There's no story here, move along
At 11:27 PM 4/18/2012, David Kusumoto wrote:
* My goodness, Dale, there are so many huge
holes in your rebuttal that I could fit a
freight train through each one without touching
any of its sides. But why bother? In my view,
you need to reboot your writing skills and come
up with a debating strategy more substantial
than, "what you're writing about is fire and
brimstone over nothing and I personally think you just hate Heritage."
* What has Heritage done to me personally that
would warrant an accusation like that from you,
Dale Dilts, a person I know nothing about, who
doesn't register anything on my radar at MoPo -
nor do I care based solely on your inability to
string words together in a way resembling
intelligent thought? Your note does suggest,
however, that you're ignorant of what's been
published in the business sections of news sites
since 2008. I've already disclosed that I've
personally gained as a consignor and buyer of
Heritage. I think its movie poster department
is run by an a blue-chip, top-flight guy named
Grey Smith, who built his operation out of
nothing 10 years ago. Unlike Geraldine, I'm not
a disgruntled Heritage client in any way. Or
maybe you, Dale Dilts, think it's classier to
observe a "gentleman's agreement" about things
that seem odd, you know, keep everything under
the table where it belongs, and not stir up
"trouble" - that we should all just leave things
with a "wink," and as you say, "move on." I
hope you're not working in P.R. or in the
customer relations operations of any
company. Because never in a million years would I hire you. You're poison.
* BTW, did you know that your last line,
"There's no story here, move on," is the CLASSIC
cliché rebuttal that editors mock every day in
newsrooms around the world? When ANY person
utters it, it means there IS a story. Didn't
you get the memo that I've been on both sides of
this ugly business - and have professionally
handled "conflict of interest-type stories" as a
news guy - and as a P.R. guy? You really think
a story about this - would NOT resonate with a
news editor? Really? You're the one who's not
thinking this through. And I'm sorry, but your
line, "There's no story here, move on" - sounds
like famous last words etched on a
tombstone. You sound like Richard Nixon. -d.
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:47:32 -0500
From: ddilts...@mchsi.com
Subject: Re: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
OK, I tried to put these mails on auto flush,
but come on stick a pin in it, who cares.
Heritage is in the auction business last time I
checked. Ebay allows people to use their API to
build sniping programs because it makes bidders
feel all warm and fuzzy making bids, so why
shouldnt Heritage pilot their own with a smaller user base.
These mails have really come across to me as
you have a chip on your shoulder for heritage plain and simple.
Your second point makes no sense to me at
all. Banks cannot own investment companies,
soft drink companies cannot own a snack company.
Oh my god, Disney owns ABC and ESPN and dont
forget
. Marvel Comics
the sky is falling.
There is no story here, move on.
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:26:23 -0700
From: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Thanks, Kerry, for that bit of info below.
* Meanwhile, I'm sorry, but the word,
"conspiracy" implies seamy dealings involving
more than one person or companies gaming a
system or flouting a law. I haven't suggested
that about Heritage. And as an ex-news guy, my
litmus test is to demand things in writing - or
to get personal testimonies backed with dates,
numbers and other facts - not conjecture. Every
company or person, including Heritage, deserves
that. Kerry's sleuthing shows that Heritage
registered the GavelSnipe domain name - but this
doesn't necessarily mean it still owns it.
* However, whether Heritage is a "financial
backer or an owner" - always matters in the
world of business - in the same way that it
matters to us that Bank of America owns Merrill
Lynch, that PepsiCo owns Frito-Lay, that Disney
owns ABC and ESPN, that ComCast owns NBC and
that Rupert Murdoch owns the NY Post, Fox
Sports, the WSJ and movies and shows produced or
distributed by 20th Century Fox. I have not
suggested Heritage is breaking the law nor is
running up bids - yet the mildly defensive
responses thus far - address only that specific
element. I don't care about that part
personally (although it is a salient concern) -
because my experiences with Heritage have been largely positive.
