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Jim choate <uunet!wixer.bga.com!ravage> writes:

...

[Mentions doing Usenet-on-CDROM, and potentially including mailing lists like C-punks in the archive copies.]

1. I believe someone in Canada is already doing Usenet-on-CDROM, minus alt.binaries.pictures.erotica (and perhaps some others).

2. If the cost for your net connection is usage based instead of flat-fee, a feed from PageSat might be cheaper. They've recently come out with new hardware that's a little cheaper than the old stuff. (The net connection would still be nice for mail, IP connectivity, blah blah.)

3. You should at least think about how you will deal with copyright issues. I believe that the folks in Canada avoid redistributing a.b.p.e to as to avoid legal hassles from the copyright holders for the pictures posted there. Also, people posting original works have a copyright in them; and they may not want their works included in your archive. (There's a thread about this in misc.legal.moderated.)

4. Morally, I'm divided between thinking you should ask the owner of every message (its author) for permission to reprint; and thinking that doing so is too heavy a burden, and that the utility of the CD-ROM is more important than the harm done to the IP rights of the authors. I don't think you need the permission of people on the list who don't write messages. I also don't think you need the permission of the "list owner", particularly where no creative control is exercised.

- -- Greg Broiles "Sometimes you're the windshield, greg@goldenbear.com sometimes you're the bug." -- Mark Knopfler

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My class C slip feed costs $300 to setup and thereafter is $75/month. Individual accounts are $75/yr. This is the same fee schedule that I will be charging those who would like accounts on ssz.com (my system). If a person distributes a copyrighted material over a world wide distribution network like internet and doesn't ask for notification of archiving or some form of fair use fee I doubt any claims they would have will stand up in court. I am not trying to make money off this venture and I am not making money in particular from their specific work so they would have a hard time maing a case of theft of services or plageriasm (I am making no claimi that it belongs to me). Besides libraries routinely make backups of material for educational use, I had planned on doing the same. Since I am an individual (who some would claim to being amoral at best) I plan on at least attempting a full archive of every public access byte that comes into ssz.com over a one year period. Because of costs constraints I may change to tape but don't see this as a real eventuality. My system sells access to internet and we do not alter or monitor any material that comes over it. While I would assisst any law enforcement agency who feels that a illegality has been committed I doubt strongly that a case could be made against me personaly (without also starting prosecution against the other .com sites out there w/ similar policies - bga.com and ripco.com come to mind immediatly). This would be similar to suing Ma Bell because a pedophile used the phone to transmit graphics. I already have access to a satellite link, but thanks for the suggestion. Seems to me that if a person places a post on a public access newsgroup withoug a copyright it automaticaly becomes public domain and they loose all commercial rights to it. I would be interested in a public discussion of thsi point and will move over to the newsgroup you mentioned. I was aware of the Canadian project, there is obviously room for more such projects. Thanks for your input.