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[lineman]

Hello all, Byron Dunn here.

As you may know I almost never post anything on the Forums because I think it is important that I stay out of the fray as much as possible but something has happened that I feel you all should know about.

I am posting this in the Safety Meeting forum because all of the accidens are discussed here.

This forum is viewed by anyone that wants to see it. As you may imagine any attorneys that are working on cases involving linemen will be using this web site for research and will be looking here for any information they can find.

The only information I have on any of you is your email address and your IP address is automatically saved.... The only reason I need the email address is so that I can ban a user that is abusing the Forums (Porn and people using it for free advertising.)

A subpoena has been issued to powerlineman.com to provide email addressess of some (three individuals)of the posters and I may be required to disclose these addressess by order of the court.

I don't like this and I sure don't want to do it but if the court backs it up I will have to give the addressess.

I just wanted you all to know the situation I am currently in.

Thank you.

[BigClive]

Hmm, that's not good. I guess it's a predictable occurrence given the way the American legal system works though. The forum perhaps needs a strong disclaimer saying that no personal details will be given out at all.

I wonder if this is linked to the recent threads regarding Pikes high level of fatalities.

Sorry you're being exposed to this legal manipulation Byron. It may just be legal bullying to try and shut some members up.

[topgroove]

Its probebly no suprise, but I'm one of the three. Byron... would you mind asking him to PM me. I've checked my emails and nothing yet.

http://www.powerlineman.com/lforum/s...+working+Nstar

this is the thread that all the fuss is about

[thrasher]

Thanks for providing the forum and doing your best to watch our backs. We understand when the Courts get involved it can get messy.

[lineman]

I sure hope that this doesn't put a damper on the posting here. I think that the Safety Meeting portion of the web site is one of the most important things on the whole site and I would hate to see it hindered. Though it is possible that a court order could happen it is not something that is taken lightly. We do have first amendment rights that have to be protected. My Attorney sent this article to me to help understand what is going on:

Site operator successfully challenges subpoena which sought to unmask anonymous commenters

December 16, 2008 | by Evan Brown | Share on Facebook

Enterline v. Pocono Medical Center, 2008 WL 5192386 (M.D. Pa. December 11, 2008)
A federal court in Pennsylvania has denied a motion demanding that a website operator turn over the identity of persons who commented anonymously in response to an article posted on the website. The court held that the website had standing to assert the free speech rights of the anonymous speakers, and that the First Amendment barred the unmasking where the information sought was available from other sources.
Plaintiff Enterline sued defendant Pocono Medical Center for sexual harassment and retaliation. On October 9, 2008, the local newspaper, The Pocono Record, published an article about the lawsuit. Several people left comments to the article, some of them claiming personal knowledge of facts possibly relevant to the case.
Enterline sent a subpoena to the newspaper seeking the identity of the anonymous commenters. When the newspaper wouldn’t respond, Enterline filed a motion to compel response to the subpoena. The newspaper responded by asserting a number of arguments. Among those arguments was that disclosure of the anonymous commenters’ identities would violate those persons’ First Amendment right to speak anonymously.
Siding with the newspaper, the court denied the motion.
The court first evaluated whether the newspaper website operator even had standing (i.e., the legal right) to assert the anonymous commenters’ First Amendment right. To answer this question in the affirmative, the court found that:

• Practical obstacles prevented the anonymous commenters from asserting rights on their own behalf. The anonymity was the very right at stake. To defend that right, the commenters would have to be identified (setting aside for a moment the question of whether the commenters could appear as Doe defendants). The evaporation of that anonymity would lead to practical difficulties, as they had indicated they worked at the hospital or otherwise had personal connections with the litigants.
• The anonymous commenters had sufficient injury-in-fact to satisfy the constitutional “case or controversy” requirement. Looking to such cases as RIAA v. Verizon, 257 F.Supp.2d 244 (D.D.C. 2003), the court agreed with the website operator, concluding that the relationship between the website and its readers was the type of relationship allowing it to assert the First Amendment rights of the anonymous commentators.
• The website operator could reasonably be expected to properly frame the issues and present them with the necessary adversarial zeal. There was little discussion on this point, as the plaintiff did not contest that the website operator would be an adequate advocate to assert the First Amendment rights of the anonymous visitors.

