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research in this environment. Therefore, before beginning a project, the ethi-
cal implications of a project need to be carefully considered.
Copyright and identification
In many online discussion lists dominated by academic researchers, a number
of discussions have focused on the issue of whether or not electronic corre-
spondence and various server log files and archives represent public data. Some
researchers have maintained that because no one has established clear guide-
lines for conducting online research, anything is fair game. On the topic of
legality, most discussions have the tendency to conclude that if it is not illegal,
it is ethical. For many, the lack of codified etiquette and guidelines for con-
ducting research in cyberspace makes most anything permissible.
Unique to the online environment is the question of “publicly” available
data. Is someone's participation in a chat room or on a blog considered
publicly available data? Are log files public? Are user statistics collected by a
host server public data? Who owns a posting to a discussion list? Is it the
person who posted the message? Is it the owner of the discussion list (the
moderator)? If the message was posted with the inclusion of the initial
message text to another discussion group, who owns it then? As Mann and
Stewart note, some hold that any type of quoting necessitates crediting the
source (2000: 45). Otherwise, use of the data is a violation of copyright.
Another perspective is that when we read something that wasn't sent to
us or something in a discussion group that is a response to a particular indi-
vidual's posting, we are, so to speak, overhearing someone else's conversation
(Lawson, 2004: 90). You didn't solicit the communication, nor do you have
any direct claim over its content.
It's important to note that when considering the legal limits of copyright pro-
tection in the online environment, there are two aspects of copyright licensing
that may apply: implied license and fair use. Neither has been exhausted in the
courts,sospecificsmaychangewithtime.Manypeoplewouldconsiderusingtex-
tual data from an online discussion as constituting “fair use.” The logic would be
thatsincequotationsfromaspeech,addressorpositionpaperinanewsreportare
considered fair use, then a contribution to an online discussion would be the
equivalent of a public address (http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/fair_use.html
accessedon10April2008).Onecaveatinthisapproach,though,isthatonlinethe
data are actual text and not a verbal message. The fact that these are in textual
form may one day lead to a legal challenge to that understanding.
Similarly, some have noted “implied license” within copyright law (Mann &
Stewart, 2000: 46; http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/license.html accessed 10
April 2008). Since sending a message online implies the intention for others to
read and save it, there is an implied license. Mann and Stewart suggest that
some would distinguish between private and semi-private communication and
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