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Who Owns Your Email Address?
from the such-legal-issues dept
While everyone is trying to figure out how to stop spam, a very interesting legal question is being raised: who actually owns your email address? Is it you? Is it whoever owns the domain name (assuming you don't own your own domain name)? Is it the internet as a whole? Since many lawsuits involving email seem to rely on property rights issues, this question may become more important over time - and it's unclear if there's a really good answer.
Reader Comments
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No Subject Given
But we've established that users own their cell phone numbers. What about cell phone numbers that have e-mail addresses attatched to them? Why are e-mail addresses any different to begin with? If the e-mail address is property of the user it's assigned to, can a user "transfer" his e-mail address? Obviously, there are limitations on that. But it's a good debate.
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Re: No Subject Given
You don't own your cell phone number. You lease it or license it, but you don't *own* it.
If you *owned* it and cancelled your service, then noone would ever be able to use that number again because it's your's.
Just ask the guy who had 867-5309 and tried to sell it on ebay.
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Re: No Subject Given
So in effect, you, I and countless other millions have paid billions of dollars for the privilege of transporting a leased phone number.
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Re: No Subject Given
And we're continuing to pay for it. I pay $2.20 per month for Phone Number Portability Fee on the two cell phones on my account, neither of which number was transferred or probably ever will be.
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No Subject Given
Right, but you own the lease on the leased line. I think that's an important distinction. The same holds true with domain names. Why not e-mail?
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