Re: Acceptable Use section added to mail.html

[Joe Pallas <pallas@cs.stanford.edu>]

Mo DeJong <mdejong@cygnus.com> wrote:

> I just added an "Acceptable Use" section to the mailing
> list signup page.

[which says in part:
Fictional contract claims

Some organizations require disclaimers along the lines of "This email may 
contain confidential information. By reading it you agree to sign over your 
first born child." Obviously, these claims are a legal fantasy. Posts 
including such claims are strictly forbidden.
]

I don't understand how the prohibition on "fictional contract claims" fits 
with the open source philosophy.

We've already established that the people whose messages contain these 
boilerplate notices usually have no control over them.  It's safe to assume 
that their workplace policies are not going to be changed in response to 
this prohibition.

So, the only effect this will have is preventing people who are interested 
in using or contributing to Source Navigator from doing so.  How can this 
benefit the Source Navigator community?

The alternative--to ignore any "legal fictions"--seems both more practical 
and more inclusive.

joe