Hi, folks.  I was stunned to learn recently that there is another
Listserv list using the same name as my list, WMST-L.  The copycat list,
located at TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU, claims like my list to be about Women's
Studies.  I have no idea when this copycat list came into being.  I make
it my business to know about women-related e-mail lists, ESPECIALLY
those having to do with Women's Studies, and I never heard of it until
now.  It has no connection to the REAL WMST-L, which has been at
UMDD.UMD.EDU since 1991.  The REAL WMST-L has more than 4000 subscribers,
while the copycat list currently has 38.

        My first question is, is it permissible for a list simply to
appropriate the name of an existing list?  I can imagine such things
happening among lists using different listserving software, but both
the real and the copycat WMST-L run on Listserv and both appear in
Catalyst (though, for reasons I don't fully understand, only the
copycat list currently appears in Liszt--I'm in the process of trying
to change that.)

        How will people who do a search in Liszt (the largest search
engine for lists, and the one best known by the general public) know
which list is which?  And what's to stop other lists from forming with
the same name?   The possibilities for needless confusion are substantial.

        There's no question about which list had the name first.  The
real [log in to unmask] has existed under that name and domain since
1991.  And when I started the list back in 1991, I did a thorough
search to be sure no other list existed with the same name.

        I haven't yet contacted the listowner of the copycat list--I
wanted first to know what the procedures are concerning duplication of
list names.  I'd be most grateful for any information or advice
knowledgeable listowners can provide.

        Many thanks.

        Joan Korenman

   *************************************************************************
   * Joan Korenman, Director, Women's Studies     [log in to unmask]        *
   * University of Maryland Baltimore County                               *
   * http://www.umbc.edu/wmst/                                             *
   *                                                                       *
   * The only person to have everything done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe *
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