>Bob,
>Thanks for the heads-up about J P Instruments' outrageous legal
>shenanigans. I will be contacting them directly tomorrow.
>
>I had been interested in their product -- figured big on my wish list
>-- but they have just instantly become the first aviation-related
>company I am compelled to boycott.
I wouldn't pull the plug on them just yet. I find that as
companies get bigger, it's easier for outward appearances
to loose the flavor of the original founders . . .even when
the founders still work there. How well I know, Raytheon
Aircraft is but a ghost of Walter Beech's brainchild.
I'll bet the whole thing got started when some bright young
lawyer type thought he was doing his job and stirred a pot
that didn't really need stirring. When JPI opens their e-mail
box and unloads the fax machine this morning, I'll bet that
the original flavors of the company will come bubbling to
the surface.
>I take boycotts quite seriously. When I become aware that a company
>violates my personal concept of ethics, that's it. There are companies
>I have been boycotting for 30 years.
Understand . . . but I'd like to separate my reactionary
efforts into more than one category. There ARE institutions
who's attitudes and principals run deep to the core and
are worthy of long term shunning. Situations like JPI
CAN be unfortunate, transient events that except for some
lack of forethought, would never have happened.
>It may not matter to them much, but it's very important to me -- no
>one who acts in such high-handed fashion will _ever_ profit from me.
They build good stuff and as far as I know, they've been
pleasant and productive members of the aviation community.
Let's not write them off until we see how it all shakes
out.
<snip>
>Have you noticed that there is a JPI website -- for Job Pool
>International, a supplier of video footage, among other things. Perhaps
>J P Instruments should be made to stop using those 3 initials in all
>their advertising !
Interesting . . .
>
>I sure hope Matronics will not cave in -- with the very limited legal
>training I had many years ago, I don't believe JP Instruments has a
>case, but I'm not current on US law.
I don't think Matt will cave in. JPI will realize how bad
a PR trip this has become and will most certainly move to
cool the situation off. I'm saddened that Matt has to endure
this but all-in-all, it's a good exercise for the rest of
us. As a community, we need to take on more responsability
for reacting to perceived wrongdoing, no matter what size
and by whom. Just think, if we'd been able to muster this
kind of reaction against the Anchorage FSDO in the first
few days of the B&C L-40 fiasco, we might have brought the
whole thing to a halt in hours. As it was, it drug out for
years and put a lot of new gray hairs on Bill's head.
From that point of view, I'm glad this happend and I hope
we all learn from it.
I've said for years that the internet is our single most
powerful tool against tyranny whether it comes from government
or industry. No tin god likes to have their every
whim scrutinized by the world . . . peacful, lawful and
educated communication of fact is our most powerful tool
against these things . . . low cost, non poluting, non
lethal, gee . . . if we'd just learn how to use it well.
I'd like to believe this is a beginning.
Bob . . .
////
(o o)
< A mind abhors a vacuum . . . >
< When deprived of facts, >
< our fantasies are generally >
< much worse than reality. >
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