Terms of Use
The question arises: What restrictions (if any) should govern the use of the resources encountered here?
Several disparate traditions compete in this regard. One professes to honour and protect something called intellectual property. Another eschews such conceits in favour of a more catholic philosophy of entitlement. Yet another champions the cause of self-enrichment irrespective of such distinctions.
At root, I am a survivalist. In the final analysis, the only test that matters is whether one is still alive. Anyone whose physical survival is in jeopardy will find me reluctant to chastise exploitation - even at my expense - if it is essential to that person’s ability to remain so.
I cannot conjecture a scenario equal to that test in the context at hand.
At the same time, I must confess I am not much enamoured of this thing called intellectual property. If I wish to maintain dominion over whatever manifestations of creative expression I call my own, I can do so by the simple expedient of keeping them to myself.
This poses something of a conundrum. And it is compounded by another: I am not entirely comfortable asserting such dominion in the first place.
Frankly, I have no idea where creative outpourings originate. In the present instance, I happen to play a role in lending them expression . . . and in making the refinements that determine their ultimate form. But I am a little spooked by the phenomenon of their materializing at all. It occurs to me that each of us is akin to a radio receiver - intercepting data from the ether, as it were. Some of us filter that data into intelligible outpourings; some of us do not. Some of us do so in a manner palatable to our fellow planet-dwellers; some do not.
Insofar as I bear the stamp of authorship for whatever materializes here, I do not shirk the accompanying burden of accountability. Wherever the notions come from, I elect to advance them. I do so willingly. I am comfortable with them. I value them.
In turn, I offer them in the hope that others may value them also. But where there is value, there is temptation. One of the great ironies inherent in the notion of copyright is that those who assert it actually welcome (at some level) the necessity of having occasion to do so - failing which, it really serves no purpose.
I welcome the enrichment of others. I offer this resource in prospective furtherance of that potentiality. But I append the caveat that the enrichment I invite is of a private and personal sort only. This site - and its contents - are not for the tangible gain of others. To the extent it fosters my own tangible gain, I offer no apology. Even if I am nothing more than a conduit, I happen to be the particular conduit whereby the offerings proffered here achieve expression and accessibility.
I am mindful that there exist, among us, some who will not be thwarted by this admonition - or the sentiments it reflects. Indeed, they will not be reading this. So, why bother to write it?
In part, my purpose is clarification. Some of the materials offered here are not password-protected and do not cost anything to access. That does not mean they are free to use and copy and share - any more than the ones that are password-protected, once someone has paid for access. So as to leave no uncertainty in this regard, it is my intention that anything offered here be available via the website theprivatecourt.org and any links provided therein . . . and (so long as this site remains operational and within my control) only via these channels. If anything encountered here appears anywhere else on the planet, it may be assumed that it does so without my authorization - and, therefore, in breach of both my wishes and whatever copyright protocols obtain.
Whether I ever invoke the protections putatively inherent in the latter remains to be determined. My principal hope is that visitors whose values are approximately harmonious with those reflected in these sites will demonstrate as much by their actions.
Lead by example is more than just an aphorism; it is a code of conduct . . . a way of life.