Here is the official answer from Rootsweb, part of MyFamily. Ancestry is part of MyFamily also. MyFamily is not selling the trees, they are selling a new service to search the trees easily. "Family Trees submitted through Ancestry World Tree and RootsWeb World Connect are free and will remain free." Message quoted in its entirety as received on the Listowners List (for administrators). I'm just the messenger~ Marilyn MyFamily.com has written the text below as we believe it will help answer any questions your message board posters or mailing list subscribers may have regarding our OneWorldTreeSM (OWT) service. As always, feel free to contact or have others contact either Ancestry's Customer Solutions - http://ancestry.custhelp.com or RootsWeb's HelpDesk - http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com as needed. Sincerely, Vicki Thauvin RootsWeb Staff At the end of April, Ancestry.com released a preview of a new service called the OneWorldTreeSM service. This preview is just the first step toward a powerful new tool for your genealogical research. The preview status of the release has prompted questions and speculation. We hope the following information will help clear up some of the confusion regarding the OneWorldTree service. OneWorldTree does two things. ? First, it searches family history records. It does not modify or replace the original records. ? Second, it compiles the information in an effort to group the ones that go with a given person (a process we call ³stitching²), and provides references to the original sources. The first collection of records stitched into OneWorldTree was the Ancestry World Tree. Ancestry.com will continue to add records to the OneWorldTree system in an effort to provide more valuable data for our users, including trees, census records, and vital records. RootsWeb¹s World Connect Project is among the databases that will be searched and stitched as part of the OneWorldTree service. Family Trees submitted through Ancestry World Tree and RootsWeb World Connect are free and will remain free. Any options chosen by submitters with respect to GEDCOM download and source display will still work the same way. OneWorldTree doesn¹t contain those trees, it contains links that help people find them. We hope that the genealogy community will see the value of searching and stitching in the greater context of sharing family history information, and that they will add and update their trees. In order to be included in OneWorldTree, family trees must meet certain criteria. If you want to be sure that your tree will be included in the new OneWorldTree service, or if for any reason you do not want your tree to be part of OneWorldTree, please visit http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/checklist.aspx for more information. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, 10 May, 2004 1:36 PM Subject: Re: [PITTSBURGH] Ancestry.com to sell Family Tree data | That is terrible!!!! Think of those who submitted materials that have died since submission, and are no longer alive to argue about this. I am appalled. If anyone should make money on this it should be the submitter who did all the resarch. Maybe I am wrong, but......... | Audrey Schroeder | | | ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== | VISIT THE PITTSBURGH MRC AT: | http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bjsst3/Home.htm | | ============================== | Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration | Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. | http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 |