I got a notice that someone had posted a blog entry about my recent entry concerning the issues with Rootsweb/TGN/Ancestry, etc, etc, etc.
He says “as an ancestry subsacriber I pay for GenWeb too” (sic)
To that I have to ask….WHAT?? (what that has to do with my article I really haven’t a clue, I know quite a few people who subscribe to Ancestry who support free genealogy) The entire group (TGN, Ancestry, Rootsweb), to the best of my knowledge, is owned, again, by investors..they want money, most at USGenWeb want free access to genealogy. They want people to have to pay for genealogy…USGenWeb wants to give it away…I have a hard time visualizing a healthy relationship, one that is good for all parties. USGenWeb wants to be able to offer it to everyone for free, no strings attached. This was the original agreement with Rootsweb, before they sold out to the large group. Now, it seems that little by little, USGenWeb is losing it’s identity. Many of my visitors email me asking about “…your Rootsweb site”…my sites aren’t Rootsweb sites, they’re USGenWeb sites. They aren’t any more a Rootsweb site than someone elses is a Yahoo site (when it’s hosted on yahoo). A current issue has to do with banners that must be posted to the top of every page of every website hosted at Rootsweb. I, personally, don’t have a problem with a required acknowledgement of who is generously giving us free webspace, but when that acknowledgment is required to be at the top of every page, and it *appears* to claim ownership…(all this coupled with that AUP I already told you all about) I do have a few issues with it. (Notice I said *appears* to claim ownership…meaning it appears that way to me, and to many others I’ve spoken with.) I was going to include a link to the banner here but I can’t seem to find it now. If anyone has it please email it to me at dee@pavey.org
He also asked for evidence concerning the claims that some people are making that their data was being harvested from their site and placed behind a pay site. Well, first of all, I said people are claiming, not that I was claiming. But, here are some links for your reading pleasure:
Spoken-For.org
Eastman’s – read carefully a few comments
Untangle Family Roots
About.com
Ancestry.com Hijacks CowHampshire
Family Oral History
That’s all I can get together right now…we’re still a little busy with things we’re doing to make sure people don’t ever have to pay for genealogy on-line…hmmm…it seems to me that Some of these other groups probably want just the opposite…for people to have to pay (them) for research….maybe that’s what all of this hullabaloo is for…to stop us (or slow us down) from doing what we were doing…offering genealogy data for free.
No matter where you stand on this issue, I will respect your right to feel the way you do, I hope you will respect mine, as well.
Have a wonderful day everyone! I know I will! 
