[meteorite-list] IMCA and New Nevada Meteorite on Ebay

From: David Freeman <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jul 13 17:42:47 2004
Message-ID: <40F45742.90000_at_fascination.com>

Dear John, List, IMCA Membership;

I have been a strong supporter of the IMCA since way back when when we
argued over the name for months at a time.

 I see now that there are hurdles that are in front of the IMCA like the
present auction and it appears that the IMCA is neither able or willing
to censure the individual who surely seems to be committing a fraudulent
act.

The IMCA needs to be here to serve and protect, not just to wave a flag
...err the logo. I am sure things are being done....yet... well....
like what? Any shady dealings, or fast ones, or phony actions should
have that logo yanked immediately.

 I see the IMCA rapidly becoming some toothless wonder.

Dave Freeman
(fully agreeing with Mr. Gwilliam's comments below)

John K. Gwilliam wrote:

> Morning All,
> Although I have been a long-time member of the meteorite community, I
> am not a member of the IMCA for several reasons. The current Ebay
> auctions for a large piece of magnetite claimed to have been found
> with some sort of "Buck Rogers" electronic device from three miles
> away has already given a black eye to the IMCA. As soon as the
> misrepresentation of this material was discovered, the IMCA leadership
> should have contacted the seller and requested he put an end to sales
> until he had legitimate proof that what he was selling was actually
> meteoritic. The description in the auction is very
> unprofessional...something that the IMCA should not tolerate.
>
> I'll ask the same question I asked several months ago...what exactly
> does the IMCA do anyway? Here is another one of your members pulling
> a fast one on the public and we don't hear/see anything being done!
>
> Time to clean house folks,
>
>
> JKG
>
> At 12:11 PM 7/12/2004, Nicholas Gessler wrote:
>
>> Hi IMCA members and non-members:
>>
>> Bob has hit the nail on the head!
>> Just what does displaying the IMCA logo mean or guarantee?
>> I have not seen this addressed on the IMCA list, so it looks like he
>> discussion falls here.
>>
>> It seems to me that displaying the IMCA logo should obligate members
>> to GUARANTEE the authenticity of their sales.
>> Perhaps that is all that the IMCA can realistically do.
>>
>> All of us have misidentified meteorites from time to time, amateurs
>> and professional meteoriticists alike. I don't think IMCA should be
>> in the authentication business. Yes, providing information on
>> identifying meteorites is fine, but there are several websites
>> already doing that. At present, the labs are the final arbiters of
>> authenticity. But I am sure there are many on this list who can
>> distinguish most meteorites and meteorwrongs without the help of a lab.
>>
>> When eBay is asking for suggestions of proactive measures to be taken
>> to prevent fraud, in my opinion the best and only way to proceed is
>> to allow the public at large to express their opinions openly to the
>> bidders and the sellers. I know that eBay tries to prevent people
>> from doing this, but free comment is what makes a free market free.
>>
>> I spoke to an eBay representative yesterday, and will continue that
>> discussion...
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Nick
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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>
Received on Tue 13 Jul 2004 05:42:26 PM PDT