I think that this INTERNET directory business points up the
          fragility of this whole "free" and unstructured
          communication that we have come to take for granted on the
          INTERNET.
 
          My sense is that the Internet is an anomaly in this culture;
          its non-commercial nature and its open-endedness makes it
          particularly valuable. When things like this directory, or
          my faux-pas of asking Bob Dahl for his CV on the list rather
          than privately, come up, it draws attention to the delicacy
          of the Internet.
 
          As is the case with the first amendment
          , there are kind of Internet absolutists who see any
          infringement (ie commercialization) as the narrow edge of
          the wedge.  Then there are those who are more laissez-faire,
          assuming that this free-wheeling mode of exchange can't be
          seriously challenged.
 
         We all expect courtesy and the following of some unspoken and
          unidentified rules in our Internet exchanges. We all see
          that courtesy and the social contract is being eroded in all
          aspects of public life. It is sobering to think how easily a
          few wrong steps could erode the quality of communication
          that we all value in this community. That is my sense of the
          "subtext" motivations of people who are threatened by
          infringing commercialization or discourtesy of taking names
          without approval.
 
          Eric Siegel
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