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[daijoubu]

Interesting point.  So if I use NI's web interface to the forums, I'm bound by their terms of use and am giving NI permission to reproduce my work without attribrution.  If I use a newsreader to post to comp.lang.labview, preferably using my ISPs news server, and use the creative commons licence as Jim Kring does in his signature, I'm not bound by NIs terms of use and do not grant NI the right to republish my work without proper attribution. 

I guess it's time to start subscribing to Google Groups.

tst:
My name's not that hard to spell!  Try this: 　大丈夫

[Molly K]

I wanted to clear a few things up for everyone. As several of you have noted, the Terms of Use, in substantially this same form, have been in effect on this site for years. They have been linked to from the "Legal" link in the footer of almost all the pages within ni.com. We recently decided to make them easier to find from certain areas of the site (particularly the community pages) to be sure that you knew what you were agreeing to when you used the site. From your reactions, I'm guessing that some of you were unfamiliar with the Terms of Use thusfar.

Long story short is that we are all participating in a public forum, and we should understand the implications of sharing our ideas in this manner. In practice, we should all try to give credit where credit is due.

As a business, NI must set the ground rules for use of its website, including the Discussion Forums. We believe that the Terms of Use and Copyright Infringement Policy are pretty standard and are not unlike those of similar sites. They really are designed to protect NI and reduce the risks associated with hosting such a community environment.

We appreciate all of you who have been such valuable members of the community over the past years, and we hope that you will choose to continue to be members of the NI community for many years to come.

Thanks!

[Ben]

Hi Molly,

The discalimer hurts the Developer Exchange more than it hurts me. I just have to stop posting examples.

You wrote;

"

We believe that the Terms of Use and Copyright Infringement Policy are pretty standard and are not unlike those of similar sites. They really are designed to protect NI and reduce the risks associated with hosting such a community environment.

"

The Developer Exchange is a special fourm unlike anything that has gone before it (as far as I am aware). As such it should have a special TOU.

In the interest of the Exchange and all of those who so freely given of themselves for such a noble cause, I humbly request that the NI legal team revisit the TOU verbage.

Thank you,

Ben

[tst]

Here is the problem paragraph. How about some additions along these lines?

User Contributions. Any information or material ("Communications") that you transmit to this Site is considered non-confidential. NI has no obligations with respect to the Communications, and NI is free and you authorize NI to copy, disclose, distribute, incorporate, translate and otherwise use the Communications and all related data, images, sound, and text for any and all purposes, as long as credit will be given to the source by including a URL to the original communication. NI reserves the right, in its sole discretion on a case by case basis, to remove, reject, or otherwise modify any such Communications or any portion(s) thereof, with the understanding that such modifications will be announced where they are made (and giving the original poster the option to modify or remove the communication as well?).