Yes, my two FAQ's (from comp.os.minix) are in the index.
A few points:
(1) I assume my name is still on the posting, so I get credit (& blame)
If that is not true, then I would ask that of them.
(2) at $39 they aint making bags of money off of me. Heck, the Minix
text and disks each cost more than that :-)
(3) the one CDROM maker that did ask for my permission didn't get an
answer because I am uncertain if I hold a clear copyright. I don't
specificly stamp my FAQ with a Copyright message, and it is made up of
contributions from many people, so all *I* could do is claim a
Compilation copyright.
(4) how does their $39 distribution of my bits differ from it's
distribution over the Internet?
a) uunet charges people for a connection & newsfeed, and I'm sure
people have paid for it that way.
b) many (all?) regional networks charge for a connection
heck, $39 is CHEAP compared to MR-NET.
(5) I do not specificly restrict distribution of my FAQs to the
Internet (or to "electronic duplication" for that matter).
(6) cdrom.com distributes a lot of other stuff on cdrom. I doubt they
asked each individual contributor of a FreeBSD bug fix for permission.
I'm listed on that disk as the author of a SCSI driver and, from the
mail I've gotten about it recently, that disk is selling well! :-)
A possibly irrelevant antecdote: several years ago I suggested to
Minix author Andy Tanenbaum that he include the FAQs in the Minix
distribution. He declined, saying that "it wasn't believable" -- that
is, Joe Public with a PC and $150 for Minix would read it and not
believe that Usenet & the Internet exist.
frost@netcom writes:
> I have emailed someone at the EFF to ask for suggestions for a course
> of action, however if you have any suggestions or are willing to offer
> resources, please feel free to email me.
What is your end desire? To terminate their distribution of your FAQ,
set some sort of legal precedent (of what, I can only speculate), or what?
If you want to go after 'em for something, check what they have from
alt.sex and see if they violate any anti-porn laws.
Glen Overby <overby@cray.com>
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