Re: A question of e-mail propriety

[mushroom@moscow.com]

John Danahy wrote:
> 
> The following statement was at the end of an e-mail I recently received.
> 
> Note: this email is intended solely for the recipient(s) to whom it
> is sent.  The contents may not be distributed, in part or in whole,
> without the author's consent.
> 
> Is this kind of statement now required?  Is it enforceable?
> 

Hi John--

Certainly the statement is not required, and if you are
posting material to an open-enrollment news group like
Vision 2020 it probably has little legal effect.

(It used to be that people who published newspapers were
assumed to be wealthy, and hence could be productively sued,
and even today I would think twice about ripping off some
highly creative and perhaps valuable writing from a
privately-intended email -- if I were a newspaper publisher
((editor)) (((smart reporter))).)

Ethics comes into it also. Remember ethics?

What we are left with is that some people stick boilerplate
at the end of their email messages.

Don Coombs

(A great source for comments on journalism and ethics and
mushrooms!)