Piano type listers: This reminds me of a discussion we had on pianotech some time ago. I don't think we have any similar problems now, but felt it could be food for thought. (I do have his permission to send it on as long as I give credit - hence the header.) >Sender: Harpsichords and Related Topics <HPSCHD-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU> >From: Ben Chi <BEC@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU> >Organization: University at Albany Computing and Network Services >Subject: List business -- How private are your postings? >Comments: To: Pipe Organs and Related Topics <piporg-l@albany.edu> >To: HPSCHD-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU > >A subscriber wrote privately not long ago to the piporg-l list owners >about the following situation: It seems that he and some others engaged >in a frank and not always complimentary exchange on the list regarding >some topic whose content is immaterial for the present discussion. The >subscriber was subsequently dismayed to find that this exchange had been >quoted at length in a print publication without permission having been >sought from anybody and felt that confidentiality conventions, if not >copyright, had been violated. > >What should our mutual understanding be regarding the confidentiality of >communications in such situations? I think that a clear distinction has >to be made between the case where one-to-one correspondence is involved >and that where the mail is directed to a body of (mostly unknown) indi- >viduals. In the former case, there is a widely-accepted convention that >the communication is private and not to be quoted without permission. > >In my view, this does not apply to the latter case, where one posts to a >group >>whose membership one does not control.<< And if one cannot con- >trol the composition of one's audience, the net effect is that of a >>>public statement<< in which case all privacy rights are surrendered. >That the posting is public follows, a fortiori, from the fact the list >archives are accessible to everybody (not just subscribers) via the >piporg-l web page. > >All that said, commonly-accepted conventions require that such quotings >be done with attribution to both the writer and the list so that someone >who wished to do so could go to the source to check for accuracy and >context. (This apparently was not done in this particular instance.) > >Executive summary: > >1. Postings to the list should be regarded as in the public record. >Don't post something you wouldn't want to see in print. > >2. If a posting is to be reproduced elsewhere, provide sufficient in- >formation to guide the reader to the source, namely the list archives. > > /bec > > Conrad Hoffsommer Office - (319) 387-1204 Acoustic Keyboard Technician hoffsoco@martin.luther.edu Luther College pno2ner@salamander.com 700 College Drive Quod capita tot sensus. Decorah, Ia 52101
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