Re: To Jeff Blakeney - please read!

[Gareth Jones <gareth@vcn.bc.ca>]

I'm only poking my nose in here because I am amused/bemused/whatever with
simple declarative sentences being described as "vague." Now, in both the
US and Canada (my home), I have a copyright when I create anything,
whether words, music, or computer program. (Simple declarative sentence
1). The copyright lasts different periods in the two countries, but in
both cases it lasts until well after the creator's death. (Simple
declarative sentence 2). The creation can only be copied, modified,
posted, sold, whatever ... with the permission of the copyright
holder. Anything that is so posted without the copyright holder's
knowledge is _by that fact_ illegally posted. This has been pointed out
many times.

Some people argue that the act is morally pure, no matter what the silly
old laws say. Well, I must say that some aspects of copyright law disturb
me a lot, too. The way that Project Gutenberg has to dance around works
that are copyrighted in one country, but not another; the Sonny Bono
Copyright Extension law which prevents any copyrights lapsing for
even more years; the way that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes
it illegal to even try to understand copy protection schemes, let alone
remove them... OK, all is not well. Despite that, the sentence "This
software has been illegally posted because the copyright owner has not
given permission for this distribution" has meaning under the law.

It's illegal. We can say that it's illegal. Some people do it anyway, just
'cause they want to. Some may do it as a form of civil disobedience, I
can't say. But Jeff was entirely correct.

I can state that everything at my web site is there legally. How do I
know? I did all the writing myself, the background came with permission
for me to use, and I got permission from the people who did the
graphics. In this one respect, legality, I claim the site is perfect. From
my e-mails with the gentleman who runs Trenco, he seems to have similar
standards.

Oh, yes, and to say that something is not perfect is no excuse for not
making it better.

-Gareth