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Adam Kalsey

This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.

Live Writer forces Public Domain?

18 Aug 2006

As one of the folks behind an early desktop blogging tool I was curious about Windows Live Writer. In the process of installing it, I noticed a curious clause in the license agreement.

by posting or otherwise providing your submission, you are granting to the public free permission to: use, copy, distribute, display, publish and modify your submission, each in connection with the service; (emphasis mine)

So by simply posting to your blog with Live Writer, you’re essentially putting your blog post into the public domain. How someone would know you used Live Writer to publish a blog post, I’m not sure, but Microsoft seems to be covering themselves in the case that they wanted to use your words in their promotinal materials.

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