[meteorite-list] Trust - Was...Honest Answer...

From: dean bessey <deanbessey_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Nov 21 22:11:33 2004
Message-ID: <20041122031130.36481.qmail_at_web12307.mail.yahoo.com>

I see that everybody has yet again found a way to make
asses of themselves in their efforts to push personal
agendas.
As far as who owns the numbers, I dont know about
europe but in The United States and canada legally
nobody owns them so stop this stupididy about
threatening lawsuits. Remember the 286, 386, 486
computer chips? Intel patented those numbers and
couldent stop anybody else in court from using the
numbers. So the Pentium came into being. If Intel cant
keep a number that they legally patented spending more
in legal fees than has been spent on meteorites in the
past few decades dont go saying you can sue somebody
for using your numbers. In Canada and the USA you cant
own a number (Or a colour) and it cannot be patented.
The arguement might be right and ethical but it wont
hold up in court.
Not to say that dealers complaining about other
dealers using their numbers are wrong. If NWAxxx is
officially a 362 gram stone I dont see how it would be
right to sell another stone as that number. Get
another number and call it paired with NWAxxx. Look in
the meteoritical bulletin and there is a very defined
weight that applies to a certain NWA number. The NWA
number only applies to that one stone and everybody
knows that they are almost all paired with something
else. Look at all the numbers that the CR2, CV3 and R4
in morocco has (Have anybody ever wondered why Libyas
Dar al Gani desert attracts so many CO3s?). While the
arguement is valid it seems to me that so many numbers
for such obviously paired meteorites is sort of
convuluted. I dont have an answer that would help
matters so I wont talk about this more here. However,
on a side note remember Gold Basin? There are I
believe six meteorites found in the same strewnfield
and there is an arguement that the 6 are all from the
same fall and that it is brecciated. This is not
officially accepted but it just gives an example of
the difficulty in getting information on a meteorite.
Also "What is a dealer".
A dealer is somebody who sells something. Throw 50
meteorites on ebay and you are a dealer. Stick up a
stall with 20 TV's for sale and you are a TV dealer.
Dont believe me? Ask the tax department if somebody
who sells 50 meteorites a month should pay taxes on
the sales? Sell 50 meteorites a month on ebay and you
would have a very hard time explaining to the tax
people that you are not running a business and
shouldent pay taxes on it.
As far as the conflicting classifications goes? One
only has to look at NWA869 and NWA1109 to see the
extent of the whole mess. NWA869 has 3 or 4 different
classifications and they are all proper
classifications. NWA1109 is a polymict eucrite but
there are lots of howardites paired with the eucrite
and done by respectible labs using proper procedures.
Find a 65 gram inclusion of mixed diamonds, olivine
and diogenite material in NWA1109 and an unscrupulous
dealer could send 20 grams to a respectable lab and
get a "RARE" olivine diogenite ureilite classification
that would get officially accepted and printed in the
met bulletin and offer it at hundreds of dollars a
gram instead of the $15 or so that NWA1109 sells for.
The real problem is that is it so difficult (Or
impossible) to get something classified. Dealers would
get things classified if they could do so. But
remember that dealers are looking for a profit and 2
years out waiting to sell something just plain wont
work and is not going to happen. So, like any other
type of business, meteorite dealers take short cuts
and make the best of the situation available to them.
I have meteorites that I have been waiting 3 years on
for classifications and I usually never bother
anymore. The rare classifications all come out at the
same time anyway and most meteorite buyers are
knowledgable enough to know what they are buying.
Maybe the meteoritical society can come up with a
lower standard so that classifications can get done
easier or maybe some new invention will help out to
streamline the process. Just an idea. I dont know what
will work.
But a productive approach and intelligent discussion
to the problem (Rather than threatening lawsuits)
might actually get some lab guys involved that might
add some insight and ideas that might help the
classification backlog situation - which is the real
problem here.
Just my two cents worth
DEAN
























--- Impactika_at_aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 11/21/2004 6:53:39 PM Mountain
> Standard Time,
> drtanuki_at_yahoo.com writes:
> Dear list and Adam,
> What is a dealer and what is a pseudo-dealer? Is
> it possible that the key is marketing skills? Trust
> is
> the real answer to this ugly problem and this market
> is rapidly losing "trust" due to the marketing
> skills
> of some. Please keep science and scientist out of
> marketing. Sincerely, Dirk Ross...Tokyo
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
>
> Yes, Trust is the key.
> And that is why the IMCA was created......
> but of course I am partial. ;-)
>
>
> Anne M. Black
> www.IMPACTIKA.com
> IMPACTIKA_at_aol.com
> IMCA #2356, www.IMCA.cc
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>



                
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Received on Sun 21 Nov 2004 10:11:30 PM PST