In a message dated 7/15/04 12:58:40 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< Back in 1996 when I first connected to the internet there was

  next to nothing online, very very little in the way of raw genealogical

  data.  >>

In reading this discussion, you are not stealing anything as census records
are public records. I did all the census for my families way back in late 50's
and early 60s -long before many of you were born. And that was not stealing as
was public to all. Ancestry.com is making money off public records but most
people would do lots better if they read the originals as they might find their
families where others interpreted the spelling incorrectly.  I know I did as
I knew names of chilldren ,e tc.
    I do not think geting anything free on web sites, etc is stealing
necessarily, yet many people are thieves by taking your research material and filing
on their web page as their own. Now that is stealing. I have found my name
connected with material many times when I have shared with a cousin and they
somehow let someone see it. Somehow it gets conveyed to another party. On a couple
of occations I have found a Bible I own and shared on someone's page that it
in no ways fits and that person is passing along erroneous material and
confusing others.  So beware what you accept from web sites as you may get material
that one day you will have to unprove.
Sarah in TX

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