* But I always care about transparency and
proactive disclosure. So if we say that "the
ownership of Gavelsnipe by Heritage corporate
was never hidden," what does that mean exactly
at the level of a consumer? Does "never hidden"
mean it is being disclosed proactively, being
disclosed upon request, "never disclosed
officially" - or is this simply "universal
common knowledge" among those "in the know?" I
could not find a one thing addressing this on
GavelSnipe's site. That's odd, I thought. It's
like having a light bulb go on while I'm
visiting a website. I always want to know who
owns or runs it. And I was led to this only
because of my curiosity - in relation to my
praise for the MoviePosterExchange.com site and
reading its FAQs. MoviePosterExchange will use
GavelSnipe as a third party service, rather than
doing it by itself. No conflict there.
* I repeat: Doesn't your objectivity get tested
when you replace the word, "Heritage" - with the
word, "Sotheby's?" Or how about with the words,
"Rupert Murdoch" or "Keith Olbermann?" I think
it does make a difference. In sum, all of this
then becomes a personal preference based on the
level of trust you impart to a Sotheby's or a
Murdoch or an Olbermann - combined with the
number of positive experiences or relationships
you have or have had with these people or entities.
* Would it bother me a little if Sotheby's owned
a company like GavelSnipe and integrated it into
a timed auction? Speaking for myself, the
answer is yes. For Heritage, the answer is no,
but I think disclosing its relationship with
GavelSnipe is a "pre-emptive" strike to prevent
others with ill intentions from "discovering" it
on their own. When you've got material info
that may be controversial - my P.R. rule is to
always get your message out FIRST to prevent
being placed in a defensive position and/or
losing control of a potential story about your brand. -d.
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:37:44 -0700
From: loveno...@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
I found this ownership info, not on the Gavelsnipe.com website (I
looked thru their Terms and Conditions and FAQs--and could find
nothing about who it's corporate owner is on either page), but on a
third party site, called website.informer.com.
Heritage is stated as the owner/registrant.
Created: 2006-03-14
Expires: 2013-03-14
Owner: Heritage Auctions Registered through: GoDaddy.com, LLC
(http://www.godaddy.com)
Hosting company: PSINet, Inc
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
IPs: 38.107.251.34
DNS: ns1.gavelsniper.com
ns2.gavelsniper.com
Registrant:
Heritage Auctions
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, LLC (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: GAVELSNIPE.COM
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.GAVELSNIPER.COM
NS2.GAVELSNIPER.COM
-Kerry
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:20:07 -0700
From: sa...@comic-art.com
Subject: Re: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
I don't recall how I found out that Heritage is
a financial backer of Gavelsnipe (which is
probably more appropriate than calling them a
corporate ownership), but I've known, it's been
talked about on Comic Book forums and the like..
But I have never been worried one bit about
leaving my bids on gavelsnipe and it's easy for
me to see how much money I have saved on both
ebay and Heritage auctions by looking at my
snipes and how mostly, they've never gotten close to my winning bids
then again, I'm not a conspiracist.
I know the only way for two people to keep a secret is if one of them is dead
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:50:53 -0700
From: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Rich
How did you know? Through the site itself
(which is key) - or through pals or by just
"being in the know?" If a consumer signs up
with GavelSnipe for the first time today, is
there a PROACTIVE disclosure in GavelSnipe's
terms and conditions about its relationship with
Heritage? If so, it undercuts everything I've
written and I owe everyone a big apology. -d.
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:41:37 -0700
To: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com; MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
From: sa...@comic-art.com
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Potential Conflict of
Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
David
the ownership of Gavelsnipe by Heritage
corporate was never hidden.. I knew about it the day I set up my own account
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:24:52 -0700
From: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
I agree with Kirby too, particularly with his
comment: "Any proxy bid system could be
undermined with enough 'nefariousness' at work."
Hence while I wrote my "essay" with a level of
air-tightness - I was trying to convey less
personal suspicion about any "nefariousness" at
work by Heritage - (and it's only because I know
and trust Grey) - but with more concern about
the link between GavelSnipe and Heritage - and
how in my view, it has a level of newsworthiness
with the media that Heritage doesn't
need. Don't think so? Just REPLACE Heritage's
name in my "essay" below - with Sotheby's or
Christie's or Profiles in History. You see,
your emotional reaction is based on the type of
relationship and comfort level you may or may
not already have with any auction house on
earth. This is really a personal preference
thing with people, e.g., they either trust the
"leash" between the two entities - or they
don't. I just put it out there because I know
most people will read it - and most as a result
will mull it over as another quirky element that
riddles all hobbies, not just ours. -d.
