P3D Re: 3D-CD glitch

[michaelk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Michael Kersenbrock)]

> If I were in a cafe and someone was recording the conversations, I would
> expect them to get explicit written permission to copy my conversation and
> use it for a commercial purpose. How is this different?

Posting to this server is open-ended.  This letter I'm now writing
isn't a conversation between you and me.  There's a thousand listeners
of which I know the identity of only a dozen or two.  There may be
even more who look at the archives (much in the way that one can look
at usenet newsgroup postings via www.dejanews.com where most everything
is archived).

So although I'm "only talking to you", it's possible that over a year's
time many thousands will have read my letter to you, and the vast majority
are "anonymous" to me (gulp!!!!).

What's more, the ISP who provides access to the web (for a fee) to
allow a person to read the archives is in fact using our postings
"for commercial purposes".  For that matter, a provider of email 
services is indirectly using this mailing list for commercial purposes.

As others have said, this posting, and theirs, are intended for use within
the context of the newsgroup and are "published" in the archives and 
distributed by email and web-access means.  If taken in it's entirety,
the CD-ROM would just be another distribution mechanism for what is already
distributed in two ways.  It's a "sneakernet" replacement for one's
"internet".

DejaNews "publishes" an aggregation of USENET newsgroups for their 
commercial purposes.  How is *that* different from our newslist and
archives other than their commercial intent (selling ads) ?

Mike K.


P.S. - I suspect laws (at least in the U.S.) regarding the internet and
       email and newsgroups will be changed and clarified in the years to 
       come as more and more politicians grasp the concept.  :-)

P.P.S. - Haven't secretly made tapes of conversations been published
         and talked about quite a bit lately?  :-) :-)





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