Local Group Literature
May 4, 2000
Thank you for clarifying your position regarding Neo-Tech Properties as they relate to Local Group literature. I’ve requested these guidelines from you since the mid-1990s.
On January 4, 1996, I sent you a copy of my book Genuine Power along with a letter asking you to review this book to see if it infringes Neo-Tech Publishing’s intellectual property. Below is quoted section of that letter:
"You will find one copy of the Genuine Power document enclosed with this letter. It contains concepts from the Neo-Tech literature. The purpose for sending you this document is to receive your approval to use the Neo-Tech concepts in Genuine Power… As the author of Genuine Power, I made a conscious effort to integrate the Neo-Tech concepts honestly throughout this document. I also made a conscious effort to give explicit credit to the source of these concepts - Frank R. Wallace - in the acknowledgement, footnote, and reference sections… Please read this document carefully. Then decide if Genuine Power does or does not infringe on the intellectual property of Neo-Tech Publishing Company…"
The above letter was sent to you on January 4, 1996. On February 29, 1996, Drew Ellis replied with the following letter:
"Thank you for sending a copy of your ‘Genuine Power’ manuscript. We are unable to use the material. However, we have a Neo-Tech associate in Florida who has self-published and marketed a Neo-Tech related book. Would you like us to send your manuscript to him…"
What I wanted were your guidelines explaining Neo-Tech Publishing’s intellectual property as it related to my writing.
Without any guidelines from you or your company, I did the best I could to properly credit the work of Frank R. Wallace (FRW) and Neo-Tech Publishing (NTP). According to your legal notice sent on April 29, 2000, that was not enough. So I reviewed the Local Group web site keeping in mind your new guidelines about avoiding copyright infringements.
Upon receiving your guidelines, I made appropriate changes to the Local Group web site. Where I used the Constitution of the Universe, I put a reference to FRW. Also, where I listed word definitions, I gave a reference to FRW. And in those segments of my work that closely parallel NTP’s properties, I gave a reference to NTP. Additionally, all those new NTP references have a link to the specific Neo-Tech web pages. Those links offer readers powerfully effective comparisons and contextual understandings. The result is that the Local Group web site is fully anchored in its Neo-Tech roots, which will drive readers deep into the Neo-Tech web site. Plus, www.localgroup.net now has 53 matches in 26 files for the name "Frank R. Wallace". No one who carefully peruses the Local Group web site can honestly say David L. Hunter takes credit for the works of FRW or NTP.
Please understand that I genuinely sought NTP’s guidance since 1996 regarding its intellectual properties as they relate to Local Group literature. I am always open to correcting my errors; that is a basic tenet of my philosophy. But the only feedback I’ve received until recently from NTP is that I’m "very intellectually dishonest" and a "massively dishonest value destroyer." I guess what goes around comes around; I harshly criticize people from Pythagoras to Clinton. So why should I be surprised to hear that I’m an "atrocious thief"?
If you or other principals at NTP consider the changes I made to the Local Group web site as insufficient or want to request other changes, please send your comments to support@localgroup.net. All fair-and-honest comments will be honored.
But Neo-Tech principals and customers should know that Local Group authors have rights too. Local Group writers have the right to design a web site, publish content, and execute a business strategy without being coerced or forced to alter its ways. If anyone can surf into the Local Group web site, hastily review some web pages, and threaten to use government force because they deem something to be illegal, then Local Group writers can lose their rights. Those authors can lose their right to free expression, and, equally important, the whole concept of "web space" can be destroyed by a few who are bold enough to wield coercive threats.
David L. Hunter
The Local Group
hunter@localgroup.net
PS. A few hours after receiving your legal notice, the Local Group home page rotated to the next day’s page. On it appeared a visitor remark from Canada:
"I love the Local Group website and have read David L. Hunter's Mind of a Winner and am currently halfway through Perfect Mind, Perfect Body. I also love the different artwork that outlines the borders of the Local Group website and home page. Life becomes an intensified journey of discovery particularly when one peruses your website. Mr. Hunter's writing style is utterly descriptive and totally different from any other writer I've ever read including Frank R. Wallace and Mark Hamilton of Neo-Tech Publishing Co. Thank you for the Local Group's informative and surprisingly exciting website!" (R.A. vcn.bc.ca)