Can someone please explain to me how the WhitePage name... in conjunction with a blog site... can be confused with White Pages... a company that lists phone numbers? How silly. Ok, so you might get a listing for WhitePage in a google search for The White Pages or something... and I suppose that one might even click on the result and be directed to the wrong place... but five seconds later you'd realise that you'd made a mistake... wouldn't you think?
So why has Telstra taken such a disliking to the fact that our blog site has chosen to use those particular words for their name? Are they doing the company... or, for that matter, the government... any harm by using that name? I mean, it's not as if they are any competition to White Pages... or Telstra. They are not going to lose out on any business simply because our blog site has a similar name... and the key word here is 'similar'. WhitePage is not trying to take a bite of the Telstra cherry, after all... and I think we all know just how silly that accusation is. They are just a bunch of hard-working people who are providing us, the Australian public, with a FREE service... a service which has, by the way, also attracted members from overseas. Could that not actually help the Australian government in the long run? How about the friendships made on the site... could that not be responsible for at least SOME tourism dollars? I'm sure if you think about it, you could think of other ways that this site has benefitted our community as a whole.
Our government has made yet another decision based on whether they
MIGHT one day gain or lose out of a particular situation. Let's look at
the facts here... I've belonged to this community for less than a year,
but in that time it has grown faster than I thought it would. Word has
spread about this site, and spread quickly. Is it possible that the
government has looked at this site and decided that it may just have
something there that they might some day be able to use or profit from?
I'm left wondering how safe my information is now... or whether my
photos and stories are now owned by the government? After this
acquisition, could they come in and use one of my photos for an ad
campaign without my permission? Could they demand that I have to pay
them for the rights to use and/or sell my own photos just because they
were blogged on this domain? Could they claim the rights to my stories?
Could they use the words in my blogs without consulting me? Should I
delete the whole lot before going over to the new server? Or am I just
being paranoid?
For the information of the folks at WhitePage... I will follow you guys to the new domain. WhitePage as a community is what I'm interested in being a part of... and it doesn't really worry me what domain name I have to type in when I'm looking for you. I like being a part of this community, and I think that most of your members will feel the same way as me. So guys, try not to worry too much about Telstra-sucky-White Pages. We all know how much everyone hates that particular company... and this is a classic example of why.
Chins up guys... and be assured that we will indeed add our objections to many a relevant e-mail. I would urge all of you to do the same thing for these hard-working people. They've been here to help us and provide us with hours of entertainment and friendships... not to mention a stellar service regarding our blogs. I guess now it's time for us to stand up for them. I really doubt that it will change anything... but at least our voices will be heard... and if we protest loud enough... one day the government might actually listen to us.
I will likewise be going to the new domain name, I think this is a great little community and the functionality of the blog is really straight foward, I like it much better than others.
But at the same time I agree, there really can be no confusion and no trading off eachothers names. And I will do all I can regarding this! Which is not much but if people are overwhelmed by letters and emails they may just pay attention.
Yes, I too will be moving on to the new community, and I too have made my thoughts and protestations known to both the media and my local member. Whitepage has become a valauble part of my day to day life, as I know it has for many others, too.
And yes, I too will be following Whitepage to the new domain because of the sense of community and the people I have "met". I was quite sad yesterday when I thought I might not be able to "see" some of these people again.
I have sent many emails to Telstra in the past two days and have asked my database of newsletter subscribers to ReptileTrader to put their voices of complaint forward too. Telstra seems to think that they are only affecting non-important individuals, but there are business blogs out there too. And the business blog I'm involved with, not only has many months of MY sweat and tears behind it, it is also a major part of the education and pr of our customers and herp keepers in WA. And I told Telstra so!
I don't know why big businesses and the government in this country still seem to think that it's ok to inconvenience a multitude of people to gain something that isn't even real. WhitePage is not profiteering from the name... There never was any real threat by WhitePage... so why waste our tax dollars to fight for the name and shut us down? You'd think that it would make more sense to appreciate the added bonuses that come with this kind of situation. I'm just glad that we've had a win of sorts... even if Telstra refuse to acknowledge it... in fact, that refusal just makes the victory taste more sweet, to me at least.
Oh, and I reckon you should watch your back, Snowy. Johnny's probably got his boys keeping an eye on you. If they were fans, they wouldn't be able to keep themselves from letting you know how wonderful you are. Keep up the good work.
:o)
• Tuesday 31 October 2006 - Community
But at the same time I agree, there really can be no confusion and no trading off eachothers names. And I will do all I can regarding this! Which is not much but if people are overwhelmed by letters and emails they may just pay attention.