82 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
82 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
Book Review: SYSLAW: The Sysop's Legal Manual
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by J. D. Abolins
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SYSLAW, the Sysop's Legal Manual by Jonathan D. Wallace Esq. and Rees
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Morrison Esq.; LLM Press, 150 Broadway, Suite 607, New York, NY 10038;
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Copyright 1988. Price: $19 plus $2 postage (New York residents, include
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8.25% sales tax.)
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As the title says, SYSLAW is a guide to the legal issues faced by computer
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bulletin board system (BBS) systems operators (SysOps). After examining the
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current selection of computer law books, I believe that SYSLAW is the only
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book that deals with BBS's and computer law. It is good that such a book is
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available since the past few years have presented legal issues that can
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threaten BBS's as a current Indiana lawsuit well demonstrates. Fortunately
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for SysOps, this book is packed with useful, practical information written in
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standard English.
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Both of the book's authors are computer-literate New York City attorneys. Both
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are SysOps. Jonathan Wallace is the Assistant SysOp of Compuserve's Law Forum
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and the SysOp of the LLM BBS. Rees Morrison is the SysOp of ABFORUM, the
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portion of the American Bar Association's ABA/net for the Economics of Law
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Practice Section. Jonathan Wallace has dealt directly with computer law issues
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by representing SysOps, and parties suing pirate BBS's. Mr. Wallace also
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publishes the Computer Law Letter, a "shareware" newsletter about computer law.
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SYSLAW covers subjects such as ownership of information on a BBS, illegal
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material posted on BBS's, libel, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
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(ECPA), and search and seizure of BBS's. It also includes the texts for the
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ECPA and New York State's Computer Crime Law. At first glance through the
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book, many SysOps will be stunned by the array of legal issues facing them
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(especially if they thought of themselves as little deities in their own
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microcosm.) But the purpose of SYSLAW is anything but to discourage SysOps.
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It matter-of-factly presents the legal matters and then explains the
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safeguards SysOps should take. One section of the book even addresses BBS
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program developers, giving them suggestions how to make their software legally
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safer. (This is something that has been neglected by most of the existing BBS
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software.)
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A great feature of SYSLAW is its presentation of the reasoning behind some
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of the legal issues. In discussing a SysOp's liability for illegal uploads
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on his/her BBS, the book explains the principle developed from liability
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lawsuits against grocery stores- the "banana peel on the floor" concept.
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One is not liable for the harmful condition being there unless one failed
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to correct the situation with a reasonable period of time. This and other
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such details are quite enlightening.
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Anything that is lacking in this book is not due to negligence on the part of
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the authors but due to the vast territory of computer law. For example, the
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book's section on state computer laws focus mainly on New York State laws and
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nothing about other states.. There is no mention of legal issues affecting
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international computer telecommunications either. Again, this is not the
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fault of the authors. As the introduction to the section about state computer
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laws say, "It would require a book several times the size of this one to
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analyze computer crime laws of all fifty states." Hopefully, future books
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can fill in the gaps.
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It must be mentioned that no book, even SYSLAW can be considered as a
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substitute for competent legal counsel in certain situations. The purpose
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of the books is to educate the reader, not to act as a "paper attorney".
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(However, SYSLAW has a chapter explaining how to seek competent legal
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advice and related matters.) With this disclaimer said, I advise any SysOp
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to get a copy of this book. Even many BBS users will benefit from it. The
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BBS world is advancing rapidly. With the new technologies come new versatility
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and more power. With all this comes new responsibilities. Ignorance of these
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legal responsibilities is foolhardy. SYSLAW is an excellent introduction to
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these responsibilities written with the SysOp in mind.
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---------------------------------------------
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[First submitted to THE LOST CLUSTER NEWSLETTER]
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J. D. Abolins
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301 N. Harrison Streeet; # 197 (mail only)
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Princeton, NJ 08540
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Source: LLM BBS (212) 766-3788
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Downloaded from:
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Sappho's Exchange BBS -
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Online Communications & Information for Women 212-697-3793
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By: The NY Transfer BBS 718-448-2358
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