Reply #21: "Coordinating" can mean nothing or a whole lot

[BevHarris]

What I do know: They are not coordinating or helping with their clearinghouse for the California suit or the Washington suit and so far, nothing substantial on the Ohio suit. I would doubt that they are coordinating on the Wexler suit.

Again, we are running out of time. Coordinating sounds good, but the lawsuits I mentioned above are on their own and not recieving "coordination" and "clearinghouse" help, and no others have been filed that I'm aware of.

So what, exactly, is the $250,000 buying donors? (You asked me to ask my members to donate, remember.) What specifically is meant, in real, measurable, visible terms, by "coordinating" and "acting as a clearinghouse?" How do I benefit from that, as a plaintiff in a California lawsuit that we've spent our organization's money for? How does Andy Stephenson take advantage of this coordination and clearinghouse info?

The term "clearinghouse" can mean as little as collecting news articles about other people's lawsuits, or it can mean as much as collecting together all the discovery materials from all the lawsuits and sharing it (a very valuable resource). However, no such discovery material has been forthcoming for either the California or the Washington lawsuit, and not, as far as I know, for Ohio either.

"Coordinating" can mean as little as giving people names of attorneys to call, or as much as setting up regular meetings or teleconferencing for those involved in litigation. Again, I have seen no evidence of the latter.

I would absolutely love to see this work. I'd rather see EFF do it than Black Box Voting. But I'm not seeing tangible results, yet. Real action, meaningful action, should be visible to those of us who have actually brought lawsuits.

And many people, like LoudSue, were given the impression by EFF literature that it is bringing lawsuits. Apparently, then, it is not bringing lawsuits? Fill me in on exactly what is being done to "coordinate" and "act as a clearinghouse."

Of course, there may be lawsuits under seal that EFF is coordinating and acting as a clearinghouse for. But that would be a horse of a whole different color, and it would be extremely inappropriate to raise funds from donors for private Qui Tam suits hoping for a bounty payment. If I was an organization coordinating Qui Tam suits, I'd find it very helpful to "coordinate and act as a clearinghouse" for other lawsuits paid for and organized by other groups. Lots of inside information could be obtained that way.

Look, I want it to succeed. But don't take credit for other people's work, money, fund raising efforts. Show what that coordinating and clearinghouse $250k is doing.

Bev