Two reasons for SSL: verification and encryption. Sure, if the domains don't match you don't have verification, but the communication is still encrypted, and if you happen to control both ends of the exchange, that's all you need.

I said nothing about your notes... and neither did you, until just now.

But yes, I wouldn't allow her to destroy my notes either. Doesn't change the fact that her notes are her notes, her writings are her writings, and her books are her books... and she may do with them as she pleases. I think you'd also be very surprise to see how little tax-payer money actually ends up in the form of professor salaries, so be careful throwing around terms like paycheck. You may not like what you discover.

That there is, in fact, a time and a place for scorched earth politics? Certainly what I would have thought if I had just been bruitally run out of my own city by Napoleon.

I never said otherwise, just that instances are far and few between, and even less so between a student and school administration.

My comment was not directed at the act of scanning or retyping. From the parent:

The distribution and the lying is what makes this a bad act and is what turns sympathetic victims into petulant students. Why give up your best asset -- innocence -- with such a childish strategy? Is the point to win, or is the point to cause damage... because I for one prefer winning, and that means adopting strategies that work, even if there are more vindictive ones available.

Can you cite a law that makes that so? You'll find the U.S. government prohibition in Title 17, Section 105, and an explenation of that clause in the accompanying House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Report.

As the significant other of an academic at a state university, I would be awfully surprised if you could. I think what you might be able to say is that as employees of state governments the copyrights on those works belong to the state governments in question... and thus it is up to the state governments whether or not the works fall into the public domain, are assigned to the original author, or whatever.

The standard pratice at the University of Washington -- where I attended and wrote software as an employee -- and at the University of California: Santa Cruz -- where my partner works -- is that the original author holds the copyright and neither the State nor the University has any say in what happens to those works.

I don't disagree with the sentiments that the work should "belong to the people", but I am saying that, in practice and in law, it's just not the case today.

Typo on the apostrophe... shouldn't be there at all.

To answer your question, CUNY is a part of the New York State government... though it appears there is some funky overlay with the City of New York. But, then again, NYC is also a part of the New York State government, so I imagine that all works out in the wash. Never forget that in the United States all local political units (county, city, water board, school board, etc) are considered to be sub-divisions of the state government.

As for West Point, I'm going to hide behind Wikipedia and say that West Point is not a University or a College, but is, in fact, a Service Academy :) But yes, West Point is an organ of the federal government and thus the creative works of its employees would not be eligible for copyright.

This is exactly the sort of response that make things worse. I'm all for *sticking* it to the teacher, but there are better ways that won't expose you to unnecessary accusations of being a bad actor.

Every school has an ombudsman whose purpose is to negotiate conflicts between students and the administration / faculty. They are usually very pro-student. I have zero doubt this issue would be resolved in favor of the students, but you have to approach it diplomatically... scorched earth policies make as much sense here as they do in international relations.

There are no universities or colleges that are part of the United State's Government. All public schools are State schools. The provision in the U.S. copyright law that prevents the United States Government from obtaining a copyright -- thus putting the work into the public domain -- does not apply to state governments. Professors absolutely have a copyright on their class slides and books they write.