This is not an accurate comparison. A posting on usenet is not the same item as a program on HBO or the radio. In what way does my internet provider (netcom) have a "legal" distribution of usenet news, while a cd-rom provider does not?
I've already said it. I own the copyright to my posts, and only permit them to be distributed by Usenet because I can *cancel* and provide expiration dates with my posts. CD-ROMs do not provide these standard Usenet message control features. If I issue a cancel message, it's obvious that I'm asserting control over the further distribution of my content (sites that ignore them notwithstanding.) Any time a CD-ROM is published with my message, and it contains an expiration date or is later cancelled, the publication violates my right as a copyright holder to retract my message. [portions deleted] > No providers of usenet news
have any agreements between themselves and the posters regarding copyrights. Netcom and all the other internet providers receive postings "free" and a cd-rom manufacturer has the same "right" to use postings as any other internet provider.
My expiration dates or cancel messages are perfectly reasonable ways to communicate the way in which I'm exercising my copyright. Netcom and other service providers currently honor those communications, but CD-ROM publishers of Usenet news do not.
Kirk Sheppard
kshep@netcom.com
P. O. Box 30911 "It is Better to Die on Your Feet Than to Bethesda, MD 20824-0911 Live On Your Knees." U.S.A. - Emiliano Zapata