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From: arwillms@crocus.waterloo.edu (Allan Willms)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: Commercial software in comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Message-ID: <12615@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Date: 23 Mar 89 04:10:39 GMT
References: <6191@bsu-cs.UUCP> <2967@looking.UUCP> <6203@bsu-cs.UUCP> <2971@looking.UUCP> <2987@epimass.EPI.COM> <54288@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>
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Reply-To: arwillms@crocus.waterloo.edu (Allan Willms)
Organization: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
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In article <54288@yale-celray.yale.UUCP> spolsky-joel@CS.YALE.EDU (Joel Spolsky) writes:
>In other words, if someone gives
>you unsolicited goods expecting to be paid for them , you must pay for
>them or not accept them.
>
>The exception is goods received by US Mail which are covered by the
>Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which states that if you receive
>unsolicited goods by mail, you don't have to pay for them and can use
>them freely. (U.S.C. Par. 3009 (approved Aug. 12, 1970)). 
>
>Needless to say UseNet is not covered by the Postal reorganization
>act, and therefore if someone posts Shareware stating clearly that if
>you want to use it, you have to pay for it, s/he is legally making an

But USENET exists with some rules.  Is not one of those rules that one
cannot use the NET for commercial purposes?  I am not clear on this.
Does it have something to do with the Internet, NSFnet, DARPA or
something like that?