>You are responsible for the technical management of the Rietveld mailing list not for >its content. It is only the person signing the message who is responsible for its >content. Is it correct?
A very good question, and I welcome the opportunity to change the subject :-) Yes, the person signing messages to the Rietveld list is responsible for their content. As you know, many mailing lists are filtered by a "moderator". This is also the case for printed journals, which you gave as an example - the editor chooses to print letters, but often chooses not to print them. The Rietveld list has no moderator; you will see your messages posted automatically as soon as you send them. I have no control over such messages. But this does not mean that everything is permitted :-) The person providing the means for wrong doing is normally also responsible, even if he does not actively participate. As an extreme example, if I allowed racist or pornographic messages to be published I could go to jail, or at least my employer, under whose name the list is published, could fire me. So I too am responsible, but what is permitted and what is not permitted ? My view is that if I am responsible, then it is I who must decide :-) If you think this is undemocratic, then like Armel you can always set up another mailing list (though I am happy to see that he has not signed off from this one, and in fact we have quite a few new inscriptions whenever there is some kind of controversy). Fortunately there have been extremely few occasions on which I have had to intervene. On one occasion I cancelled a subscription because the email was being used for spam - this was not to punish the owner of the address, but simply to protect the list. On another occasion I warned a participant against sending overtly political messages. From some of the exchanges on this list you may conclude that like Voltaire, I may "disapprove of what you say, but defend to the death your right to say it". (Actually, there are some people for whom I would not go quite so far, but then I am not a French philosopher :-) Apart from the obvious things for which I might go to jail, I do not believe that I should permit the list to be used for commercial advantage, where for example one company might seek to exert pressure on another company in an on-going transaction. This does not mean that you can't comment in general on company policies, or that advertisements are strictly forbidden, but it must be kept at the level of fair comment. Hope that helps. Alan. Alan Hewat, ILL Grenoble, FRANCE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> fax (33) 4.76.20.76.48 (33) 4.76.20.72.13 (.26 Mme Guillermet) http://www.ill.fr/dif/AlanHewat.htm ___________________________________________________________
