[SEL] Register Opinion

[fero_ah at city-net.com]

G'day Patrick,

The approach that I'm taking with the Lorenz & Benz registry is if the info is
already in the public domain, mearly moving it around in the public domain
isn't an issue.  Where I get info for the register from collectors while
viewing their collection privately, I ask permission to include it and respect
their wishes regarding my request, be it yea or nay.

Here's a couple of examples...  Bloke has his engine on display at Portland,
name & city & state on the display card with the engine.  That's public
domain.

Bloke advertises his engine on eBay or Harry's or other and provides details. 
That's also public domain.  

Info is published in a paper register that is available free for the asking (or
for a nominal fee for copy & postage costs) that's also public domain.

If a collector is paranoid about a thief in the night or a harassing collector
seeking him out, his info won't be in the public domain in the first place.

See ya,  Arnie

Quoting Patrick M Livingstone <pml1 at bigpond.net.au>:

> The policy of not publishing names without permission was started by the
> original keeper of the register and I do not have the time or resources to
> change it. Nobody on the register has given permission for their names to be
> published on the internet so they will not be published on the internet.
> The Austral register has been printed a number of times over the years and
> many hundreds of collectors have copies so it is not being kept a secret
> (and as I have stated a number of times will be printed again). As well as
> being printed out over the years there have been a number of articles in
> TOMM derived from the register details (and hopefully many more to come).
> 
> A lot of collectors (rightly or wrongly) are very protective of their
> collections and I respect that. Respecting that privacy has allowed me in to
> see some pretty rare & special engines over the years that are never seen
> out of their sheds.
> I personally know of people who have hunted down an engine (and harassed the
> owner to buy it) with no more information than the locality it is in.