Re: (copyright) Re: Internet Info CDROM (fwd)

Jon Shemitz (jon@armory.com)
Tue, 13 Dec 94 19:07:27 PST

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John Frost invects

> I have no problem with shooting them in the gut; they have ripped off
> our work without so much as a by-your-leave. I've been furious since
> I heard about this, and repeated instances by other "publishers" are
> leading me to believe that the dreaded phrase "class action lawsuit"
> just may be the appropriate course of action. I don't really *want*
> to do this -- it'd be long, complicated, and expensive. But if push
> comes to shove, then I will grit my teeth, urge others to do the same,
> and sue them until there's nothing left.

Not what I'd have picked for my first post to this ("low volume", hah!)
list, but:

I have to say that I find this and similar messages really rather hard
to understand.

Do we write FAQ's to help people, or to show off our superior
knowledge? I don't know about you, but with me it's about 95% helping
and only about 5% showing off. (Honestly, it's just too easy to impress
the groups I've written or helped on FAQ's for!) So, if you're trying
to show off, maybe Walnut Creek *is* hurting you by putting your FAQ on
their CD, but if you're trying to help people, isn't Walnut Creek actually
helping you?

Granted, it's very *rude* of them. And, sure, it's illegal. But
it's not "wrong enough" to justify "su[ing] them until there's nothing
left"!

I mean, lets face it: Walnut Creek is providing a service that a lot of
people - both with and without Internet access - find quite useful.
Yes, they're making money doing so, but *they are being helpful*.
Getting vindictive because they're rude is way out of line. It may
actually help to look at it from their point of view: Putting out a CD
is a relatively time-consuming process. If they have to get permission
from each individual author (and some of their CD's have thousands of
files) they probably couldn't put out their CD's.

I think arguments about "principle", here, *are* silly. I make what
living I make by writing (both English and computer) and would be livid if
someone stole work I did to sell - but when I give it away in the first
place? No way.

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Reply: John Frost: "Re: (copyright) Re: Internet Info CDROM (fwd)"

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