Reply to "Provamo.com Pantera Registry"

I think that John (JT) (and Rocky) have made some very good points. Chuck has put an enormous effort into creating a resource that is freely available to access for the low (zero, really) cost of making a contribution to it. That seems extremely fair to me. I can't count the number of times I have checked his registry for details about a specific car, or to educate myself about details and differences. It is a valuable De Tomaso community resource, the cost of which — in both time and money — is covered 98% by Chuck and 2% but the rest of us who are contributing willingly.

I have been a member and/or director of many associations and running them is largely a thankless job where a handful of people take on a huge amount of work and get slagged about their efforts much of the time by some ungrateful members. George Pence hosts this forum for all of our benefit — and at no cost to any of us (and THANKS AGAIN George!). POCA has a small group of incredibly dedicated people (Jack & Judy DeRyke, Judy McCartney, Mike Drew and many others) who produce a newsletter, magazine and an annual event for the benefit of many (including me) who pay a small fee that barely covers real costs.

I understand Jake's concern about publicly posted information from these forums being included on another site without permission and I hope that can be resolved without it becoming a huge issue. Another excellent registry resource was closed down by the host for exactly these reasons (and the continued hassles of operating it and trying to keep it current when people do not volunteer details and photos). If you don't want something to be public then it should never be put on the web in the first place. Chuck is making no financial profit from it, and to me that is a key factor to remember.

Ultimately I believe that the De Tomaso community (and thus most of us) is better served when these resources exist. Future buyers can find out more about the history of a particular car (for better or worse) and protect themselves. Current owners can document the history of their car which can be a huge benefit if they ever need to sell it.

Mark