Thanks Marianne.. We have all been deeply touched by the events of 7th February..and are only too willing to open our hearts and our wallets for the victims.. There are some legal guidelines about posting an email without the permission of the Author that need to be considered.... With no other information.on which to verify the basis of the posting it is worth asking the question...as to the validity of the request.. I hope Norman gets all the help that he needs, and I hope that other surviving genealogists in the Yarra Valley and other areas devastated by the firestorms are able to recoup their research easily Gay

> There are some legal guidelines about posting an email without the > permission of the Author that need to be considered.... There are no legal restrictions on individuals posting the email addresses of other individuals (with or without their permission). Posting (or, rather, not posting) other people's email addresses by individuals is a matter of courtesy/etiquette, not law. For an organisation that is subject to the Privacy Act (individuals are currently not subject to it), there might be restrictions on releasing email addresses that they obtain in the course of their activities. If a person's email address is visible in a posting to a public list (i.e. they have taken no steps to keep it private), then I cannot see any reason why anyone else should feel obliged to keep it private. Kerry