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.
Comments on “Who Owns Your Email Address?”
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.
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.
Re: 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.
Re: Re: 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.
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?