Blog Note Update

I'm happy to say that Sean Reid of Reid Reviews and I have had an exchange of emails and have come to an understanding. He says I misunderstood him regarding the lawsuit issue. It's true that he never said "I intend to proceed with a lawsuit against TOP." What he said, specifically, was that he would consult with his attorney to see if what Howard French wrote on my site was "slander" (libel would really be the correct term) and actionable. I interpreted several such comments to be a threat of legal action against TOP. He says he never had any intention of suing TOP, which I accept.

We both regret the many misunderstandings and miscommunications that have characterized this disagreement from the start.

I still read and recommend Reid Reviews. Please note that at no time did I ever mean to impugn Sean's professional integrity, directly or indirectly.

TOP will continue to publish a variety of divergent viewpoints from a variety of guest authors and readers.

Mike

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[Disclosure, Dept.: I censored a few comments from this post. Not very many. A few critical of Sean, at least one critical of me, a few critical of the whole situation. But Free Speech today takes a back seat to No-Salt-in-Fresh-Wounds Day, y'know?—there's no Amendment for that, but I'm just tryin' to let this blow over. I read all the comments, and thanks to all who left one. —Ed.]

Comments

[Harold Glit]

This is good news indeed
I was distraught at the possibility of a fight between my two favorite camera sites on the web
Harold Glit

[João]

"TOP will continue to publish a variety of divergent viewpoints from a variety of guest authors and readers."

That's the main reason I love T.O.P

Regards

[Scott]

I have yet to meet an intelligent, passionate person who never had a public, vehement disagreement with another intelligent, passionate person. It comes with the turf, but so does getting the discussion back on track.

Glad to hear that both sides now have a common understanding.

[kirk tuck]

Bravo. Glad to see this settled without fisticuffs or barristers. Both TOP and Reid's Reviews are valuable resources for photographers. I've learned much from both.

[Yvonne]

That's great news...onward and upward.

[Roger]

OK. I can resume breathing!

[Miserere]

I'm glad that's settled. I saw no reason for anyone to get their feathers ruffled, but these things do happen.

Now let's please go back to discussing how the M9 is so expensive, the Canon 7D has too many pixels, and Mike Johnston still hasn't published his K-7 review. That is, the usual :-)

[Charles]

Glad to see this had a good ending and cooler heads prevailed.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I am glad.

I applaud Mike's level-headedness.

Good on ya' both.

[sam]

Time to start that LLC, before it's too late ;-)

[Jeff]

Good news...neither one of you guys would have had the time to deal with legal proceedings.

Seriously, though, glad to hear it. Count me as a dual fan.

[Eric Rose]

So does this mean Howard is still in hot water? I hope not.

[Stephen Gillette]

Very good news. (And good news is in short supply these days.)

[Michael C]

Awesome. Things are so contentious nowadays, you guys having a civilized conversation is refreshing. Mail the post to Congress, Middle East, and other such places who could use it as an inspiration ;-)

[Mike Johnston]

"So does this mean Howard is still in hot water? I hope not."

No. Sean gave me his assurance of that. We worked together to resolve the situation, and we're good now.

Mike

[Tony Rowlett]

Great news, Mike. Many thanks for keeping the world informed on this. *sigh of relief*

[Rich]

Great news, Mike. Thanks for sharing the update. I was emotionally distraught about this episode, as I'm sure we all were. It's good to know that level heads prevailed. Good disagreement is part of our civic discourse. I think we've had enough hurt feelings over the last few years. Let's give people some room to disagree as long as it's civil. It's what makes us a great country!

[b. kelley]

Happy to hear it, being big fans of both of your work.

When's your book coming out, by the way???

[Ken N]

"Now let's please go back to discussing how the M9 is so expensive, the Canon 7D has too many pixels, and Mike Johnston still hasn't published his K-7 review."

I think the answer is obvious: He was flown to Japan, wined and dined and given an entire K-7 kit for long-term evaluation! Now he's feeling all guilty about it.

:)

[Len Salem]

Didn't know I could hold my breath for so long...............phew.............great!

[B.J.Scharp]

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.

--Voltaire

[Ade]

Let's not "get back to discussing the M9", at least for a while! Please post some random excellence, Mike, and then we can discuss photography instead.

[Lohn]

GREAT NEWS. I was going to offer to pay for a six-pac for some beer diplomacy. Guess I'll have to drink it all myself. Glad to all is peace again.

[Maarten B.]

Hooray!! Now back to beauty of photography. Please?!

[Simon Bromley]

Was this actually a serious issue then?

I thought when you wrote of legal action that you were being sarcastic. I find it quite amusing that someone would potentially seek libel advice about a comment posted on this of all blogs.

I honestly thought it was a joke, but it seems I am naive. I obviously forgot how seriously one can take a comment if it seems defamatory, but I am truly surprised anyone would consider taking it that seriously.

Can't we just get along?

Simon Bromley.
Wales.

