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Archiver > PENNINGTON > 2000-08 > 0965919470


From: Mike Pennington <>
Subject: RE: [PENNINGTON-L] PRA Problems Was Copyright policy
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 07:57:50 -0700


Dear People,
It pains me to see fighting going on through these electronic postings. For
some reason, unknow to me, this type of communication device is very prone
to people not obeying the "golden rule," and forgeting about the unwritten
laws of karma that seem to permeate the universe and return to us that which
we send out. Perhaps the reason this occurs is because cyber space has made
the communication process so quick and impersonal. Let's try to remember
that we are all human beings and have feelings that need to be respectfully
considered when offered in this forum.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Pennington
San Diego, California

-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:]
Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2000 9:23 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [PENNINGTON-L] PRA Problems Was Copyright policy


Dear Steve, Don, and fellow listmembers,
I hope Steve will forgive my delay in speaking up. I just came in from
an out of town trip, and my car broke down 40 miles from home and I have
finally gotten to my home after a long, hot wait. I have read the
messages being exchanged and struggled with whether to speak up or not.
Steve, I know there are others like me, and that you were suggesting
between the lines, that we share our stories. I am a quiet, unassertive
person by nature so this comes hard for me. I won't be able to live with
myself if I leave you "hanging" out there on that limb.

Dear friends and cousins, years ago, when I was a newbie and all eager
to share and trusting beyond belief, I was asked to submit a gedcom to
PRA by a lady who lived in Texas and was a PRA officer. I was so green I
didn't know what a gedcom was. After she explained, I talked to my
husband and he put together a gedcom of my Pennington research. It is
perhaps 80-90% of what is contained in the JFMF for PRA Group 32, Wells
Pennington. Years passed and I sometimes wondered how my information had
helped anyone and what was done with it. Last Fall, I volunteered to be
Group Leader for PRA Group 12, Samuel Pennington, in addition to being a
member of the Group for my own line, Group 32.
I do not know if I descend from Samuel Pennington but I do believe there
is a good chance that he and Wells Pennington of Group 32 are connected.
So, when the portion of the JFMF that pertained to Group 12 was sent to
me, I also was allowed to receive the Group 32 material in the JFMF.

I eagerly pulled up the files and realized quickly that most of what was
in the Group 32 file was that material I had sent in years ago. That was
okay. Sadly, I then saw that my Durham family was also retained and all
related notes. I had not been aware that I had sent this material in to
PRA. Then I saw some embarrassing notes, and one particularly painful
note about a brief story my Mom told me before she died in 1994. It was
about how said she felt when, as a child, she had watched her crippled
big brother struggle to walk to school so he wouldn't have to quit
school. I have started to cry at this moment even thinking about my
mother's pain and my uncle's pain. He died at age 19.

This was in January, and I immediately wrote to the President of PRA,
Ayvonne Roach. I chose to contact Ayvonne, frankly because I had seen
many messages from Gene that insisted that PRA owned the copyright to
material submitted to PRA. Being unassertive, I feared he would not
understand the seriousness of what I was asking.
However, Ayvonne insisted I work with Gene Pennington and without asking
me, she forwarded my original message to Gene who then wrote (I'm
speaking of email when I say "write") to me and asked me to clarify my
problem for him.
Ayvonne had asked me to do that and, painfully, I did. Now I had to do
it again. I heard back from Gene who said I would have to submit a
Petition for Change to the JFMF and then the Board, or Research
Committee?, would consider it. I responded that I failed to understand
why it must be reviewed by others since confidentiality was what I was
asking.

Gene wrote back and said that my Petition would be kept confidential. So
I wrote a rather emotional Petition and submitted it and hoped my
material would soon be deleted since it was not really valid gen info for
PRA to share.
It adds nothing to anyone else's files. Then Gene sent out a list
message that the Petitions he had collected were being "burned" on a Test
CD. I wrote to Gene and asked what that was. I reminded Gene that I had
not given up my copyright to any of the material I had submitted and that
I was reminding him that I was retaining my copyright and for him not to
burn my Petition on the CD. Gene again assured me that my Petition would
be kept confidential. I didn't feel reassured but was ill and too tired
to argue at that point.

