I'm not sure if anyone has made a canonical list of what features define a crank, but one of them has just got to be a complete inability to admit a simple mistake. Go back through the archives and you'll see lots of examples where Choate makes an error. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt on many of them and assume that he exaggerates to make a point. When someone calls him on it, rather than admitting that he overstated his case, he makes it worse. The quoted material at the bottom of this message is a good example of the start of one of these. If you read the archives, you'll find examples of pretty much every frequent poster to this list over the years posting a retraction or correction for some minor detail. You won't find any from Choate. In the past, I've plonked him, but I found that I missed the entertainment value. He's interesting, in the same way a car accident is: you have no real desire for the victims to be involved, but if it's going to happen right in front of you, you might as well observe it! At 11:36 AM 1/10/01 -0600, Jim Choate wrote:
(Hint: U.S. copyright law does not make mere possession or archiving an offense. Try distribution, performance, etc.)
Hint: WRONG.
Simply possessing a paperback book that has had its cover removed as a sign of 'destroyed' status is in fact a crime. Used book stores that have them in stock can be charged accordingly.
The primary distinction USED TO BE whether there was intent to make money off the act. Now the simple desire to want to make copies and perhaps even share them is under review. It's not the copy of the book anymore but rather simple access to the ideas (which is what copyright isn't about).