Karen Kay's Response to Ronald Stone's Request

[Steve Owens <uso01 -at- EAGLE -dot- UNIDATA -dot- COM>]

> This certainly does surprise me.  I had been planning to include some
> of the messages in this list in the column I write for San Diego's STC
> newsletter [...] I was told that using TECHWR-L messages in my column
> would be fine, even a good idea, as long as I get permission.  Now I'm
> confused.

        No, you're not confused - you're dead right.  The key thing is
the phrase "as long as I get permission."  Let's face it, most people
will probably say yes if you ask them, and those that say no won't feel
violated or upset or shocked at the very idea;  they'll simply say no
and maybe even thank you for taking the time to ask.

        On the other hand, imagine having a casual conversation with a
friend, and the next day the company newsletter is quoting you word
for word - something you were not at ALL expecting, nor considering
when you phrased your comments.

        Imagine having a rough draft of a document that you just jotted
down and expected to do major overhauls on - only to come in the next
morning and find out that last night your boss' boss happened to walk
by, spot a printout lying on your desk, read it, and decided to send
photocopies out to everybody.

        Imagine giving somebody a second draft printout of an internal
report to review for company-wide publication - only to find out that
they sent out copies to a few hundred customers, because they were
always getting questions about that topic.


        That's what people mean when they say they'd feel violated.

Steven J. Owens
uso01 -at- unidata -dot- com