[ih] Cluster Addressing and CIDR

[Joe Touch]

David P. Reed wrote:
> Fair use is explicitly part of copyright law.   History is clearly a 
> policy goal of fair use.   IANAL, but I would expect that there is 
> precedent protecting people who share personal archives of documents for 
> the purpose of historical research.

I cannot provide you with a photographic copy of copyrighted material 
without the permission of the publisher. You can make one for yourself, 
but you cannot distribute it. That precedent already exists for paper 
works. IANAL either, but I would expect that this is a reasonable 
analog, and that regardless of the "public good" of distributing those 
copies "for historical purposes," it would still be a blatent violation 
of copyright law.

> Just a reminder from someone dedicated to educating people that 
> copyright includes rights of fair use, as well as other exceptions.   
> Electronic rights are complex, as well.  The Internet crosses 
> jurisdictions, and documents such as IDs are published in many locations 
> at once, so the right to "unpublish" is determined by jurisdiction.

"unpublish" is a bit misleading. When IDs are published, they are 
distributed by the IETF by authority of the author under explicit 
time-limited terms. Once those terms cease, (again, IANAL), it seems 
that further public distribution constitutes continued "publication", 
and would be a violation of copyright law.

I cannot remove it from everyone's personal archives, but I believe I 
can prevent anyone from passing it on to anyone else, whether posting it 
for the 'public good' or otherwise.

> IMO, standing behind copyright really distorts the issue of desirable 
> dissemination of knowledge and scientific knowledge, in particular.

Doing things that violate private rights for the "public good," despite 
the current fashion, are detestable.

Joe