using telnet to send emails

[Derek Broughton]

Kent Paul Dolan wrote:

> I don't think there are more than a handful of folks
> here whose employers insist on plopping legal
> rubbish at the end of email (and that rubbish is
> true rubbish, it is entirely unenforcable in law;
> email I've received by some voluntary sender is now
> _my_ property, given as a gift, not your employers,
> and I can do with it whatever suits my fancy),

Now I hate those disclaimers at least as much as the next guy, but you're
wrong.  Under the laws of most countries (and the Bern Convention), if
somebody sends you mail, yes you own it, but you do _not_ own its
contents - the author does - and so you can't "do with it whatever suits
[your] fancy".  While email is not clearly defined under modern copyright
laws, most legal commenters agree it should be treated in the same way as
regular mail.

So, when the letter says "if you received this email in error, close your
eyes", you don't have to - you have every right to read it - but you
_can't_ turn around and post it on the web.
-- 
derek