[alicebot-archcomm] copyright on mailing list messages

[Anne Kootstra]

> I totally agree that the lurkers and professionals dont need 
> to be reminded of the dangers of the internet, and that 
> "most" of the people on this list know how to take care of 
> themselves. However I would not agree that these are the 
> people whom this whole topic is concerned with. I would just 
> be careful about giving anyone a personal guarntee that if 
> they posted thier confidential to the internet that AIF was 
> somehow going to manage to represent them in any potential 
> legal action.

If it's the legal position of the AIF that concerns you, then the Board
should certainly take a position in the licencing issue of the archives. But
is someone is dumb enough to post confidential information on the internet
this would most likely not affect the AIF. It's the person that shared it
that has been in breach of one or two clauses of his or her NDA. 
 
..
> General technique is probably a safe thing to talk about, but 
> I have seen many people discuss great / unique ideas openly, 
> then they come back and say "Wait a minute ...". 

Should this happen, than it's their problem. The AIF has no part in this. In
this case the best comparison would be to an ISP. If a webpage contains
copyrighted material the ISP can be suppenad to remove the content. However,
at least in the Netherlands, they are not liable for the fact that the
copyrighted material was made available. I take it that this principle would
also be applicable for a US situation.

> I hope that 
> people continue to participate, but also to use a little 
> discression about what they can / cant talk about so they 
> dont feel hurt / violated afterwords. 

This has more to do with common sense than anything else. If I go to a bar
and share all sorts of higly classified information with my drinking buddy
then I'm in the same situation as when I posted parts of a licenced program
to a public forum.

> How AIF feels about 
> this is completely up to the pricipals of AIF to decide.

Absolutely true, and I hope the other two members will take notice of this
discussion before making a decision. (there are still two other
boardmembers, right?) My personal opinion is that the 'public domain' road
has already been taken/assumed in the past.

--Anne