Talk:Acid Rain Retirement Fund

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Additional information and references for this article invited, and external links. Mervyn Emrys (talk) 16:46, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Updated figures and references. Mervyn Emrys (talk) 00:56, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Updated urls and figures for 2011, based on sources cited. Mervyn Emrys (talk) 00:39, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Misrepresentation

I propose creation of a new section in this article describing misrepresentation of the Acid Rain Retirement Fund by a publisher called Alphascript Publishing or VDM Publishing, which has appropriated content from Wikipedia and is representing that content as its own by selling it as a book on other websites. If Wikepedia is to survive, it must defend itself against such unscrupulous actions by others.

The content for the proposed new section is as below:

The Acid Rain Retirement Fund is an organization whose name has been misappropriated by three authors who have recently published a book with Alphascript Publishing for sale on Barnes&Noble.com and Buy.com. This book does not really exist, at least not until you send money for it. It is merely a bot-generated compilation of descriptive content published on Wikipedia. Representation by the authors as creators of this material is outright fraud, because they didn’t create the content. Offering for sale something that is available for free on Wikipedia seems a bit disingenuous, as it relies upon ignorance by the buyer on one website of the availability at no cost on another website. That is very near to fraud, and is certainly a dishonest way to seek profits. Wikepedia should be worried about this, because if it fails to take action, it will undermine the reputation of Wikepedia.

Offering the book for sale constitutes misappropriation of the name Acid Rain Retirement Fund (e.g., identity theft) by the publisher and sellers, regardless of any terms for posting material on Wikipedia. Anonymous posting of information about something on Wikipedia does NOT void the copyright attached to a proper name of any organization described on Wikipedia. Moreover, an unhappy purchaser may think that the organization that was the subject of the book was somehow associated with the publisher or authors of the book, thereby reducing the reputation of the organization. Where that organization is a not-for-profit entity such as the Acid Rain Retirement Fund that relies entirely on gifts and donations to fund its programs, that organization may suffer real damages in the form of loss of donations as a result of the greedy behavior of the publisher and authors of such books.

Nobody affiliated with the Acid Rain Retirement Fund made any contribution to the book described here. None of the "authors" affiliated with the book have in any way ever been affiliated with the Acid Rain Retirement Fund. Although this book is associated with ISBNs on the Barnes&Noble.com website, this does not indicate a book has been published. Unfortunately, ISBNs are issued in blocks by the Library in Congress for later association with a particular publication by the publisher at their discretion.

The Acid Rain Retirement Fund is a Section 501 (c)(3) nonprofit environmental organization recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service since 1995, and use of its name is protected by the laws of the United States. Unauthorized use of its name on a book publication is a violation of the copyright laws of the United States.Mervyn Emrys (talk) 19:45, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Alphascript, Barnesandnoble.com and Buy.com have been issued requests to cease and desist marketing this phony book but to date have not replied or complied. Mervyn Emrys (talk) 02:05, 4 August 2011 (UTC)