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* * * * Hip Joints: the Coda* * * *

Posted by bdiament (A) on October 26, 2004 at 06:13:09

In Reply to: Group Purhase Ethics & Barry Diament's Hip Joints posted by Wellfed on October 24, 2004 at 18:52:49:

Hello all,

I believe I can put an end to the current controversy regarding Hip Joints.

I’ve been giving this issue a considerable amount of thought, taking into account all the positions voiced in this forum. I have consulted with my very best friend (my wife), who is aware of my adventures on the Asylum and the history of Hip Joints. She said a number of things that were not easy for me to swallow, among them that she believes if the circumstances were different and the issues were raised as a concern rather than a personal attack, that Fred and I could actually be friends. She believes he and I have things in common, including a desire for ethical behavior. At the same time she fully disapproves of his method of communicating this and his numerous unsupported accusations, among the more harmful including plagiarism.

My most trusted friend also said she could see how some of my words and posts as well as the group buy, could be interpreted as acts of commerce, even though she is clear that my intentions have been honorable and my goal was nothing other than sharing my creation in a spirit of fun and camaraderie.

I believe Hip Joints are my own creation and do not step on anyone’s patented toes. So far, no one expressing doubt in this regard has yet shown any characteristics unique to the patented device that are shared by Hip Joints. I stand by everything I said in my earlier post in this thread. Still, all this is now moot as I have a solution to the issue.

In order to avoid even the appearance of impropriety or wrong doing on my part, the right thing for me to do is to not have anything to do with a group buy and to no longer give out the specs for Hip Joints. I sincerely saw the group buy as a bunch of hobbyists acting as a community and sharing what I had freely given them. But I believe the path to truth must take one through all possible perspectives, including the ones that don’t taste so good at first. Ultimately, personal honor takes precedence over audio. Therefore, in an effort to do right, I am withdrawing the design and will no longer be sending out copies of the specs.

I hope this will clarify my intentions and standing to all. My thanks to all who have voiced their opinions with the civility Wellfed requested and my particular thanks to him for initiating this thread, which made me consider other points of view. I also want to thank those who have put up posts of support along the way. And thanks to the moderators and proprietors of this wonderful place we call the Asylum for hosting this discussion and allowing it to unfold as it would.

A final word, if I may, to Fred Volz: I respect your desire to adhere to principles but wish you had chosen another way to express them and wish these principles extended to not making allegations without fully documented support. You’d commented that my Asylum profile does not allow for email contact but didn’t make the effort to “ping” me with a message as others frequently do. A personal attack can do nothing but bring about a defensive response from the attacked. Your continued assertions regarding dark motives are completely unfounded as I hope you will come to see. And lastly, your accusations of plagiarism could have serious consequences as, in case you are not aware, I periodically sell articles to professional and hobbyist audio publications. If you cannot offer direct quotes to support these allegations, I believe the honorable thing to do would be to own up to being emotionally “hot” when you wrote your initial posts (as you did but not with regard to this) and publicly retract that accusation with an apology. This I will leave to your own concepts of integrity. Though I fully disagree with the tack you chose to make your points, as you can see, I have considered them and have acted based on them. I see no reason why you can’t or shouldn’t continue to post here.

To all who’ve read this far, thanks for hearing me out.

Happy Listening!
Barry

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