Inter-list Ethics: Was The Leica of... Questars... etc

["Bruce MacKnight" <brucem@canadianwebmaster.com>]

> From: Fred Ward <fward@erols.com>
> Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 01:05:17 -0400
> Subject: Re: (QUESTAR) Re: The Leica of... Questars.... off-topic
> 
> To answer a question asked by a number of you while writing messages of
> support - - -
> 
> No, Marc Small did NOT ask my permission to post my original message
> here on the Leica list to the Questar list. 
> 
> I have it on good authority that he did NOT ask the member of the
> Questar list who blasted me if it would be OK to lift his flame from
> that list and post it on the Leica list so all could read the attack.
> 
> And finally, Marc did NOT ask my permission to lift my response to that
> message and post it once again on the Questar list.
> 
> Apparently a number of you feel as I do that Marc is and was way off
> base in doing this since lifting any single message or part of a message
> is almost certainly out of context and the people on the Questar list
> had no idea how or why we had such a thread going on here anyway.
> 
> I commented on this privately to Marc and asked that he not do that
> again. His response back to me was that anything posted on the Leica
> list was fair game and he could and would post it anywhere he wanted.
> 
> So much for NET courtesy and what we thought was a gentlemen s club.
> 
> Fred Ward

I'm on the Leica list and the Questar list.

I had seen this "Leica of ..." thread play out since late December.
I know how it wound its way from Tilley: The Leica of Hats to
Questar: The Leica of Telescopes. I know how Fred Ward came to
comment on his experience with a Questar telescope. His message was
sent to the members of the Leica list.  All of this is "context". 

Fred's account of his experience with a Questar telescope was written
in this context.  When it was extracted and then sent to the Questar
list, it went without the context. To someone on the Questar list
reading it,  in the absence of context, it seemed to say "Take
shots".  When Clive Gibbons responded, he did so assuming that
distribution would be limited to the Questar list.  He wrote in that
context.  I'm confident if he'd known at the time he was writing,
that his message was going to end up on the Leica list, he would
have been more considered in his reply.

I cannot agree with the view that anything on the Leica list is fair
game, for posting elsewhere by members.  Facts: Maybe. 
Personal experience, opinion, and views: No, not without permission.  
To me it's nothing more than courtesy, and common sense.  However, 
for those who need to be convinced, we have clear evidence in what's 
happened over the last few days.

Over on the Questar list, Clive Gibbons has told me that he was
surprised and peeved that Marc Small had forwarded his response to
the Leica list.  Clive sent a message to the Questar list, asking 
Marc to only do it again with his permission.  Clive has told me that 
Marc agreed to that.

At the centre of this maelstrom is Marc Small.  I have two questions 
for him:

Marc, why would you agree to ask for Clive's permission before doing 
this again on the Questar list, but would not agree to the same thing 
when requested by Fred, here on the Leica list?  

Marc, where are your manners?  The response from the Questar list was
critical of Fred, but it had nothing to do with Leica.   What was
gained by sharing it on the Leica list?  If you felt compelled to do
something, why not just send it to Fred?  Better yet, do nothing. 
(Don't interpret this question as my approval of your forwarding of
Fred's message in the first place!) 

Regards,

_____________________________________________________________________
Bruce MacKnight                                                  
Cochrane, AB
CANADA

mailto:brucem@canadianwebmaster.com