[Air-L] public private

[Ed Lamoureux]

sorry.
I don't agree
On Aug 10, 2007, at 10:55 AM, M. Deanya Lattimore wrote:

> If people did not want their information to be considered "published,"
> then they should write it on paper and keep it under their mattresses,
> not type it into large databases that are collected, spidered, and
> searched by other online tools.

excuse me. "Publishing" something does NOT remove intellectual  
property rights. In fact, those rights first become attached to the  
ideas when they are "published" (put into form). When I play a song  
I've written on the street corner, or in a bar, or at a concert, I'm  
"publishing" it "in public." Doing so does not give ANYONE permission  
to use it without my permission. "Fair use" allows the use of very  
small portions of it for teaching or research, but only under certain  
conditions. And the Teach Act modifies those allowed uses even  
further in the case of online educational purposes.
>
> So by default for me, all internet work has been intended for
> publication.  Maybe to limited audiences, like when someone posts pics
> of themselves getting drunk in Facebook, but the fact of the matter  
> is,
> it's still more in the public space than in the private one.

I think that the notion that the internet is a public space is  
contestable. I would argue that the network of computers, routers,  
wires and other technological stuff are almost ALL privately owned  
entities . . . sort of like a great land filled with connected  
malls . . . a mall is not a public space at all... it's private land  
often FILLED with people doing stuff in the presence of others. But  
the internet is not at all like public lands (city, county, state,  
federally owned public space).

Further, even if there is a "public feel" to internet published  
stuff, and putting aside for a moment the implications of the DMCA,  
the Teach Act, and copyright law (not to mention a ton state laws  
concerning "rights of publicity and privacy"), I reject the notion  
that even bloggers who publish stuff are giving informed consent to  
become research subjects.


Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D.
Associate Professor, Multimedia Program
and Department of Communication
Co-Director, New Media Center
1501 W. Bradley
Bradley University
Peoria IL  61625
309-677-2378
<http://slane.bradley.edu/com/faculty/lamoureux/website2/index.html>
<http://gcc.bradley.edu/mm/>
AIM/IM & skype: dredleelam
Second Life: Professor Beliveau