Yes, it's true that this is not a "free speech" or "Bill of Rights" issue. However, it's being taken to ridiculous extremes. Are the people who are trying to maintain plausible deniability also going to claim that they never visit a news site? No news.google, no cnet, no cnn? Because, you know, there are news stories there that cover patent issues and some of them even include specific patent numbers. And if you think your browser history is any more secure than your email, well I've a bridge I'd like to sell you.
What I see is an extremely strict and hypersensitive standard being overbroadly and selectively applied. Email lists are just one possible means by which a practitioner may be exposed to inadvertent knowledge of specific patented techniques. It is the job of professional organizations to help educate members, not to be electronic nannies. IxDA is no more special than ACM, IEEE, AIGA or any other organization, and none of those larger and longer-established organizations try to impose this kind of selective blackout on their mailing lists. For us to do so is not just impossible, it's antithetical to the purposes for which professional organizations are formed - purposes that include information-sharing. --Alan P.S. Be sure you don't turn on your car radios, either. I hear NPR has news programs that you probably shouldn't listen to. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