After several weeks of waiting, I wrote to Gene and inquired when I would
have that material deleted from the JFMF.
Gene wrote back and sounded like he was trying hard to be patient, as he
explained to me the difficulties in getting the CD done and out to all
the Group leaders. He assured me it would be coming soon. One of the
things I asked to have taken out of Group 32's JFMF file, was my living
family members, also included by mistake years ago. When Gene told me I
had to write a Petition to get my old notes and collateral lines, and
living persons, that I should include the names of all folks I wanted
removed from the file, "so JIm will know which people to delete". So now
these names were being burned on a CD and sent to 37 people. It seemed
my situation had worsened.

I then wrote to Steve Privett, who was quite kind, and I wrote to
Katherine Cochran because she was the PRA copyright
"expert". After several messages, where Katherine assured me that what I
was asking was valid and that my rights would be observed by PRA, she
said she had contacted the incoming President, Chuck Pennington, and he
had assured her that my copyright would be respected and that if my
material was on the Test CD, that it would have to be destroyed and
redone. I then left for a few days out of town. When I returned, there
was a list message from Gene Pennington, saying that Katherine Cochran
had resigned her position in PRA. I wrote and asked her if helping me
was what caused her to no longer be in her previous position. I haven't
heard back. I can't say I blame her for that at all.

I then decided to consult my attorney, in case a civil suit would be
necessary to force PRA to observe my copyright. I was advised to send a
certified letter to the officers of PRA and then give them about 30 days
to show my copyright had been respected. I sent these letters to the
entire Executive Board, and to Gene Pennington, and I think also to the
Group Leader of the Group leaders. Shortly after I received a list
message saying which Petiftions for Change had been approved, and mine
was among them. I then wrote, I think it was to Gene, and was told that
the changes would be completed by November. I had completed an update
for the Group 12 page at the website and for the JFMF.
Every time I started to submit the material, I stopped and thought about
it and realized that, until I found out whether
PRA had done as I had asked, way back in January, how could I submit more
of my material to an unknown fate?
This was only my thought.

And I have been waiting, for months, and every time I see that note as
told by my mother, I cry, and pray that it will be deleted and not
treated in a cavalier fashion for much longer. By this time, I have
little hope and feel quite helpless to rectify the situation. However,
we quiet, unassertive people have aces up our sleeves. They're called
"lawyers". I have also been advised that since PRA is not incorporated,
and was not at the time of the violation, the officers of PRA are held
responsible personally for legal wrongs perpetuated by the organization.
That means, if I must resort to a legal action, the officers of PRA who
committed the violation or who allowed it to continue during their
tenure, are responsible out of their own pocket. I was advised by
someone else that innocent people would be hurt by that action.
That goes totally against everything I believe in. It will not stop me
from doing what I must to protect my living family members, most of whom
do not know they are even in the JFMF, and I will also do what I must to
protect the memory of my mother and her brother.

I hope you will forgive the length of this. I printed out all the
messages exchanged with Ayvonne and Gene regarding this issue and there
were 28 back in the early part of the year. I don't know how to say this
all more succinctly. Many of you on the list know me and know my work.
Forgive me for taking up so much of your time tonight. I also expect not
to be Group 12 Leader for much longer, if even a member of PRA, after
this very open message.

Please understand that I loved PRA and enjoyed it until all this
happened. I have tried very hard to keep my mouth closed and be docile.
As I read the message sent to Steve Privett from some folks that I know
to be good people,
I knew I had to explain at least part of what he was so gentlemanly
referring to. I know some of you will be angry with me and believe I
should have just left and not spoken of what happened. But wouldn't that
mean I had done something wrong? I also knew that here are more folks
like me.


Barb Temple
Group 12 Leader
Group 32 Member

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