Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!xylogics!merk!spdcc!ima!dirtydog!brian From: brian@ima.isc.com (Brian Holt Hawthorne) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Lotus Marketplace Message-ID: <1990Nov19.220525.18405@dirtydog.ima.isc.com> Date: 19 Nov 90 22:05:25 GMT References: <1990Nov16.205011.10348@uncecs.edu> <1990Nov17.074534.8751@looking.on.ca> <48514@cornell.UUCP> <4960@rsiatl.UUCP> <1990Nov19.000849.23021@math.lsa.umich.edu> <1990Nov19.062344.2222@looking.on.ca> Sender: news@dirtydog.ima.isc.com (NEWS ADMIN) Reply-To: brian@ima.isc.com (Brian Holt Hawthorne) Organization: Interactive Systems, Cambridge, MA 02138-5302 Lines: 104 In a recent article, brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) writes: >I think John is right. We can't pass laws telling people what they can >store. I agree. I would like to see any possible regulations couched in terms of commerce. We can, and should, pass laws telling people what they can sell. My basic contention is that electronic data regarding my habits, my identity, and the like are my property. This sort of intellectual property is similar to copyrighted material I might produce. There is obviously some level of "Fair Use" of this information, but I would argue that it should not be possible to sell the information without my permission. >Consider the net, and its successors. I have been on the net for over >ten years. I have probably written a couple of thousand postings. > >All this is public, and how can I claim it is anything but public? It is publically available information, but still your intellectual property. By posting it to the network, you give implicit permission for certain uses. You do not, however, release it into the public domain. If you were to gather up all the postings of an individual, format them nicely, do a little editing, and try to sell it as a sketch of that person, I suspect the individual in question would have a fair claim to copyright ownership of the material. It would be difficult even to claim compilation copyright, since you are compiling the statements of a single person. Recent court cases in some unauthorized biographies which attempted to use even insubstantial portions of unreleased writings attest to this (I'll try to dig up the reference. I read it in the Nation this summer). >Right now my bank knows all about me, but the ethics of >banking forbid them from broadcasting it to the world. Obviously they will not broadcast your balance or deposits, but are you so sure they are not selling your name and address? I intend to send Lotus a letter similar to the following. Any comments? Brian Holt Hawthorne c/o Interactive Systems Corp. 1030 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 Lotus Development Corp. Attn: Market Name Referral Service 55 Cambridge Parkway Cambridge, MA 02142 19 November 1990 To whom it may concern: Please remove any information from your "Household Marketplace" product, or any other products or databases maintained or marketed by your company now or at any time in the future, regarding the following names in the zip codes indicated: Names to exclude: Brian Holt Hawthorne Brian Robie Holt Hawthorne Brian R. Holt Hawthorne Brian Holt-Hawthorne Brian Hawthorne B. Hawthorne B. R. Hawthorne Brian Robie Holt Brian R. Holt Brian Holt B. R. Holt B. Holt Applicable zip codes: 02159 02172 02138 I am the only individual in these zip codes who matches the names listed. Please note that simply marking the information as "Not interested in promotional materials" or by any similar manner, without actually deleting the information is unacceptable. I consider electronic data about myself and my habits to be my personal property. Although this concept has not yet been tested in a U.S. court, it has been upheld in other nations, including Norway. I am confident that the current judicial atmosphere in this country towards property rights (witness your recent legal victory regarding intellectual property and copyright) will decide in favor of individual ownership of personal electronic data. If my name or any information about me appears in any of your products or publications, I will be forced to consider legal action on the above grounds. Thank you in advance for your cooperation, Brian Holt Hawthorne -- =brian Email brian@ima.isc.com Phone 617-661-7474 x206 Fax 617-661-2070 upstream from the last bend in the Charles River