sorry. I don't agree On Aug 10, 2007, at 10:55 AM, M. Deanya Lattimore wrote:
If people did not want their information to be considered "published," then they should write it on paper and keep it under their mattresses, not type it into large databases that are collected, spidered, and searched by other online tools.
excuse me. "Publishing" something does NOT remove intellectual property rights. In fact, those rights first become attached to the ideas when they are "published" (put into form). When I play a song I've written on the street corner, or in a bar, or at a concert, I'm "publishing" it "in public." Doing so does not give ANYONE permission to use it without my permission. "Fair use" allows the use of very small portions of it for teaching or research, but only under certain conditions. And the Teach Act modifies those allowed uses even further in the case of online educational purposes.
So by default for me, all internet work has been intended for publication. Maybe to limited audiences, like when someone posts pics of themselves getting drunk in Facebook, but the fact of the matter is, it's still more in the public space than in the private one.
I think that the notion that the internet is a public space is contestable. I would argue that the network of computers, routers, wires and other technological stuff are almost ALL privately owned entities . . . sort of like a great land filled with connected malls . . . a mall is not a public space at all... it's private land often FILLED with people doing stuff in the presence of others. But the internet is not at all like public lands (city, county, state, federally owned public space). Further, even if there is a "public feel" to internet published stuff, and putting aside for a moment the implications of the DMCA, the Teach Act, and copyright law (not to mention a ton state laws concerning "rights of publicity and privacy"), I reject the notion that even bloggers who publish stuff are giving informed consent to become research subjects. Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Multimedia Program and Department of Communication Co-Director, New Media Center 1501 W. Bradley Bradley University Peoria IL 61625 309-677-2378 <http://slane.bradley.edu/com/faculty/lamoureux/website2/index.html> <http://gcc.bradley.edu/mm/> AIM/IM & skype: dredleelam Second Life: Professor Beliveau