Here is another excerpt of information listowners have been discussing. ----------------------------------------------- Just so I don't seem alarmist, here's the background on why I'm concerned. Mattel/Broderbund has just locked up about 85% of the genealogical software and CD-ROM market with their purchases of TLC and hence Broderbund, Palladium, Mindscape, and essentially everyone else who sells genealogical software except Sierra and Wholly Genes. That means the Mattel/Broderbund monopoly can funnel major bucks into genealogy and be certain that it can charge the community essentially whatever it feels like for software and CD-ROMs. Ancestry just sold 30% of their company to CMG (a venture capital company) for $10,000,000. This is money on top of the $60/year they get from "tens of thousands of subscribers" (from the Wall Street Journal). That means that Ancestry has more than $10,000,000 to spend, and they expect to make a *lot* of profit off the community because venture capitalists don't make investments unless they believe they can score some thing 400% or higher profits within a 3-5 year period. Mattel/Broderbund and Ancestry expect to make a *lot* of money off our fellow genealogists. But the community has a choice. We can grow our own cooperatives like RootsWeb and voluntarily spend a few bucks apiece to bring data online, or we can be charged through the nose and make the stockholders at Mattel/Broderbund and Ancestry wealthy. The right choice seems like a no-brainer to me, but 94-98% of RootsWeb's users seem to be saying they think it's a pretty good idea to make the stockholders at Mattel/Broderbund and Ancestry wealthy. BTW, don't worry about the staff at RootsWeb throwing in the towel; we won't quit. But it is kind of discouraging when you watch large numbers of your users making what appear to be barkingly irrational choices. Cheers, B. -- Dr. Brian Leverich Co-moderator, soc.genealogy.methods/GENMTD-L RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative http://www.rootsweb.com/ P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 leverich@rootsweb.com