Finding that the website operator had standing to assert the rights of its anonymous commenters, the court next considered whether the identification of the anonymous speakers would violate the First Amendment. To evaluate this question, the court applied the factors set out in Doe v. 2TheMart.com, 140 F.Supp.2d 1088 (W.D. Wash. 2001).
The court found that:

• The subpoena was not brought in bad faith or for an improper purpose,
• The information sought related to a core claim of the plaintiff,
• The information was directly and materially relevant to the claim,

but that

• Information required to prove the plaintiff’s claims was available from other sources. Several of the anonymous commenters stated that they were, for example, co-workers of the plaintiff or of the doctor against whom the plaintiff complained. The information these anonymous posters had could be uncovered through other discovery

This case is significant inasmuch as it could be applied to a case where a blogger or any other social media website operator is asked to turn over information that would identify its anonymous users. The decision outlines the framework that a blogger would have to use to show it has the right to argue on behalf of its anonymous visitors. The case then lays out (with the help of the 2TheMart.com decision) what must be shown after that initial threshold is crossed.

[topgroove]

I don't understand why the lawyer dosen't simply PM me? he still hasn't even emailed yet. if you have his phone number could pm me byron? seams like this guy is blowing everything out of porportion and causing grief and unnecessary expence for powerlineman.com

[MI-Lineman]

I don't understand why the lawyer dosen't simply PM me? he still hasn't even emailed yet. if you have his phone number could pm me byron? seams like this guy is blowing everything out of porportion and causing grief and unnecessary expence for powerlineman.com

Probably just another attempt for "Corporate America" to shut down the peoples voice?

[Fiberglass Cowboy]

Happened to my good friend and "battle buddy" in the U.S. ARMY RESERVES. We are both Linemen in the Army Reserves. M.O.S. 21 Quebec's - Powerline Distribution Specialists. 249th Engineering Battalion (PRIME POWER), Delta Company; 3rd Platoon. He is a good lineman and a good soldier, but more importantly a good friend. I was just with him recently, during pre-deployment training for an up and coming deployment to IRAQ (again). He had to leave a few days early to fly up to Boston to testify. His story is much different than the story his old company (the contractors) concocted. I won't go into too much detail except that a porcelain cutout failed, NOT hot jumpers phase to phase removed by hand, or whatever the B.S. story at the time was. They asked for traffic control and were denied by the G.F., and also asked for a one-shot (non reclose) and were also denied by G.F. stating that the line was too important and crucial to company to put in non reclose, and if they didn't like it they could pack their tools and hit the road. Basically they were threatened with their jobs because some G.F. weasel was too scared or too lazy to ask his supervisor to contact the company and get the line put on one-shot(non reclose). This is what my buddy told me, and I believe him. He is the actual one that was flash burnt. The utility they were performing work for probably bought up a bunch of porcelain cutouts at a cheap rate since no one wants those f*cking things anymore; as they are known for breaking down. I can't begin to remember all the ones I have found broke down already. This whole thing is a bad deal. The contractor he worked for did their own "investigation" and found out what they wanted to find out, and swept the rest, "under the carpet." Needless to say, this lineman no longer works for them. He is now a Troubleman at a MAJOR utility (IOU) on the New England coast. He is now an IBEW utility lineman (t-man), and DAMNED proud to be one. Most of you probably know the company I'm speaking of. I am a journeyman lineman for a major utility (IOU) in the Midwest. Hopefully this will clear a few things up. I guess everyone is sueing everyone over it, and they are trying to find blame. Although I can't believe people from Powerlineman.com are actually being subpoenaed by the federal court in Boston........ What in the hell is the world comin' to anymore ??? Anyways, I specifically didn't use company names or personal names in an effort to not be subpoenaed my damn self. REMEMBER; THERE ARE ALWAYS AT LEAST 2 SIDES TO EVERY STORY....... TAKE THAT FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH ...........

[polehiker1028]

Why dont the attorneys understand the catchphrase of this website? Ive only been a member for a few weeks, but i seen the things that are talked about on the site and was automaticly hooked. Every rule book is writen in someones blood! if the lineman being killed would follow the safety book, they wouldnt have near the issues. I joined this site to share my experiances with others and to hear the ones other linemen have to share that may oneday save my life or even better, a life of a close friend. We dont get on here to mash, were here to be our brothers keeepers!!

[BigClive]

Why dont the attorneys understand the catchphrase of this website?

Because the legal industry is a profit making system that has gone way out of control. If there wasn't such a business in protecting criminals, then there wouldn't be anywhere near as much crime.

As someone else put it..... The people who are destroying the country are the ones who couldn't have built it in the first place.