TIPSters,
I think Rick's excellent summary reflects closely my own thoughts. Whether it is
legal to forward someone's message to TIPS without their permission, I believe is
still open to interpretation from the various rulings I have read. This is
particularly true since TIPS messages may be considered a "public" communication and
not a private communication. Thus, given the unknown legal status of email messages I
have always adopted the viewpoint of asking permission first. As colleagues, I think
this approach is appropriate as well, however I understand Miguel's dilemma in that I
have been in similar situations with wanting to use a post now and waiting for
permission to be received. Because of this experience, I ask for permission to use
the post in not only a current course but future courses as well. No one has ever
said no. So I would suggest that seeking permission to use a post is at this time the
most defensible approach.
Best wishes,
*****************************
Bill Southerly, PhD
Department of Psychology
Frostburg State University
Frostburg, MD 21532
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(301)-687-4778
*****************************
Rick Adams wrote:
>
> 1. From a strictly regulatory perspective, TIPS _isn't_ public. Bill has
> the right (and responsibility, if the person is disrupting the list) to
> remove anyone he wishes from the list and thus prevent them from accessing
> the messages. That he seldom, if ever, has a need to do so isn't the
> issue--his right and ability to do so clearly defines the list as private.
>
> 2. When anyone joins the list, they receive an introduction to the list
> that includes the rules and regulations of the list, which they are expected
> to abide by as a condition of membership. Thus it is totally up to Bill's
> discretion whether or not messages may be shared (so long as the author
> agrees to sharing them, of course).
>
> 3. Under US Copyright laws (other nations may differ), the content of email
> messages has been found by the courts to be protected material. Thus
> distributing the messages w/o the specific permission of the author is
> fundamentally the same thing as distributing photocopies of a journal
> article under the same conditions--something that we, as college professors,
> well know is not acceptable.
>
> 4. While many messages _are_ posts that convey valuable information for
> students, by the nature of this list it _is_ for instructors, not students.
> Thus making a blanket rule that any material could be shared could easily
> cause posters to avoid posting messages they would prefer not be read widely
> by students. It's true that students _can_ join the list, but few do and it
> could be reasonably argued that those who do so have an above average
> interest in psychology that serves to motivate them to join.
>
> 5. Finally, much of the list content--due to the long term interactions
> that occur here between members--contains material that many of us would
> choose not to share with students, at least in an unedited form. We respond
> to posts in many cases based on a knowledge of the poster (consider many
> responses to Michael Sylvester's questions, knowing Michael's strong
> commitment to non-Eurocentric approaches, for example). While the content of
> those posts may be valid and academically useful, the presentation in such
> cases is "skewed" by personal considerations that could cause real
> discomfort for the poster if s/he knew they had been shared with students
> unfamiliar with the list "personalities."
>
> The simplest solution is--as it is for a journal article--to ask the author
> directly for permission to share his/her post. In most cases, the request
> will be met with a "yes," in some cases it may be met with an "ok, but I'd
> like to edit it a bit first," and on occasion it may be met with a "no." Of
> course, individuals who post regularly, or who are posting what is
> essentially a lengthy informative (and neutrally oriented) message, are both
> free and encouraged to add a tag line to their messages stating that "This
> message may be freely distributed so long as it is not changed in any
> manner," or a similar statement. That way, both those who are willing to
> share their messages and those who would prefer not to do so will have their
> desires met and no animosity over private email being shared with a class
> will occur.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Rick
