News of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) pursuing litigation against companies that distribute copyrighted articles has raised questions about the PR industry's widely accepted practice of disseminating press packets.
While protecting copyrighted information is a reasonable endeavor, SIIA's approach is all wrong. By concealing the identity of its informants - and offering them a cash reward - the association is not conducting transparent and necessarily well-intentioned investigations. And many in PR would be willing to voluntarily comply if the ...