mcb@lll-tis.arpa (Michael C. Berch) (11/12/87)
In article <5797@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> skyler@violet.berkeley.edu.UUCP () writes: > [...] (There is the distinct possibility that he [Larry Lippman] > has given news articles to previous employers of the person in question.) > > There is the strong possibility that the previous employer (the Navy, > by the way) will use those articles in a court case which may or may not > happen. That will bring the net into exactly the situation which members > of this newsgroup have frequently discussed with trepidation--a legal > ruling regarding the net. > > [...] what should the readers of soc.women do? what should > someone (like myself) who has disagreed with Mr. Lippman do given that he > has demonstrated he will contact system administrators and previous > employers? how ethical was it to give potential parties to a lawsuit > newsnet articles? I've said just about all I care to about the Lippman/Smith matter, but since I have posted several articles about some of the legal issues involved with Usenet, I thought I would follow up on this because it seems to be Skyler's opinion that inclusion or reference to Usenet articles as evidence (or as the subject of discovery) in litigation would expose Usenet to risk. I do not believe that this is true; the litigation in question, if I understand this properly, does not directly concern Usenet or a Usenet site, in which case I fail to see the connection. Unless the case concerns Usenet, there will be no "ruling regarding the net", merely decisions on the relevancy, materiality, and competence (e.g., authenticity) of the writings. If the articles are writings of a party, and are relevant to the case, I do not see why it is either a breach of ethics or good taste to bring them to light. Unless copyrighted, they are undoubtedly in the public domain, and in any case are meant for public consumption. Posting Usenet articles to a public newsgroup is like writing for a national (or international!) magazine or appearing on television; it is inherently *public*. Anyone who posts something to Usenet that would embarrass them if brought out in court or shown to an employer is asking for trouble, and, to my mind, it would be unreasonable to expect otherwise. Michael C. Berch Member of the California Bar ARPA: mcb@lll-tis.arpa UUCP: {ames,ihnp4,lll-crg,lll-lcc,mordor}!lll-tis!mcb