It
is sad that we even have terms of service for this
organization but we do and its
need is based on both the
experiences of PRN (see below)
as well as our experiences
within the PNW DMR Network.
While
ToS may or may not be necessary for what is commonly known as
Amateur Radio,
please give a tip of the hat to
K1DMR, as his lawsuit was the
genesis to create the above terms.
Read on for one of Ham Radio's
darker moments.
A ham known as
Kenneth
Bryant, K1DMR filed a lawsuit
in 2015 against those NCPRN
repeater and c-Bridge owners (see
the directory
for more links and files) because
his access (to NCPRN) was restricted
due to his (alleged)
commercial/business related use of
their network and repeaters.
Further, Bryant continued his
prosecution of 2 of his many named
defendants over the course of the
next year.
See the GoFundMe
Campaign and consider
a donation to support
Scott's (KF4DBW) defense. By
doing so, you really are supporting
your local repeater owners and the
c-Bridge administrators
and...believe it or not, all
users. Make a contribution, as
little as $5 to $10 to get updates
from the GFM campaign. Include
your name and call sign to show your
public support if at all possible.
To be very clear, you would be
supporting yourself as it is us
(you, me and Scott, etc) who provide
the all this to you at no
cost. It will affect you
directly if you simply discount or
ignore this issue. Fewer repeaters
will be deployed and/or more will go
to a closed access format. Please
educate yourself by reading from the
links above.
Skip your dinner out one time and
send that money to support the defense
of this outrageous case
repeater owner or network
admin. -- Mike,
NO7RF
UPDATE
1: November 17, 2016:
Lawsuit
settled short of
trial, colossal waste of money,
but no precedent set:
|
In
the matter of Kenneth
Bryant v. NCPRN, Scott
Whitaker and Wade
Hampton, Jr., this
issue has been
resolved. We
regret this matter
occurred and
acknowledge that it
could have been
handled better, and
regret some of the
unfortunate public
comments made
pertaining to this
litigation and to Mr.
Bryant. It is in
the best interests of
Amateur Radio that
this matter be
resolved without
further litigation.
Network
privileges for Kenneth
Bryant are restored.
The
parties ask the
community not to
discuss this matter
further.
|
UPDATE
2: December 09,
2016: The GoFundMe
campaign has been terminated...a
total of $6,625 was collected,
much less than the $15,000 to
$20,000 of costs that Bryant
caused just this single
defendant in his defense of the
lawsuit.
UPDATE 3: July
12, 2019: 3 years later, I find that Bryant now has on his QRZ page
(April 28, 2019), in part, the following text:
RE: Lawsuit Against NCPRN (filed on behalf of, and in
support of, the Amateur Radio Community)
For anyone truly interested in the facts of the matter, rather that hearsay
from someone who has never read the court file, please contact me and I will
be happy to provide you with court documents in the case via email. Many
individuals were duped into donating to a Go Fund Me campaign started by
Mike Shirley, NO7RF, based on false and misleading information about the
case. Since it was questionable about how these donations were obtained, I
had asked that these funds totalling almost $7k be donated to the ARRL Youth
Education Fund (which is dedicated to fostering new hams from childhood
ranks) but the Defendants refused. In any event, the matter has reached a
final outcome and here is the latest update posted on the NC PRN website
dated November 17, 2016:
"In the matter of Kenneth Bryant v. NCPRN, Scott Whitaker and Wade Hampton,
Jr., this issue has been resolved. We regret this matter occurred and
acknowledge that it could have been handled better, and regret some of the
unfortunate public comments made pertaining to this litigation and to Mr.
Bryant. It is in the best interests of Amateur Radio that this matter be
resolved without further litigation. Network privileges for Kenneth Bryant
are restored. The parties ask the community not to discuss this matter
further." [original emphasis retained]
The first paragraph quoted above under Update #3, from Bryant's
QRZ page (4-8-2016), is much a mischaracterization of the case as well as my support
for the defendants and the ham radio community. Bryant filed this case
for himself as he was not satisfied after he was banned from the NCPRN
network. You may make your own determination on who truthful by simply
reading the documents that I made available during the course of the
lawsuit. I read the pleadings and the later filed documents.
Bryant has never made the court file publicly available. I founded the GoFundMe page and all money raised went directly to the defendant(s) with no
strings on how it may be used in their defense.
Some of the links (above and in the directory) are no longer valid after 3
years but the basic information is unchanged. Had Bryant prevailed in
his lawsuit, it could have set president or case law that would cause
current and potential repeater owners, c-Bridge owners and manager in the
DMR world to reconsider deploying a repeater or network as they more easily
prevail when some wingnut gets his panties in a twist.
$20,000 was spent by 1 defendant to defend against Bryant's lawsuit and
what came of it? At the bottom line, it was the settlement agreement
and the above statement. The ham community is fortunate that Bryant
did not prevail. Bryant has since violated his own settlement
agreement by his posting of more comment on his
QRZ page,
that content which further bolsters the defendants original reason for
banning Bryant's activities on the NCPRN network.
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