Wikipedia and the Fallacy of Intentions

Wikipedia is running into strange issues: more slashdot here.

To summarize, a clique within Wikipedia is behaving like despots and risking destroying the whole effort.

This actually is a good proof point for the fallacy of intentions: Wikipedia is great, and these guys have done a great job of bringing Jimbo’s vision to life.  But the fact that you have “non-selfish” intentions (if that exists) does not mean that what you are doing is good.  Durova may have the best of intentions and act like an on-line Stalin.

That’s why businesses exist.  That’s why Wikipedia would probably be better as a for-profit organization that more people (stockholders, employees, board members, community members…) could do something about it than a group of “believers” who really know what should be done and screw up like this.

Finally, legal, DRM-free music off the web

Amazon does not let you buy DRM-free MP3s off their web site if you live in Europe, so no Steve Adey for me.

Deutsche Gramophon just opened their own perfect little shop on the web, though, and they do allow lowly Europeans to get their fill of classical music, DRM-free and ripped to a decent 320.  The only peeve I have is that I am more of an Ogg guy: MP3s, at that rate, tend to sound just as good but are way larger, but that’s OK.

Albums are cheap, too, with old issues priced around EUR10.  I finally got my hands back on Levine’s Carmina Burana, which I had on tape 20 years ago and hadn’t been able to purchase on CD.  I don’t think it was truly OOP, it’s just that I hadn’t been able to track it down again.  Well, I can hear Anderson’s voice in all her crystalline beauty back again!

This has to work.  There is no other way for the music business.  Will the pirates respect that and not flood P2P sites with DG’s back catalog?  In the case of classical music, yes, I believe it should work.  For rock, I remain skeptical.