tsf@cs.cmu.edu (Tim Freeman)
> I have seen expressions of this sentiment many times, but I have yet
> to understand it. Why do you want to stop strangers from making money
> in a way that does not harm anybody? The only motivations I can guess
> for this are covetousness and envy; is this accurate, or is something
> else going on?
There's a lot else going on.
Let's take a simple case: someone takes a posted FAQ, strips off the
author attribution, strips off the pointers to how to get a current
copy, and reposts it. There's no profit involved, but I think that
most of us here would be upset by this; I've seen exactly this
situation lead to a lot of flamage in the past.
Similarly, most FAQ maintainers get upset when someone reposts an old
version of a FAQ, especially if the original posting date isn't
included. It disseminates outdated information, it clutters up the
newsgroups, and it might lead to the author being flamed for
broadcasting incorrect info that he/she has already taken the time to
correct in the official version of the FAQ.
FAQ authors expect (or should expect) their work to be archived on the
InterNet, on BBSes, and on other computer systems. Nobody complains
that someone's making an unethical profit off of pay-access users
dialing up to read or download news.answers postings. So money isn't
wholly the issue, either.
However, including a FAQ in a book or CD-ROM takes everything up a few
notches. Books and CDs are permanent in a way that easily-updatable
computer archives are not. People make real money off of publishing
them. I have on my bookshelf quite a few books that are collections
of short stories by diverse authors. One or two of them contain
stories that were originally published in not-for-profit press.
By Tim's argument, the publishers of those collections should not have
to pay royalties to the authors of those stories, since they are not
being 'harmed' by the inclusion of their works.
Money aside, there's a basic principle that the author of a work, like
the parent of a child, retains control over what is done with it. I
helped (in a small way) to write the soc.culture.jewish FAQ. I would
complain strenuously if large chunks of it were to be included in a
book of anti-Semitic literature. That's simply not what it was written
for.
Yes, money is an issue... but it's by no means the only issue.
- Aliza
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