Brian,
I think the deafening silence speaks a thousand words here, don't you? Goodness knows he knows what is going on here and that it continues to muddy the waters and leave a certain number of folks feeling less than secure around here. But instead there is simply a void here with all of us reading and trying to understand the lastest version of any copy of the EULA to come about. We as the folks who were given the actual nuclear option are not the ones who will be sending such emails.
And thanks for taking the lead here and trying to put this all back together and on the proper threads where it belongs. But I will say this, that this one single topic permeates and trumps almost all others. Without a strong inherent confidence in the fact that the program will always be there for one to use and at least access our charts, our data, our intellectual propery, any and all other issues collapse and fall by the way side.
I gather also that the terms and conditions in the termination section need to be addressed and this has been borught up here before as well. Does terminated mean no longer on the board and longer having tech support and updates, or does it mean that one must give up all their copies of AC? This was what was told to us back during the nuclear holocast; 30 days to remove all copies of AC itself. Now that is pretty harsh CCHIT my friend.
As though one could actually make an informed choice and transfer all their data on suprise 30 day notice.... I think everyone ought to sit and think about that idea for a moment, envision the the confusion, the late night meetings, the attempt to research the possible choice, reach an actual plan of attach and hopefully pull it all off in 30 days... Very concerning indeed.
I can still remember how my stomach felt, how my head was truely spinning as the words first hit my ears. As said by "C" in "A Bronx Tale", "it was as though someone had flushed the toilet and I was spinning down out of control, my life going down that toilet" (I know this is not a direct quote, I can't remember the exact line now, but it sure expresses how Nancy and I felt that day). Such things get forever burned into ones conscience and memories, although like most memory research has proven, it probably does evolve and change with time and new experiences.
We are not a bit sorry or remorseful in the fact that we finally came out and said what we said or brought this topic up for public knowledge and debate. This was a choice made by both me and Nancy to speak up as doing so would have potentially long and hard impacts on this practice and our patients. And at first we just hide and licked out wounds out of sight fearful that such a thing could be brought down upon us again. But we felt first we needed to try and correct this for our own protection and just as importantly, how eithically wrong it would be not to tell our tale and let the greater AC community know what had happened and what could possibly happen to any one of you. Only with all of your public support can we survive here then and now.
At first some people (even some who are now our good friends here on the board) just didn't want to believe that such things were in the EULA or even worse that such a thing could have actually happened right here in our little AC'ville, Ben & Jerry's, Waterbury VT, like community; and so we took some serious "hits" here. But with the support and understanding of a few good, dear close friends we survived and now all of you are more informed and better off for it I hope you would agree. Better to know and go in with your eyes open than with your eyes closed, yes?
As much as some people don't like controversy, run from it, try to be the peace makers or blow it off as pie in the sky so as to make themselves feel better and to allow themselves to sleep better at night (goodness knows what some peoples motivation are), shooting the messenger only serves to avoid the real issue at hand. I never wanted to be that person, but this is the hand that I was delt here and so here we are today, all of us... AC, Paul and Nancy, and the rest of all of you. I'm not sorry if we made some of you uncomfortable, that is your own issue to deal with not mine, not Nancy's, we did what we felt was the only ethical thing to do, to inform other users and healthcare providers about the reality of the situation. And so there you have it... Thanks for listening.
Good Night and Good Luck,
Paul and Nancy
PS: Did any of you know that there are clauses in the EULA that say basically if you bring up an idea or suggestion here on the board to improve on AC or suggest a new feature, that it becomes the intellectual property of AC.com and the greater company. Imagine someone like Bert who has a great programer of his own and is very generous with his suggestions, having a claim of intellectual property filed against him because something similar to his suggestion here on the board and therefore now the property of AC, is a feature in a program that he and his programmer developed and are attempting to market.
Contracts and legal terms can be very complicated and upsetting, but it sure doesn't mean that we shouldn't do our due dilligence to understand to the best of our ablity what we are all getting into or to attempt having more favorable terms and conditions included or revised in any given contract that we enter into.... And to have to accept a new contract with much less favorable terms in it just so one can access the support and updates that one has properly paid for is equally upsetting to many of us here. I entered here under these terms and conditions, I shouldn't be strong armed into accepting new less favorable ones, just to gain access to what I have paid for and may even be required to pay for just to continue to even use or lease the program. Now how crazy is that????
