On Jun 15, 2000 Vadim Vygonets <vadik@???> wrote:
> Three more points:
>
> 1. False positives. Think what happens when an official
> announcement ends up with having a disclaimer.
> [...]
>
> 3. False negatives. When the disclaimer adding fails for some
> reason, people who receive the message will think "Hmm, this
> message is probably official".
I would like to point out that these two were the most effective arguments
I used at my former place of employment in halting the request for such
disclaimers.
For stopping the particularly bad meme in the UK of "This message is
indended for the use of the specified recipients only, ..." I pointed out
that
(1) As part of my job, I get lots of mail forwarded to me by computer
support people around the university for help.
(2) It makes no sense on mailing lists, etc.
(3) We like to present a clued in image on technology issues, and such
disclaimers would make us look ridiculous in certain circles. (and
personally, it would make me look ridiculous in some communities that
are important to me).
When this was countered with "well those are special cases, and the use
of common sense where people can see from other things about the message
how it was intended ..." The answer to this was, "If we are going to rely
on common sense, then we don't need the disclaimer which implies threats
of legal action."
The general scheme of the argument was that without any disclaimers,
normal conventions would apply, but once disclaimers are added to some
messages than their wording and absense mattered a great deal. So the
only meaning disclaimer would be "This is an email message and should be
treated as such" which is more than pointless.
PS: I'll put even money on my former employers instituting some from of
stupid disclaimer within 18 months (not counting the one campus that
already does).
-j
--
Jeffrey Goldberg
Note: I am moving and changing many addresses, please see
http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/contact.html
Relativism is the triumph of convention over truth, authority over justice
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not necessarily the views of my
former employers, Cranfield University, Hungarian Academy of Sciences,
Xerox PARC. Nor are they necessarily the of the Mid Beds district council
or the parish of Cranfield (where I live), nor of the USA and California
where I am a citizen; nor are they necessarily the views of Stanford
University, University of California Santa Cruz, Long Beach Polytechic
High School, Will Rogers Junior High School (Long Beach CA), Grover
Cleveland Junior High School (Caldwell, NJ), Thomas Jefferson elementary
school (Caldwell, NJ) where I have been a student in the past. Nor do I
speak for the Liberal Democratic party, Amnesty International, the Human
Behaviour and Evolution Society, the UK TeX users group, the London
Zoological Society, the Academy of Management, the Linguistic Society of
America, the Szabed Demokrata Part, the Americal Civil Liberties Union,
nor any other organization of which I am or have been a member.
Furthermore I don't speak expatriates, neo-liberals, professional email
managers, Jews, heterosexuals or any other non-formal groups of which I
am, have been, or may be considered a member.
Also note that this message indended for the indented recipients. If you
are an indended recipient then this message is indended for you. This
message is not indended for non-intended recipients. If you are among any
non-indended recipients than this message is not indented for you as it is
only indended for the indended recipients only.
If you make illegal use of this message or its contents, that action may
be illegal. If you take any action which might be liable to civil
action then you may be liable to civil action.
