From: Matthew J Ghio <mg5n+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 15:57:16 PST
To: cknight@crl.com>
Subject: Re: archiving on inet
In-Reply-To: <Pine.3.87.9401252125.A6752-0100000@crl2.crl.com>
Message-ID: <8hFk=cW00awK4AjkdC@andrew.cmu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Chris Knight <cknight@crl.com> wrote:

>   I may be wrong, but I don't see it this way.  Articles and research
> papers that I write are copyrighted.  If I choose to distribute these in
> the net, it's a given that inet providers will have these stored on
> their drives.  But...  If you archive the net, and compile it into a
> different media that you then sell(presumably to make a profit),
> then there is a matter of copyright infringement.  

So if I sell (at a profit) a netnews feed to subscribers via modem, it
is not copyright infringement, but if I sell the same data on a CDROM,
you cliam copyright infringement.  So I suppose you want to give some
kind of list of what types of media are acceptable for transmitting
netnews feeds, and which are not?  And I suppose that the Federal
Copyright Beaureau will then need to enforce a new law to make sure that
netnews is distributed only via government-approved methods.  Ahh.. I
can smell the new gummint conspiracy already.

The plain and simple fact is: When you post a message to usenet, you do
so with the expectation that others will receive it.  You can have no
way of knowing or limiting who may get it; that is given by the nature
of the network.  Usenet news is, and is intended to be, publicly
accessable information.  If there is something you don't want
distributed, then DON'T POST IT!