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From: shap@sfsup.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.stargate
Subject: Re: Restrictions on Stargate - what is sold is telecommunications
Message-ID: <1272@sfsup.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Mar-87 10:52:34 EST
Article-I.D.: sfsup.1272
Posted: Fri Mar 27 10:52:34 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 29-Mar-87 08:52:58 EST
References: <103@stargate.UUCP> <301@gaia.UUCP> <759@looking.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T-IS, Summit N.J. USA
Lines: 45
Summary: Brad hasn't thought it through

In article <759@looking.UUCP>, brad@looking.UUCP writes:
> 
> The service provided by stargate is, in theory, the moving of information
> from point A (say, Atlanta) to point B (say, a customer in Los Angeles).
> 
> It seems perfectly fair that Stargate and the LA customer could enter into
> a contract that says,
>    "I will move the information you request from Atlanta to you, so long as
>    you pay me and don't resell (or give away) this moving."
> 
> Perhaps some are suggesting that this sort of contract be illegal because
> it would forbid the reselling (or giving away) of PD information that was
> moved for a fee.  The point here is that what is being sold is the moving
> of the information, and you can't give away that moved information without
> also giving away the moving of it which is inherently within it.

The above statement is the crux of Brad's argument.  A little
more consideration about the implications of this should convince you
that this would be horrible when generalized.

If I pay for a point-A to point-B service, I can do whatever I want
with what goes over that service. This is legally upheld for a number of
good reasons, and I refer you to the court decisions regarding the
culpability of the telephone companies with respect to information
propagated over the phone lines. In a nutshell: the phone companies cannot
be held liable because they provide a point to point service and have no
involvement in the use of the service. Note that werethis a broadcast
service the ruling would not hold, nor does it hold if the transmitter
performs a substantive editing function.

If we believe your tenet, it follows that the transmitting agency is
*liable* for the consequences of the transmitted information. Given the
noise content of the net, STARGATE wouldn't last long.

In summary, STARGATE can copyright and/or restrict what it legally owns,
including digests, commentaries, etc. But it must abide by the law in
putting its documents together. If I restrict my article from inclusion
in a digest in the copyright, STARGATE cannot apply the laws which would
render ownership unto them.

Jon Shapiro

Copyright (c) 1987 Jonathan S. Shapiro. Copying without fee is permitted
provided that the copies are not made for direct commercial gain and
credit to the source is given. Inclusion in digests prohibited.