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From: dyer@spdcc.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: Copyright status of the netnews software
Message-ID: <527@spdcc.COM>
Date: Wed, 18-Feb-87 08:18:48 EST
Article-I.D.: spdcc.527
Posted: Wed Feb 18 08:18:48 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Feb-87 19:25:37 EST
References: <962@osiris.UUCP> <1717@hoptoad.uucp> <43093@beno.seismo.CSS.GOV> <11631@gatech.EDU> <1808@hoptoad.uucp> <163@mcdchg.UUCP>
Reply-To: dyer@spdcc.COM (Steve Dyer)
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Lines: 16

Personally, I think the unannounced appearance of Adams' copyright notice was,
more than anything else, a lapse in propriety which generated unintended
but understandable mistrust; there's no argument here with whether he could do
what he did.  Nevertheless, it takes a fair amount of chutzpah to put your
name on public-domain code even given the changes he made, seeing that the
previous contributors to the netnews code did not see fit to do just that.
Folks like John Gilmore feel strongly enough to speak up, but he says what
I felt in my gut when I first set eyes on the copyright notices.

I can appreciate the use of a copyright to keep netnews freely available;
however, there is already precedent for this with the mod.sources cookbook,
which is copyrighted by the USENET Community Trust.
-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@harvard.HARVARD.EDU
dyer@spdcc.COM aka {linus,wanginst,bbnccv,harvard,ima,ihnp4}!spdcc!dyer