Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!pacbell!att!chinet!mcdchg!ditka!qiclab!m2xenix!news
From: news@m2xenix.UUCP ( randy)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Changes to the monthly postings (for rec.humor.funny)
Message-ID: <197@m2xenix.UUCP>
Date: 11 Feb 89 20:35:17 GMT
Reply-To: news@m2xenix.UUCP (News Administrator - randy)
Distribution: na
Organization: Oregon Software, Portland Oregon US
Lines: 49

In article <2852@epimass.EPI.COM> jbuck@epimass.EPI.COM (Joe Buck) writes:
>| When you post an article to Usenet, you give permission, by that very |
>| act, for the administrators of all machines on the net to pass that   |
>| article along to any other machine on the net.  You give permission   |
>| for everyone on the net to read it.  This applies whether you are an  |
>| ordinary user or a moderator.                                         |

I believe I can agree with this with one minor reservation.  Please define
'the net' and USENET, specifically in regards to Brad's mention of
Compu$erve, and, by implication other commercial (non-USENET) fee-for-
service providers.

I am quite reluctant to have Compu$erve (or UPI, or BIX) gaining income by
redistributing USENET newsgroups.  I also have some hesitation about fee-
for-service USENET sites such as Portal, but am less sure.  It would make a
difference to me if they were commercial for-profit enterprises or merely
site SAs trying to recoup costs for providing a public service.  FYI, I see
uunet as a public service.

While I am all for the 'free flow of information', I am disinclined to have
that free flow make some commercial bozos a bunch of money.  Similarly for
the net map problem.  I fear (but have not decided) that one may indeed have
to directly assert and defend copyright over these materials to protect that
free flow from being exploited and thereby endangered.  I am interested in
reading more calm discussion of this problem, but am not really interested
in reading flames and ad hominem attacks on Brad.

And, to the poster who asked, I hereby volunteer the $100 to support defense
of a net-held map or newsgroup copyright against commercial exploitation.  I
also can recommend rather well-prepared counsel.  This is considered an
interesting legal issue.

>If this principle is eroded in any way, I need to replace my
>/usr/lib/news/sys file by a very good AI program to see if I can
>legally send the article in question to my downstream sites.

I don't think so.  Hypothesize an analogy between a book pirate and a site-
non-grata.  Is a bookstore or library responsible to not sell/give a copy to
the pirate who then illegally copies and distributes?  I doubt it.

I.e. it is not you who needs to make sure you are not passing it to a site-
non-grata, but it is the site-non-grata's responsibility to see that it uses
the feed responsibly.

>Life is not a dress rehearsal.

Damn!  Now you tell me.
-- 
..!{mcvax!uunet,tektronix,sun!nosun}!oresoft!m2xenix!news   (Randy Bush)