As a follow up on this. We had quite a discussion of copyright, archiving
and search engines on the Quaker-L list a few months ago....A few concerns
arose for our members:
 
1. Spiritual issues are, by their very nature, often tender. Most on our
list are seeking a place to explore these issues and the implications for
their daily lives. Having the availability of these messages widespread -
beyond the known community of the list - was what gave pause to some
people.
 
2. People's thoughts and reactions change over time. Would you want every
statement you made as a 20 year old examined by a present prospective
employer? Archiving allows that capability to anyone using any form of
open text websearcher and running your name through. This was also a big
concern for our subscribers.
 
3. In fact, reasonable but computer illiterate users do *not* realize many
times that their messages may be archived. Many, in fact, don't realize
that there may be logs of the messages on servers at the list host and
intermediary sites. Much of the technology behind list message
distribution is not well understood by subscribers - or even, in my case,
by listowners! ;)
 
While we may want to argue that it's up to users to beware and study - I
think that expectation, given the phenomenal growth of net usage - and its
usage by non-tech types, is probably unreasonable at this point.
 
4. And finally, for some who are members of groups more frequently subject
to harassment/stalking than others - and I include in this women - there
are real concerns about the availability of personal information in
long-term archives. This did not come up on the Quaker list, but has on
other lists that I frequent.
 
I really think this is something that varies greatly list to list,
especially based on content/orientation of the list.
 
Take care, all,
 
Sylvie McGee
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seattle wa