are kept in the closet along with many other Wikipedian things.

Do men masturbate in the shower?

Only Kevin Spacey does this. A kitten dies every time he does, and God cries.

Do people lick girls' buttholes?

Was there a shower part on this one? Kittens still die anyway.



The Answer Man

[UseOnceAndDestroy]

The "official line" from none other than Angela:

http://answers.wikia.com/wiki/Is_wikianswe...iki.answers.com

Wikia/wikipedia are struggling to look like they have new ideas. Reminds of the time Jimbo claimed Google was "copying" wikia search - and getting demolished by Matt Cutts.

[Eva Destruction]

Apparently there's an old law still in force in the British Isles that legally entitles a resident of the Isle of Man to kill a Scottish person on sight. Bad history, y'see. Could be an urban myth - I don't know - but it would be interesting to find out what happens in the event of shit happening. I myself have been there several times and have survived, so things are probably OK. I'd see if it's been asked in WikiAnswers, or whatever, but I can't be arsed.

You're safe on the Isle of Man; its "within the city walls of York" where Scotsmen need to worry, as do Welshmen in Chester after sunset.

[dogbiscuit]

The "official line" from none other than Angela:

http://answers.wikia.com/wiki/Is_wikianswe...iki.answers.com

Wikia/wikipedia are struggling to look like they have new ideas. Reminds of the time Jimbo claimed Google was "copying" wikia search - and getting demolished by Matt Cutts.

Glad to see the Wikia project is so active - check out the last date on that blog.

[privatemusings]

Ok, own up..... who is 'roflrofl'?

Whomever they may be, I answered their question as best I could;

Where is the Wikimedia Foundation office?

cheeky.......

[privatemusings]

Whilst reminding myself of this storm-in-a-teacup broo ha ha, I popped a note into the wiki talk page about the photo, and got a response pretty immediately from Cary.

I like Cary, and it seems he feels there is a security issue, so I've removed the info as no big deal. I think it's a bit silly / disingenuous to cite such a risk in limiting the information permitted at the article, but can't find the time or energy to care, to be honest - so will wander away from this one.....

[LaraLove]

Can snorting kool-aid kill you?

No, but it's very painful. See Wikipedia Arbcom.

Haha. Milton, you are brilliant. They were all funny, but this was the first one that really made me chortle.