Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Regarding the Jan. 7 front-page article "As PTA Groups Move Online, So Does Dissension":

Suzanne Weiss is wrong. She does not own the CJCougarEmail list she created while president of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Cabin John Middle School; the PTSA does.

An e-mail list is a form of intellectual property, and intellectual property that is created by an employee (paid or volunteer) as part of a job is owned by the employer, not the employee. Ms. Weiss was privy to the information she collected only because she was PTSA president. Just as a scientist doesn't own an invention created in a company lab and a salesperson can't take a client list when he or she moves to a competitor, Ms. Weiss has no legal claim to the e-mail list.

Ms. Weiss may be listed as "owner" of the list on Yahoo, but that is only because Yahoo requires an individual to be responsible for its content.

ELSA L. FRIDL

Silver Spring