The Whistleblower - Sandpit warning
Ladies & Gentlemen, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there is a current situation which the great majority of you need to be aware of, as it has significant implications for most of us. Someone needs to blow the whistle. Just over two weeks ago Etihad instructed a law firm, Nabarro who filed subpoenas in both London and Los Angeles against the owners of PPRuNe demanding the identity of members that Etihad view as miscreants and subversive.
What not a lot of you know is that Danny sold this website to an American company a good few years back; he's remained as a figurehead caretaker but it's no longer his company. These subpoena's have been delivered to the American parent company and legal letters have started hitting some key people associated with this website.
Earlier this week, personnel working for the American owners of this website released personal details (all that they have - registration email addresses, IP addresses, records of postings ) to Nabarro, of at least 20 members of this site, whose user-names had been identified by Nabarro as libelous in the nature of their posts regarding Etihad. It appears that the final straw that started this process was the thread relating to Etihad's grooming guide.
Now, if you were in the US this would be bad news as you may be subject to some legal action but here in the Sandpit you are looking at losing your job, legal action and some severe disruption of your current lifestyle. Once the floodgates open, any company or entity that has the means of employing a firm of attorneys capable of issuing subpoenas will be taking advantage of this facility.
Never did I think it would come to the point where this site would cave in and destroy the very fundamentals of what we've always stood for; the freedom to express oneself regarding our industry, to best serve ourselves in the common discussion of mutual concerns without the ability of the companies or authorities concerned to remove such debate, their sole recourse being to enter into the debate. Which has hardly ever occurred.
That, my friends has changed. Effective immediately you are afforded no anonymity by this site. If you cross an entity or your employer by posting contentious issues here they have the immediate recourse of subpoenaing the owners, who have demonstrated that they have no hesitation in immediately providing the means to identify the source of such issue.
I suspect that this thread/post is going to last as long as it takes for the owners/ administrators or moderators to close it down. If this warning is suppressed then do the great majority of the members a favor and repopulate this warning on as many forums and in as many threads as you can please. Print it and put it on the notice board.
Because careers are at stake; previously assumed anonymity is no longer available. This, in my book, is serious stuff. I feel for those whose identities have already been divulged. It appears that some or all of those mentioned above have received subpoenas in the past few days. Don't get caught up in this watershed moment which I view as the beginning of the end of this site, which will still be a place for the lurkers and journos to come to debate their hypothesis on the next accident but has, in my opinion, forever lost its place as a discussion forum for professional pilots to air their views.
I am seriously concerned that the civil rights of those who have had their identities unknowingly divulged have been compromised and I am compelled to provide this warning.
The Whistle Blower