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Election 2006 (and beyond): Digital Copyright Canada

Re: Legal issues with mailing lists.

From: Russell McOrmond <russell_-at-_flora.ca>
To: flora-admin-help_-at-_flora.org
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 11:20:10 -0400 (EDT)

On Fri, 16 May 2003, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

> No one posting a scholarly article to Pednet, or posting something they
> intend to save on their own Web site, intends to stifle discussion of
> their own works or prevent others from building upon their studies. They
> damn well expect to receive credit as appropriate.

  a) The proposed license agreement does not do what you think it does.  
It may be that you are operating under an understanding only of US
Copyright law, which is different than Canadian law which is what this
agreement will operate under. You should consult a lawyer and decide
whether you want to advise the forum be moved based on this.
  If there is a conflict between something that FLORA.org is doing and 
United States law, then this won't be unique to this situation.

  b) FLORA.org never intended to offer the service of freely distributing
scholarly articles.  If they want the type of rights in copyright that
such an endevour would involve, they are requested to do so elsewhere.  
They can easily 'have their cake and eat it too' by making use of URL's in 
postings, avoiding ever posting the full text of their article to a public 
discussion list.


  What started out as an attempt on my part to "cover my ass" legally has
turned out to be a case of me needing to clarify the limits and intents of
what I have been offering through FLORA.org.  I will now try to ensure
that both of these issues get dealt with, not just the legal side of
things.  Misunderstanding like are not healthy for anyone concerned.


  I again invite you to move the PEDNET forum elsewhere.  FLORA.org will 
not be changing how it was intended to be operated to allow PEDNET to 
continue to operate in the way that you thought it was.

  Where you see me as wanting to infringe on someone else's rights, I see
what you are suggesting as an example of people abusing the volunteer
services I have offered.  I am trying not to get insulted by this
conversation, but it is hard when what I am hearing are a few people who
seems to want me to feel bad for not offering volunteer resources in a
manner I never intended.


  What you want, FLORA.org never offered.  Please verify that your
understanding is the understanding of the list participants.  If this is
the case, please move PEDNET off of FLORA.org at your earliest
convenience.

---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/> 
 Governance software that controls ICT, automates government policy, or
 electronically counts votes, shouldn't be bought any more than 
 politicians should be bought.  -- http://www.flora.ca/russell/

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