IPG and "Free Samples"

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 7:42 PM 3/20/96, Michael Froomkin wrote:
>correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the federal direct mail marketing laws
>say that any unsolicited merchandise sent to a person becomes their
>property, regardless of any disclaimers to the contrary included in the
>package?

The _physical_ item, e.g., a box of soap or a free copy of "Newsweek," but
presumably not the _intellectual property_, e.g, the contents of
"Newsweek."

(Just because I get free samples of magazines does not mean I now can do
with the contents whatever I wish, such as post them on the Net; copyright
law is presumably involved.)

This may be more analogous to what IDG has done.

Disclaimers: IANAL, I am not defending IDG or their "broken in less than
one day" tub of snake oil, nor am I defending copyright and direct mail
marketing laws. And I might be wrong about the intellectual property issue,
though I doubt it. Copyright laws are such that rights are not waived even
if free samples are given out, and so forth. IDG can hardly claim their
algorithm has trade secret status when they've distributed it to many
people. Which leaves them with only trying to enforce copyright
protections, a la the Church of Scientology. Maybe IDG will now seek to
collect the only bucks they'll ever get by suing various Cypherpunks who
are distributing their so-called system? Helena Kobrin can become their
lawyer.

--Tim May

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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