Yes, I had noticed the blurb at the bottom of the e-mails that says: NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

The message I received, from a source I trust, who said she got it from the person who oversees church internet use (whoever that is) said that I must not copy and post or post any direct quotes from my missionary’s e-mails on any internet site, blog or social networking sites such as Facebook. Evidently, missionaries are “ordained ministers” who represent TSCC and the church copyrights their e-mails. What!! And, “they” find it frustrating that people ignore this copyright. That is WAY too intrusive in my communications with my son. Who are “they” to dictate what I can do with (what I wrongly considered) my *private and personal communication* with my son?! This copyright business must be why TSCC only allows the mishies to use the myldsmail e-mail. No penalties were mentioned. So I’m thinking there is no fine / jail time TSCC can impose. Disfellowship? Bring it on. I’ll fire off my resignation e-mail as soon as I can find a computer. If they cut off my e-mail to my son I will go down there and yank him out! Not even the LDS church would be so stupid as to cut off his e-mail, would it?

OOOhhh. This really burns me. Sometimes I say to myself, oh, there are good things about this church; it’s not all bad, then whammo! Something else happens that makes me mad all again. My intent is to stay a member until I get my son out, but that CAN change.

My son says in his e-mails that he is on his mission in South America to work and gets irritated at the missionaries who don’t take their work seriously. He is completely into the church, just like his father and I taught him. I snail mailed a two page single spaced letter listing a few of TSCC’s internal inconsistencies to him on Jan 2, so next week he should say something about it in his copyrighted e-mail. I changed my screen name, so if any of this sound familiar I’m the one who posted over Christmas about how to tell my son who is on a mission that the church is not God’s one true church on the face of the earth.

AND yes, I’m going to send a copy of the original e-mail to my son and ask him if this copyright business seems a bit intrusive to him.

A reminder to not post identifying info about his companions is good, but telling me TSCC owns my son’s e-mails? It’s enough to make a Mormon cuss.

The blur is not a copyright notice. It only tells you disregard and destroy the email if it accidently reaches you by mistake (in case somebody sends the email to the wrong recepient). It's normal business practices. Remember it's a corporation and not a true church.

In any case, I have something similar in my work emails.

Caution: This communication may be privileged as attorney work product and/or attorney-client communication or may be protected by another privilege recognized under the law. Do not distribute, forward, or release without the prior approval of the sender or [redacted the title of my organization]. In addition, this communication may contain individually identifiable information the disclosure of which, to any person or agency not entitled to receive it, is or may be prohibited by the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. §552a. Improper disclosure of protected information could result in civil action or criminal prosecution.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2013 11:40AM by swiper.

Thanks! The person who sent the "warning" e-mail to me certainly thought the e-mails were "copyright" material. Got my dander up, again. Accurate information is not the strong point of the TSCC.

So true. Thank goodness for Mormonthink. It was the first website I found that made me, well, think.

I remember when that Mormon missionary email system came out, and I was surprised that there wasn't more resistence to it. It was obvious that the purpose of it is for Big Brother to monitor missionary letters home, and now they're trying to control how the emails are used. I would never have used it as a missionary. I don't care how much trouble I would have gotten into. The level of control and isolation that these kids experience is unbelievable.

Why not get him an independent email account?

His pre-mission e-mail account is still active. I check it once a week. He just does not use it now. I have e-mailed the link twice and told him at least two other times that he has my and his father's permission to use his old account. I believe he can still access it from another country, but I'm 100% sure about that. He's just a good boy, obeying as he is taught. I hope my letter will at least crack his conditioning so he can notice a few things. He does have a brain and certainly had no problems disregarding MY advice in the past. I told him twice that he can come home whenever he wants. I have hope that he will come home early.

I'm sure the Mormon church would like to THINK they control that information, but in truth, I doubt their claim of copyrighting personal correspondence between parent and child would ever hold up in any court anywhere in the world. These letters were given to YOU by your son. The Morg simply facilitated the exchange. So do what you want with YOUR emails.