On Tue, Oct 26, 2004 at 01:32:06PM -0400, dlainson@sympatico.ca wrote:
Hello
Here's a letter (which I'm apparently breaking some US law by forwarding, but I'll take the risk) which I find disturbing. Seems that "Project Gutenberg established PGA to permit the illegal downloading of works". Of this I wasn't aware. As a big contributor to PGA it concerns me personally, as well as setting a very dangerous precedent.
Folks, it's safe to assume that the people who sent the letter (or other folks who might send other letters) could access the gutvol-d list or archives. So, in the interest of not helping them to think of new ways to harass us, I won't send a lot of detail on this particular case, or the ones like it. Suffice to say that, as others have commented, these folks are incorrect in many things. The PG response to such threats is to tell them this (politely), and mention that we have done extensive legal research over the years (in consultation with numerous lawyers) to support our notions. If *they* know of laws or legal precedents to the contrary, we would be very happy to hear of them and will seek to comply, as we do with all other laws. We also offer to help them, by providing information about these laws in the copies of the eBook(s) in question that we distribute, and to help further by writing letters to infringers they can identify. In short, we point out the errors in their requests, assumptions, claims, etc. and put the ball back in their court. This has been an effective strategy over the years. But of course, it's effective mostly because we're right, and legal -- PG's diligence in copyright procedures gives us a strong moral & practical ground to stand on.
Does one country have the right to dictate to another what a website can contain when it falls within the law of the host country, and can they force some sort of restrictions on the downloading of material?
The short answer is, no. We are not aware of anything like this, and have looked extensively, and consulted with many legal experts. There are definitely some vague points and unknowns, and eventually there might be treaties etc. that address some of these issues. -- Greg Dr. Gregory B. Newby Chief Executive and Director Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation http://gutenberg.net A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with EIN 64-6221541 gbnewby@pglaf.org