Why Password Protection ?

The following e-mail explains some of the details regarding the need for password protection.

Date: Wed, 16 Nov 1994 15:48:11 +0000 (GMT)
Sender: Peter Hastings <P.Hastings@roe.ac.uk>
Reply-To: Peter Hastings <P.Hastings@roe.ac.uk>;
Subject: Posting Directions on the WWW
To: Ian Thompson <i.m.thompson@ncl.ac.uk>

The NUSCDS Web page exists as a bulletin board for:

NUSCDS members.
'Scottish University' SCD groups. (Those on the SUSCDF circuit).
Anyone wandering around the Web that's interested.

I am in the happy position of being able to produce crib sheets for dances with considerable ease. For my own use I produce a crib sheet for every dance I attend. In the past I have, not regularly, sent hardcopy or disks or both to group secretaries (as in 2. above). They can then use these as they see fit - bin them, use them for teaching class before a dance, use them as a basis for their own cribs, use them literatim. It seems to me to be a logical extension to put them where anyone in groups 1&2 can get them.

I feel unable to release them to group 3 for a number of reasons:-

First are the copyright arguments,
- It is not clear what the liability of a Web page holder (in this case Ian Thompson) is in the event of copyright material being put on his Web page.
- I don't know where I stand with regards to copyright as it is; The copyright for cribs is absolutely hellish given the number of original authors, publishers etc. as well as my own intellectual property rights in writing the precis.
Secondly the feeling on the Strathspey discussion was that the widespread publishing of any dance directions could cause publishers to give up printing paper versions or hike the price to cope with reduced demand. This would of course hit the vast majority of Scottish Country Dancers who have no access to the Net. The general feeling was that, in the absence of any major advantage to anyone, directions would not be posted.
I can't guarantee the accuracy of the cribs (I do my best but..).

The guidelines suggested on the Strathspey list were,

Use original instructions if at all possible, buy or borrow these. Cribs are an aide-memoire, it's better to teach from the originals.
If you need directions for a couple of dances and you can't find them/buy them in time then post a call for help. Plenty of folk will e-mail you instructions.
Dance directions en masse would not be posted.

I have considered all this in the light of the parlous state of student finances. I want my cribs to be available to anyone on the SUSCDF circuit; whilst I am happy to distribute hardcopy and disks to university group members and to let them have Web access, I do not want the cribs available generally.

Ian Thompson has sent out a general message to the scottish-dance@ncl.ac.uk e-mail list giving the ID/password for access to these files on the Web. This allows anyone on the circuit free access to these cribs. That way I feel I can fall within the accepted guidelines, but still give my friends on the SUSCDF circuit all the help I can.

Sorry to ramble on, but I think this explains why Ian, at my request, has put this information in a secure area.

I would welcome any comments on this from all of you out there on the scottish-dance list.

cheers

Peter

P.S. A fuller discussion of the pros and cons is available from the Strathspey dancing e-mail list. Follow the thread Posting Dance Directions

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This page based on information provided by Peter Hastings (P.Hastings@roe.ac.uk)