> Asking for permission and *assuming* permission are NOT the same. How
> about this: I assume that I can enter anyone's house and help myself to
> their belongings unless they explicitly tell me not to. If they're not
> around to say no, I'll assume the answer is yes. Would you send me your
> street address, please?
I'd like to point out that Pat's analogy is not *quite* spot on.
Copyright violations are more akin to trespassing, since they are not
really "stealing" anything, per se. The issue is not the FAQs they've
taken (after all, we all write these to help others and for as many
interested readers to access them, no?), but the fact that their
making a CD-ROM of our FAQs takes our CONTROL away.
This is, after all, the basic issue at hand. Those of us who feel
somehow violated, feel so because this power of CONTROL was taken away
from us.
If someone knocked at our door, and said "Pardon me, but you have such
a convenient access to the other side of the hill--could we walk
across your yard to get there?" what are ya gonna say--NO? If they
ask, you'll probably say yes. But what if you catch these bozos
walking across without asking, even with large NO TRESPASSING signs
emblazoned on your fence?
What Walnut Creek has done, is to walk across everybody's yard, and
say, "Hey--if you don't stick your head out and tell us we can't do
it, we'll assume it's okay." ...and damn the No Trespassing signs and
full speed ahead! (trivia--whose quote is this?)
> Money is NOT the issue here. Respect for the rights of authors is.
I agree entirely. People are saying "Take 'em to court! Spend the big
bucks!" but this seems almost like a small claims court thing to me.
Or perhaps we could all threaten a class action suit together? How
many FAQ maintainers do we have on this list, anyway?
Lani Teshima-Miller (teshima@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.edu) "Sea Hare" o/ /_/_/
UH School of Library & Info Studies. "Whatever the cost of our o|<0_0>------*
libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant \=^-| |_| |
nation." -Walter Cronkite [R.a.b.bit--FAQ Maintainer: "Think Ink!"] \_B}\_B}
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