Call Sign November 2003 - Page 15 - HIT BY A FEATHER ON THE INTERNET!

By Alan Fisher Several months ago, the UK Internet taxi list DISCUSS* took umbrage when I quoted from their on-line discussions through emails that had been passed onto me and which involved Dial-a-Cab. That someone from their list should dare pass information to the "outside" was apparently a "crime" to them and mention was made of my breaching Yahoo’s copyright laws, with consequences of possible legal action to follow. Sadly for the group – the same few who have been discussing how to save our trade for several years judging by the names that keep cropping up – Yahoo disagreed with them... I wouldn’t want to bore Call Sign readers with too many direct quotes anyway, however, some DISCUSS members seem to believe that being on the Internet means that they can say anything they want with impunity. Fortunately their ramblings are usually totally inconsequential other than creating a small amount of irritation. I well remember a few years back, one of their number accused me of writing an Editorial for one of this trade’s most prolific writers, Al Fresco. Al was, and still is one of this trade’s best writers and doesn’t need me to write for him, yet the accusation proved difficult to deny. What else could I say other than I didn’t write it? Al, who was also on the list at the time, confirmed that? How can you prove that you haven’t written something for someone else? This member continued to accuse me and kept saying that he had proof	HIT BY A FEATHER ON THE INTERNET!
	– something that unsurprisingly never materialised. Neither did he have the good grace to apologise, preferring to let the matter die quietly rather than back down. He now has his own column where he "rights the trade’s wrongs." Perhaps a belated apology to me might right at least one wrong! Coming up to date, DISCUSS’ John Peddubriwny wrote to his fellow list members about SPLT General Secretary John-Paul Pace and referred to an on-line argument that John-Paul and myself had several years ago – and yes it was a real humdinger! John-Paul and I were at each others throat for several weeks. It ended when John-Paul’s daughter was taken ill and suddenly our argument seemed totally irrelevant, all that mattered was that his daughter got well – which she did. I can’t even remember what it was about although no doubt someone on DISCUSS will look up their files! In his email, Mr Peddubriwny refers to the argument between John-Paul and myself as having happened to "Brian Rice via his mouthpiece, Alan Fisher?" I fight my own arguments, as does Brian Rice, but who is this John Peddubriwny who feels free to address me in that way? So I wrote to DISCUSS member and former DaC Board member Cecil Selwyn, someone I have much respect for following his early days with LCDC and his battles to regain the lost ranks that minicabs were monopolising. I asked him to publish a letter on	their list from me to John Peddubriwny. My letter to Mr Peddubriwny said: "I have no intention of involving myself in the list discussion, however, I feel somewhat miffed that you, who neither works in London, or know me, nor receives Call Sign and - if memory serves me correctly - is a minicab driver somewhere or other outside London, feels able to address me as "Brian Rice via his mouthpiece, Alan Fisher." Cecil said that he would be happy to publish my email, but only if I would tell him who sent me John Peddubriwny’s original email. Naturally I refused. It seems that the secrecy of their list is still more important than any type of natural justice! Mr Peddubriwny ended his email by stating: "No doubt in the in-house mag, Alan Fisher will shortly be portraying JP (John Pace) as the best thing since sliced bread." Well Mr Peddubriwny, I hadn’t particularly planned to do that, but I suppose if I have to compare John-Paul Pace with you, then I’d probably come down on the side of a real taxi driver! Being attacked by your little list may be the equivalent of being hit over the head by a feather - but that doesn’t make it ok… **The first UK Internet discussion list was designed and set up by Call Sign’s Vince Chin with publicity from this mag. We were also the first two contributors…*