Alarmingly, I have also seen the opposite from people who have little respect for the ethical issues involved. Copyright issues in the digital information age are far from being resolved. I scanned the list of interested parties who testified before Congress. Not one of them represented genealogical interests which, I believe, is one of the fastest growing segments of the population to use on-line databases. It is almost amusing that in the U.S. genealogists bombarded the Federal Communications Commission when they thought they were going to have to begin paying more money for their Internet service.
Genealogy is big business, folks.
And it's become big business because of the Internet. As genealogists, we all have a stake in how laws governing the Internet are written. Laws which favor huge companies which compile databases for sale may or may not be a threat to genealogy. At the very least, we need to be informed and to be heard. I believe it's time for the genealogical community to fully recognize the impact the Internet has had on genealogy.