[Martin Doonan]

Goes to show the continued importance of language skills in the internet age. Much as good language skills are decried in an internationalised age of electronic media I think it has become even more important to have good use and understanding of language, which is increasingly meaning English.
In a world where most of our communications are written at a distance, often with complete strangers, we need to be far more careful with what we say and how.

I'm also glad this misunderstanding got sorted out amicably.

[Barry Reid]

I’m glad it hasn’t come to the courts, but I have to say the whole M9 farrago on TOP has been somewhat bewildering.

For whatever reason, the usually smart readership here has fallen into a trap that is evident in any forum on the 'net; for whatever reason, that cameras and lenses elicit a stronger emotional response in many photographers than photographs do.

Maybe the lesson in all of this is to remain focussed on photography rather than kit. So, Mike, in spite of the distractions have you had the chance to view any good books, or Random Excellence in the last couple of weeks?

[Roberto C.]

Ok, time for me to subscribe to RaidReviews, after all this mess, and its solution, is hard to resist :-)

[Ludovic]

Well, as all have said: great news.

[Corbett]

Outstanding. I'd like to "second" the comments from Scott and Michael C, if I might.

[Benjamin Marks]

Hey - never like it when favored bloggers are at loggerheads. Glad there is peace in the photo-kingdom.

Ben

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1650313993]

I'm very happy because I thought I might have to throw some money your way Mike to pay for a lawyer. ernie

[TomP]

Whew, this was a concern to me - glad to hear that this was cleared up. I really enjoy TOP and appreciate the divergent views expressed here.

[Calvin Amari]

I think it is worth circling back to the comment of Howard French and underscore its unquestionable merit. That comment plainly was not actionable in the first instance, as any reasonable person might well presume given the care and thoughtfulness of the post and the author's esteemed press background. Any suggestion that the host of an open forum might be legally liable for posting the comment (which may well not be the case even if the initial comment was problematic) would heighten the absurdity even further. Civil dialog is one thing, but if all participants had to treat everyone else as if they were Fabergé eggs, there would be no dialog at all. To all concerned I would suggest that, if you can't stand the bitchin', get out of the heat.

[Neil "The Wheel' Clarkson]

Ok; Now go out and buy a bike and forget all this camera BS. Shave you legs and learn how to speak french. Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink...say no more.

[Mike O'Donoghue]

When did French mention Reid by name? What was the problem? I seem to have missed it.

By the way - for you as potential cyclist go here: http://cgi.ebay.at/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130316359292&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

You won't fall off this baby and it looks like you can make them an offer. It's been around for quite some time.

[Tom Duffy]

"Now let's please go back to discussing how the M9 is so expensive, the Canon 7D has too many pixels, and Mike Johnston still hasn't published his K-7 review."
:)

The M9 is so expensive because it's made by elves in the Black Forest.
The 7D has too many pixels because Canon could.
Pentax didn't pay Mike enough for a favorable review. :)

[sevres-babylone]

I agree with Barry Reid's suggestion "to remain focussed on photography rather than kit" Unfortunately, I'm addicted and still need my kit fix from time to time, and, in that regard, especially like the reviews and reports here and on Sean Reid's site. I'm glad the misunderstandings are in the past

[Marc Rochkind]

Mike--

I think we still need some clarification from Sean Reid. When you say "Sean gave me his assurance of that" I read "that" to refer to consulting an attorney about Howard French's comment here, and nothing broader. It appears to still be true that Sean Reid will monitor what is said about him here (and maybe elsewhere) and then decide whether to look into legal action. With this threat in the air, I think it's best that you never mention Sean Reid on TOP, lest anything we say be judged by him to be libelous.

--Marc

[Barb]

Thank goodness. Its always painful to interact with lawyers.

[Mike Johnston]

Marc,
I can't speak for Sean. He'll have to clarify his position(s) on his own site if he wants to do so; if you want to know, I'll have to respectfully ask you to ask him.

Mike

[robert e]

Congratulations to all parties for working together toward understanding and resolution.

I hope the episode does not make you gun-shy, either, Mike. This is, after all, a blog, a personal soapbox. The original post was a good one, featuring timely and useful information and commentary.

While the ensuing miscommunications and hurt feelings were unfortunate, things seem to have turned out OK. And let me point out that the incident led to an informative and important discussion, which is also to your credit as editor and moderator. A less conscientious, honest or articulate blogger/editor may not have made such an effort, or then managed to pull it off.

[ggl]

I wonder why Leica turns out to be such an emotionaly challenging subject all the time.

[yunfat]

I just have one thing to say: Messing with TOP is not on my list of things to do. TOP's ability to motivate legions of touch deprived gearheads with enough time to discuss camera gear online is scary stuff.

The nerd army that inhabits this site would give Beta house more to think about than anything Gilbert and Pointdexter could ever assemble.

[Mike Johnston]

"Not sure its a good idea to correct someone's use of language who has already mentioned consulting their attorney!!"

Dan,
Actually, Sean and I worked on that statement together, so he saw and approved it before it was posted. We're good.

Mike