Mike Godwin's excellent book, _Cyber RIghts_, goes into some of the liability
questions, but is not oriented specifically towards list managers.
Regarding copyright, my own attorney has advised me to have consistent and
appropriate disciplinary policies in place for any copyright violations,
along with a stern warning against copyright and trademark violations.
As a result, I have announced sanctions include suspension of posting
privileges for a few days for a first offense, with stronger sanctions
for repeat offenders. I've not had to sanction anyone more than once.
Mike is also of the opinion that libel is defensible on the Internet
by the offering of an equal opportunity to refute any charges. The one time
I've had someone threaten me in this regard, I offered him such an opportunity
and he both declined to pursue it and did not take any legal action.
Mike's legal theory, as best I understood it, is that the reason libel
laws exist is due to unequal opportunity to the offended party to correct
the record. The Internet, he argues, is an equal opportunity forum, and
as such libel charges might be hard to press.
I don't know whether that theory has been sufficiently tested yet, and
of course anyone running a list who qualifies as a 'deep pocket defendant'
could get sued by someone looking for a monetary award.
--
Mike Nolan
