Re: NATHAN and the FAQ Dilemna

[pfg@yallara.cs.rmit.EDU.AU (Paul Francis Gilbert)]

nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates) writes:

>In article <614gdr$8hj@alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu>,
>Kirk E. Mitchell <dm608@cleveland.Freenet.Edu> wrote:
>>My feeling?  He put them in html form.  He can do what he likes with 'em.

>   Put in html form? Just to clear a few idiotic misconceptions about
>the whole 'deivative' garbage some would like to spread. When I took
>it over, it was 70K of ascii. Now, just the csa2 FAQ is now 220K in
>ascii w/o any html formatting; large chunks had to be scrapped from
>the original version because they were out of date. Do the math. Now,
>'derive' an 80K Applesoft FAQ out of nothing, a 36K DOS FAQ out of
>nothing, and a 33K reference on System 6 files, and a 15K reference on
>the system monitor. That's at least 314 kilobytes of new information
>and work that I did. [And for those of you who can still remember your
>college days, that's like writing a 157 page paper.]

>   I wrote it, I copyrighted it, and as such I have control over them.
>They are not property of 'the group' or anyone else. [With the current
>crop of lusers here, there's a lot who really don't deserve such work
>given to them; all they can do is whine and complain no matter what
>happens.] Get rid of the lusers as they're incapable of staying away
>on their own lack of mental power.

>Nathan Mates

If this is true, then you, Nathan, does indeed have the right to copyright 
the information that you've created. What you don't actually have is the
right to discriminate against people that want to access your site. It 
would be legal for to block access if you were providing it as a paying
service... ie. people getting what they pay for. But since you're making it
publically available on your website, everyone has the *Right* to access it.
To block access to certain people is discrimination, and illegal in at least
the US [probably a civil offense, although I'm no lawyer].

To re-iterate, as copyright holder you have the right to say that it can
only be available from your website. Borland for example, recently released
the TurboVision source for C++; a textual user interface system. They
are allowing access to everyone, while still maintaing the copyright, and
they have designated that the information is only be downloadable from their
website. They, and neither do you, have the right to only make the 
information available to certain people (ex. the people on AOL).

If you want to break the law, go right ahead. It will just give Turley some
solid base for his law suit, if he goes through with it. 


>--
><*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
># This posting is copyright Nathan Mates, and may not be reprinted
># in full, partial, or quoted form on any archive site associated with
># Charles Turley. 
--
Paul Gilbert           | pfg@yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au
Bach App Sci, Bach Eng | The opinions expressed are my own, all my own, and
Year 4, RMIT Melbourne | as such will contain no references to small furry
Australia	       | creatures from Alpha Centauri.