With Wikipedia high on the Chinese government’s list of objectionable Web sites, it has fallen to Baidu — the nation’s most popular search engine — to create an online encyclopedia that will satisfy the nation’s censors. So far Baidu Baike, as the encyclopedia is called, has been up to that task: It includes over 120,000 articles, all of which Chinese officials have evidently deemed appropriate. (Taipei Times)
But Baidu Baike appears to have taken much of its material straight from Wikipedia — and, as the Wikipedia Signpost points out, from less reputable sources like a Wikipedia parody called Uncyclopedia. Some commentators have been quick to accuse Baidu of ripping off the more established online encyclopedia. But Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, has said that Baidu is welcome to copy from Wikipedia as long as the upstart complies with the veteran’s license terms.
It’s worth noting that China’s censorship policies make it virtually impossible for a true open-source encyclopedia to exist. While Baidu Baike boasts that it is user-edited like Wikipedia, visitors are only allowed to suggest changes to articles. The site’s moderators still have the final say on what gets in — and what stays out.
