To be clear, I did not ask for permission to implement the Bluebook rules, and never have done. I asked for clarification of the terms of the EULA attached to the Bluebook Online service. The trail of correspondence is summarized in a recent post (linked under my name above).
Basically, when an institution holds itself out as serving a community interest (in this case, providing a common format for printed citations in legal writing etc etc), it is inappropriate for it to play semantic dog-in-the-manger games with others who are trying to contribute in the same vein. That is not a legal claim, and it may be an old-fashioned view, but it is where I come down on this one.
A sunset provision in legislation with effects this deep isn't really aimed at decommissioning -- no one has suggested that the issues addressed by this bill will have faded in five years. Rather, expiration of the legislation will trigger campaign contributions from private firms and industry groups that by then will have integrated its provisions into their business practices. It's all pretty ugly.
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Re: The should not have asked for permission
Basically, when an institution holds itself out as serving a community interest (in this case, providing a common format for printed citations in legal writing etc etc), it is inappropriate for it to play semantic dog-in-the-manger games with others who are trying to contribute in the same vein. That is not a legal claim, and it may be an old-fashioned view, but it is where I come down on this one.
Re: Sunsetting
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Frank Bennett.
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