FYI
***************
MSGenWeb SC
CC/ Listowner Rankin, & Warren
Temp for Sharkey
UIN 279574
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Stowell" <tstowell(a)chattanooga.net>
To: <STATE-COORD-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2000 2:23 AM
Subject: [STATE-COORD-L] A couple of notes that may be of interest
>Teresa:
>
>My name is Charles Merrin, and I am the Vice President of Marketing for
>RootsWeb. After the merger, I will remain as the General Manager of the
>RootsWeb group.
>
>Thank you for your questions. Here are some answers.
>
>Regarding the
USGenWeb.org domain, we have offered to do whatever the
>USGenWeb Board wants with it. I have been working with Tim Stowell to
>determine the appropriate strategy. Regarding the .com and .net domains,
>they are both in the hands of individuals and thus are not "owned" by
>RootsWeb.
>
>After the merger, we will continue to honor all agreements between
RootsWeb
>and the USGenWeb organization. Neither RootsWeb nor MyFamily
will charge
>for access to the USGenWeb data, nor will we use it in any way other than
>its current use without the express permission of the contributor.
Further,
>as I have said publicly, we will continue to offer free, unlimited,
>banner-free and link-free server space for all USGenWeb pages. Also, we
>will continue to provide unlimited server space for the Archives. And as
>always, in the unfortunate event that anyone decides to leave RootsWeb,
we
>will do our best to ensure a smooth transition.
>
>Regarding more formal agreements between MyFamily, RootsWeb, and / or the
>USGenWeb organization, we will do whatever seems most appropriate for
each
>situation. At this point, we don't envision the need for any
changes.
>
>Teresa, I suspect you won't notice any changes from the perspective of a
>USGenWeb project manager, user, or coordinator. The RootsWeb team is
>staying intact, and you will continue to work with the same people as you
>have in the past.
>
>Thank you for your questions and concerns.
>
>CSM
>
>Charles S. Merrin
>Vice President, Marketing
>RootsWeb.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: merope
>To: mleonard(a)myfamilyinc.com
>Sent: 6/22/00 6:02 PM
>Subject: Recent acquisition of
RootsWeb.com, Inc.
>
>Dear Mr. Leonard,
>
>I am a member of the USGenWeb Project, and have read with interest of the
>recent acquisition of
RootsWeb.com, Inc, by
MyFamily.com, Inc.
>As I am sure you know, the national pages the USGenWeb Project is hosted
by
>RootsWeb, as is our Archives Project, most of our state pages, and some
two
>thirds of our county pages. Many of us have been with RootsWeb
for
years,
>and as you can imagine, the prospect of RootsWeb changing
ownership has
us
a
>little anxious.
>I have read both your press release on this topic and RootsWeb's
>announcement, and I have several questions regarding how this merger will
>affect the USGenWeb Project. I am hoping that you can answer them and
that
>you will allow me to forward your answers to my fellow project
members.
If
>you cannot answer them, would you be so kind as to forward them
to a
person
>who can, or provide me with contact information?
>The first thing we would like to know is the status of our primary
domain,
>www.usgenweb.org, which is registered to "RootsWeb
Genealogical Data
>Cooperative"; this was RootsWeb's name before it incorporated in June
1999.
>Will this domain become the property of MyFamily.com? Will
either of
the
>other two USGenWeb domains (
www.usgenweb.com,
www.usgenweb.net)
become
the
>property of MyFamily.com?
>The USGenWeb Project has a long-standing but very informal agreement with
>RootsWeb regarding the provision of free webspace, mailing lists,
GenConnect
>boards, search engines, and other services to all members of USGenWeb.
>These services, unlike most other services on RootsWeb, are provided to
us
>without banner advertisements or required links [with the
exception of
the
>search engines, which display banner ads]. Will the USGenWeb
Project be
>able to continue with this arrangement essentially unchanged? Of
particular
>concern to many of us is the potential for advertisement; USGenWeb has
>always prided itself on its noncommercial nature and any sort of
solicition
>for funds has been a source of concern previously.
>Our Archives Project also has a long standing but informal agreement with
>RootsWeb for free storage of all files. This arrangement was a private
>agreement between Dr. Brian Leverich and Ms. Linda Lewis, who heads the
>Archives. It provides for free storage of and free access to the
archived
>transcriptions. Of particular concern to many of us is a clause
in their
>agreement that says the Archives will be hosted by RootsWeb and by no
other
>server. Will
MyFamily.com recognize that agreement and continue
to
provide
>unlimited free space for our Archives? as well as free access? Should
the
>USGenWeb find the relationship with
MyFamily.com to be
unsuitable, will
the
>Archives be allowed to move to another server?
>Also, in regards to these agreements, will
MyFamily.com be pursuing more
>formal arrangements with the various hosted projects on RootsWeb, or will
>RootsWeb basically be left to run itself as it always has? In other
words,
>will our interface as USGenWeb Project members be with
MyFamily.com
>personnel or with RootsWeb personnel?
>Thank you very much for your time in answering these questions. I don't
>mean to imply in any way that USGenWeb's relationship with
MyFamily.com
will
>be negative, but I'm sure you can understand our surprise at this
>announcement and our need to have these issues addressed formally so that
we
>can plan for our future. Also, I am not writing to you in any official
>capacity, just as a project member. I look forward to hearing from you.
>Sincerely,
>
>
>* Teresa Lindquist
>Anderson, Shawnee, and Johnson counties, KSGenWeb/USGenWeb
>merope(a)radix.net