Re. Internet copyrights?

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Internet forums are akin to large, crowded rooms with lots
 of eavesdroppers: anything you say publicly can and will be
 repeated, and forget about trying to control your words
 once they leave your keyboard. I haven't yet read of any
 lawsuits that dealt with messages in a mailing list or a
 usenet newsgroup, but I'd bet heavily that such suits will
 protect your words to the same extent as in a _spoken_
 conversation: that is, not at all, other than in the case
 of libel.

 If you're really concerned about copyrighting your
 postings, print them first and register a copy with the
 appropriate local copyright office. You might also want to
 include a dated copyright notice at the beginning of each
 posting. Then you've got some proof that the material
 belongs to you. But doing this will get tedious fast, not
 to mention expensive.

 Anything I say here can be freely quoted, whether or not I
 want it to be quoted. I'd expect my professional colleagues
 to do me the courtesy of quoting me correctly and in
 context, and attributing the quote to me, but I wouldn't be
 surprised if that occasionally doesn't happen.

 --Geoff Hart    @8^{)}
 geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

 Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of our
 reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.