Penn Jennings wrote:
> I have talked to 2 attorneys about this subject. I also sent mail to a
> friend at the State Attorney General Office but have not gotten a reply yet.
> Here is the conclusion from 2 attorneys as it relates to negligence.
Dumb question, are these people on the net? Do they use email regularly?
Do they have any concept of what a mailing list is?
> As the List MANAGER (Note the word manager) you MAY be negligent if you fail
> to protect members from dangers that are foreseeable and avoidable. If
> several users complain that one of your members has threatened to kill them
> and you do nothing you may be "knee deep in the doo-doo" if that member does
> kill or harm someone. Why? Once you were notified of the danger future
> damage was definitely foreseeable the next question is was it avoidable from
> the perspective of a ordinary, reasonable and prudent person. Since we all
> remove users when their mailboxes fill or their accounts are removed, member
> removal is a valid action.
Just one question -- how will removing someone from a mailing list prevent
them from killing someone?
Seriously, that's not a joke. I really want to know why you think booting
someone off a mailing list will prevent death. Please answer this for
me, because I just can't see the connection at all.
> [snip]
> One attorney thought that they would immediately post a disclaimer stating
> to all current and new members that:
> You shall hold harmless this list and the list administration for all...
> The list administration makes not warrantees about blah, blah...
> All list users assume responsibilities for use of this list...
> The list administration is not responsible for the action of
> list members...
> The administration remove users from this for any reason....
> The list administrator runs this as a free service and shall not
> be held responsible for any income loss or damages. blah, blah..
Yes, but they're lawyers. They think like this. That doesn't mean that
it's necessary to include something in my 'Welcome to the List'
message reading, "Idyll Mountain Internet is not responsible if
someone from this list goes to your house and shoots you." I think
your anonymous lawyer friends are full of it.
> I think that you get the idea. So the smart thing is to have a disclaimer.
> Both attorney agreed that as the manager you do have duties. One of the
> keys to avoiding a negligence suit is by doing (or not doing) what a
> Prudent, reasonable and ordinary person would do.
Please tell me again how removing someone from a mailing list prevents
murder? Thanks.
> PLEASE: Do not send me lay person opinions of law. My mail box is folding
> under the weight people telling me that list managers have no legal duties.
> After receiving legal advice from people who have passed the bar I think I'm
> all set. :)
Please state their names and qualifications. You have provided no
proof of anything. I can make up a dozen anonymous lawyers who agree
with me, if I don't have to tell anyone who they are.
Better yet, get them to join this mailing list. They -are- on the
net, and they -do- know what mailing lists are, right? (If they can
join this list without your assistance, then I'll start believing
that they know what they're talking about when they give "legal advice"
about mailing lists on the net.)
--Kynn Bartlett
Idyll Mountain Internet Postmaster
Mailing List Manager, HTML Writers Guild
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