** Reply to note from ope-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu Sat, 13 Sep 1997 06:57:22 -0700 (PDT)
I am not sure about the proposal in either direction. I'll take an example
for myself. We had a rather intense interchange over "accumulation of
capital". I viewed that back and forth similar to talking in a room with
several persons involved. I felt like I was thinking out loud and so were
others. Furthermore, some interchanges are clearly in the context of
replying to some else and taken out of context might appear to be a bit of a
strange position. I'm not sure I want myself quoted without permission.
Now the proposal SEEMS to cover my concerns. On the other hand, I have had
experiences in life where individuals I would trust with requirements of the
proposal turned out to less than fully trustworthy. Now Andrew and Jerry
explicitly say they want full openness of the archives and there are
presumably others who feel the same. So, it would not be difficult to get to
the archives and therefore almost anything can happen in practice. (I'm not
putting blame on Andrew or Jerry for their position, just drawing out the
logical consequence.)
The "out" is to say that the person using the archives violated the rules to
access. But if it were in print it would be very difficult to correct the
record if needed. Furthermore, the person doing it in print make be an
inadvertent victim: The person using the archive either willfully or through
forgetting forwards e-mails to others who then quote them in a published
context (and that person doesn't really deserve to get nailed).
So I have to ask, what is all the fuss about? We are a closed list. Why
are we unhappy also keeping the archives closed? Why do I need openness?
I'm sure I could take my own words exactly as stated and use them in another
context and NOT cite the original source. So, if I needed some else's words
for my own quotation to make sense, I could e-mail that other person and ask
that person if it is OK to quote him/her in the following way in an e-mail
interchange.
Are there many people clamouring to get to our archives? Then I am even
more concerned.
Paul
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Paul Zarembka, supporting the RESEARCH IN POLITICAL ECONOMY Web site at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka and using OS/2 Warp.
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