Since around September there has been a new subscription genealogy site on the net
which has caused quite a bit of uproar, especially for those with genealogy sites,
generally ones dealing with a specific locality. Some of you may have already been
"spamed" by this site, which is
www.FamilyDiscovery.com. If you have come
across this site or have thought about subscribing to this site, I urge you (okay, BEG
you) not to waste your money.
Okay, now to tell you why and what this site is about. I'm sure most of you who
haven't heard of it will take a peek at it! What FamilyDiscovery does is surf the web
for genealogy sites and link to specific pages located on another's site. Not a bad
thing, actually a good thing really. Problem is, they "capture" the link in
frames so it appears as if the information you are viewing is actually a part of their
site. Thus very misleading and they are charging you to view what is already online for
free. I located on two pages a small disclaimer about how the site is a collection of
"external links" but you had better scroll all the way to the bottom and get
your reading glasses out.
I think this practice is VERY misleading if not fraud, which is being researched. I
check this site regularly as I would be very upset to see information
"appearing" to be done by them that I and volunteers have spent numerous hours
and days transcribing and working on. If you have a genealogy site and would like more
information as to how to check to see what records they have listed, please contact me
privately at angela(a)kneller.com.
Gene Olsen has created a web site with much information on
FamilyDiscovery.com
including correspondence with the owner (a must read to get the just of the situation).
Gene's site can be located at
http://www.compuright.net/familydiscovery/
I just don't want people to get taken by this website as others have. The
information that this site is offering for a fee is placed online for free by hard working
people and most can easily be found my a search engine or by going to
www.CyndisList.com
which is an awesome compilation of genealogy website links.
If you have any questions just ask and I will try to answer to the best of my
abilities.
Have a good evening!
Best Regards,
Angela Kneller
angela(a)kneller.com