In reply to the post made by the chairman of the GC.
Here is my reply to the comments made and I expect it to be my last in public barring any spectacular new developments or the announcement that the issue is resolved.
This posting is the first time that I'm officially spoken to by the GC about the ownership issue relating to the URL's (or even the other stuff).
All other communication was through back channels and informal in nature and I never discussed any proposal or even anything relating to the ownership with the chairman, the secretary or the threasurer directly. In fact I have only communicated with one person out of this group, who happens to be a long time friend of mine, but on personal titles only.
In all seriousness, officially I have never spoken with the GC about this topic and indeed this is the first time that we do. As such I have never negociated directly with the GC. I truly wonder how this can be seen as "Doing its best".
However, I do indeed underwrite the following statement :
"Unfortunately a fair & reasonable solution has not been reached to date."
Furthermore, it is said that I've not been excommunicated from the class but have chosen to not join. In fact, both parties are guilty of hyperbole here. Indeed I'm not excommunicated in the direct sense, that was an overstatement on my part. If I pay for the membership I will be granted one, but I hold no illusions on ever being called upon for advice. However, my "choice" not to join is subject to clearification as well. In fact, I do consider myself a creditor to the F16 class (the GC) by paying for some of the internet resources they use. In return I asked to be credited by the GC by means of granting me a class membership. I pay in real money for something they use and they were asked to pay me back in awarding me a membership. Effectively this entlarges their budget as the expenses for these resources are higher then the membership fee. In monetary terms, they gain more then they loose. Not an unimportant aspect of the situation considering the class has only just build up a paying membership structure and won't be creating a huge annual income yet. I do confess to naively believing the GC would jump to such an offer.
Of course "joining by payment" during these "negociations" would only make my own position irrelevant. Probably ending up in me paying for the resources AND the membership. Not something a party in such a proces does. I would like to underscore here that the "negociation" stalled and I had to renew my ownership of the resources. So it is no longer an option that the GC pays for this bill themselves even if I were transfer the owner rights to them now. The alternative would have been to let it lapse and risk Macca (or some other party) claiming it and doing a victory dance in public. It does surprise me that the GC were willing to take this risk with a rather important class resource. Actually, this is one of the reasons why I've hung to these resources over the last years. I will only transfer these to a party that is dedicated to the F16 class and that has proven to be dependable. Needless to say that I will never allow it to lapse or allow it to fall in the hands of parties undedicated to the F16 class. If ever the new owner lets them lapse for a single day then I will reclaim them. This is not a threat but rather a promise. We (all of us in the F16 class) can simply not risk these resources falling into the wrong hands.
You also state that :
Since this is an important matter for the class, the GC directs the members to discuss this topic on the members forum where it is hoped that a reasonable solution for all parties can be reached.
Since I'm not a class member I can't go to this members-only forum and help solve this issue. I too hope that a reasonable solution can be worked out overthere but with one of the parties (= me) being absent I do question the effectiveness of this approach.
Now I know that a possible argument back could be that I "chose" not to be a member and that therefor I can only blame myself. However, I refer any people with such an opinion to the fact that my class membership is in fact a key part of the "negociation". By this reasoning we have just entered what many call cyclical reasoning.
Now, truly with all due respect, I'm tired of going around in circles on this issue.
The situation is really is not that hard to solve.
Everybody now knows what's on the table and we can just as well communicate by private e-mail.
I too deplore the way things have gone down and indeed I too see a reasonable resolution as in the best interest of the F16 class.
With kind regards,
Wouter Hijink
F16 class founder.