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:20:39 +0200
From: i...@motionpictureart.com
Subject: Re: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
I agree with Kirby. We've been using Gavelsnipe
for eBay for quite some time, we don't buy from
Heritage, and never had any problems.
Ron
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:05:48 -0500
From: ki...@movieart.net
Subject: Re: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
I have used Gavelsnipe many times for Heritage
and Ebay auctions and I have never had even one whiff
of a feeling that I was being run up. I'm glad
that this service exists because I like the snipe process. I
can set it and forget it.
Doesn't mean it couldn't happen if some
nefarious persons wanted to pollute the process.
Any proxy bid system could be undermined with enough "nefariousness" at work.
Kirby
----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:13:00 -0700
From: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com
Subject: Potential Conflict of Interest? Is Gavel-Snipe owned by Heritage?
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
* With the impending launch of Peter
Contarino's, Sean Linkenback's and Ken
Schacter's auctions (vs. fixed price sales which
are there now), I've been visiting their
MoviePosterExchange.com site. It's easy to
navigate and very user-friendly. (BTW, where in
the heck did the highly-touted $850,000
"Metropolis" 3-sheet go? I can't find it! Did
it sell?) At any rate, while visiting the
site's FAQs, I read that it has partnered with
GavelSnipe, the sniping program service, which
will be available to bidders for timed auctions. That's good news.
* But what's interesting - and this has nothing
to do with MoviePosterExchange.com - is
GavelSnipe "appears" to be owned by
Heritage. If I'm wrong, please correct me - and
a thousand apologies if I am. I'm less
concerned about potential abuses like shilling
and what not with Heritage's auctions - than I
am about transparency. GavelSnipe's murky
origins are troubling. I couldn't find much
info about who owns or runs it. This is NOT a
criticism of Grey - who I consider a pal. The
issue of GavelSnipe's ownership - if indeed
Heritage is its "owner" - is out of his
hands. It's bigger than him because it's
available to bidders in Heritage's other departments.
* If true, this is NOT like PayPal being owned
by eBay. It's more like GavelSnipe being owned
by Sotheby's or Christie's, e.g., a conflict of
interest where potential abuses "could" occur -
despite assurances that a "sniping subsidiary"
of Sotheby's or Christie's - can operate
independently - with an iron-clad ability to
preserve the confidentiality of all scheduled
"snipe" bids submitted online. Do you trust
this, given what you've read in the news about
Sotheby's, Christie's, price fixing, Wall Street
buddies in bed with politicians trading stocks with confidential info, etc.?
* By using ANY sniping program, you are
imparting the same trust you already give to
auction sites when submitting "absentee bids"
for "live" showroom sales. The difference is
you can't be "run-up" while using a sniping
program, or so you think, because your bids are
placed in the last few seconds of a timed
sale. But what if the wall protecting "sniped
bids" is breached by another department in the
SAME building? Here's what I know: GavelSnipe
is based in Dallas and "uses SSL encryption (so
that) your passwords are secured and not
VIEWABLE by GavelSnipe personnel." I have no
reason to distrust this. But what about actual
snipe bid amounts before a sale closes? In the
effort to make "sniping" available for clients
like myself who've clamored for it - I hope
Heritage hasn't errantly opened a can of worms
by OWNING GavelSnipe - instead of PARTNERING
with an independently-run third party company -
such as JustSnipe or others like it.
* Before most of you scoff and dismiss what I'm
saying as "manufactured paranoia" or "no big
deal" - please know that I'm approaching this as
a person who has personally GAINED by buying and
consigning items with Heritage over the years -
hence I'm not inclined to see it stub its toes
for ANY reason. Again, I'm more concerned about
transparency than abuse when it comes to
Heritage. And that's mostly because of
Grey. But visit the GavelSnipe site. It
"feels" like it has something to hide - as if it
already knows that there's ZERO benefit to be
PROACTIVE with consumers - about who's "really"
signing the paychecks for GavelSnipe's employees. -d.
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