Comment Re:Once again, why so worked up? (Score 1) 361
>This is DEJA's site and DEJA can do whatever the hell that they want on thier site.
For a forum that is usually so concerned with privacy, copyright issues, etc. I am surprised at the frequency that the position of this poster and similar opinions are being voiced concerning deja.com's new "feature." Yes it is Deja's site and as such they can do what they wish with their *site*. However, the messages that I post to usenet are *mine* and therefore Deja may not do whatever they wish, even if my messages are housed or made accessable through their site.
Of course, by sending a usenet message and thus entering it into the public domain Deja certainly has the right to store and make my message, provided that the message is unadulterated, available through their site. The important point here is that my message not be altered.
An obvious parallel that may make this more clear is the standards of academic citation. In academic writing I may quote another person's work, whether it be public domain or fully copyrighted, for a variety of purposes, provided that I not alter the person's work. If I do happen to alter it in even the slightest way, even to correct spelling, I must clearly state that the text has been altered.
Deja's new "feature" uses messages that do not belong to them in an unacceptable fashion becauses it distorts the message in such a way that can imply support for a product or service that the writer of the message may not have intended.
Moreover, such distortion is not allowable, even if the message is considered to be in the public domain. Being in the public domain only opens up the distribution of material, it does not allow for the willful distortion or misrepresentation of the actual content of that material.
I realize that Deja wants to make money for their services (even though they already have banner ads on every page). I would think that an acceptable solution would be for Deja to still provide these product links, just not in the actual body of the usenet messages. They could put the links at the bottom or side of the page but just keep them separate from the original message. This way they get their ad revenue while at the same time preserving the integrity of the usenet message. The change here would be to their property--their website, not to my property--my message.
--Eric
