I will reinforce both remarks and note that I have had a member of TIPS deny my request to use a post. It would be wise to ask. Michael B. Quanty, Ph.D. Psychology Professor Senior Institutional Researcher Thomas Nelson Community College PO Box 9407 Hampton, VA 23670 Phone: 757.825.3500 Fax: 757.825.3807 -----Original Message----- From: Bill Southerly [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 10:47 PM Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Policy to forward TIPS posts? 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
