From npois!npoiv!harpo!decvax!teklabs!tektronix!tekid!rogerw Wed Dec 15 00:06:41 1982
Date: Mon Dec 13 09:55:44 1982
From: npois!npoiv!harpo!decvax!teklabs!tektronix!tekid!rogerw
Subject: Re: Massive copyright violations on the net
Via: cbosgd.UUCP (V3.94 [3/6/82]); 15-Dec-82 00:06:40-EST (Wed)
To: tektronix!teklabs!decvax!harpo!npoiv!npois!cbosgd!mark
In-Reply-To: Your news article cbosgd.2878 of Fri Dec 10 13:11:07 1982
Status: R

I have been advised by lawyers that a newspaper's editor, publisher, and
owner are liable for the contents of the paper along with the people
writing the articles; especially in the case of letters to the editor.
I'm not a lawyer, but let me speculate.  It could be argued that a system
that just mechanically receives and passes on news is like a mail carrier.
A site that has human intervention, to selectively censor articles, might
assume greater liability.
     Finally, remember Disney v. Sony.  How is a Beta-Max different from
a Vax [in a legal sense, that is]?  It was the makers of the video recorder
who were sued.
     The current copyright laws are simply not up to the questions imposed by
the electronic age; I suspect the net could become a can of worms similar to
home video recorders.
--Roger Wells [tektronix!tekid!rogerw]