Hi

Please do take a moment to read this email, it does concern everyone
regardless of their interest in trees.

I'm Eric Frei and created www.treeworld.info from nothing back in January
2007, today it has over 2200 members and is a well respected informative
site for people.... FREE

Recently a long case involving trees at a school caused changes State wide
to how Q-Build (public works dept) manages trees and QAA (QLD Arboricultural
Association) to address their rules for members advertising. I suggest you
read the entire thread and how all the facts come together. Make sure you
read all the pages.

http://www.treeworld.info/f9/chatswood- ... -1795.html

In the midst of this a contractor has threatened to sue over the pictures
taken at one job.

No doubt had the pictures and the entire case not been so well documented
little would have changed.

What this means is I'm writing rallying support for a Legal Fighting Fund
should the case proceed.

This will be a landmark case for a forum owner to be sued, the most recent
case was when another Queensland Company called 2clix tried to sue Whirlpool
forums but dropped their case. What this potentially means is the flat out
suppression of facts, and the free flow of information and opinion. Also the
contractor was hired by Q-Build and possibly deemed their employee, does
that mean next time you complain about the way government spends your taxes
you'll be sued?

The industry is not regulated, from people like myself with 2 diploma's to
others fresh off a boat with a Poulan Wild Thing chainsaw from Bunnings
they're all out there. Industry organisations, OHS etc have had little
impact however TreeWorld has created a major breakthrough in raising
standards and expectations of contractors plus showing the flaws in the
systems.

The Legal Fighting Fund is here.

http://www.treeworld.info/f6/legal-figh ... -5044.html

Please consider the implications of this case, what it means across
Australia and the globe for that matter if you are no longer permitted to
show the truth. It will be globally watched and set a precedent (if it goes
ahead).

In good faith I encourage you to show an interest and register your support,
for free speech and doing the right thing by commenting in the fight fund
thread.

Prior to this specific case I had already reported many to Q-Build, to be
told "it's none of my business". Those are on the forum and fully
illustrated. It took this kind of exposure and documentation in public view
to bring about change in the arboriculture business, and now they want it swept under the carpet.

Again, do visit and mention your support, this has the potential if it goes
ahead to affect every site on the Internet, from You-Tube to your recreational blog's
comments.... don't stand by a do nothing, let the world see what people want
by simply posting a comment.

Should the case progress then assistance financially for legals will be
required, that is all in the thread.
http://www.treeworld.info/f6/legal-figh ... -5044.html


Sincerely
Eric Frei
www.treeworld.info

Note from Oldtimer. I have been following this case for a while and I agree that all of us in the Web forums could be impacted. Please take your time become familiar with the case and help support the cause if are able to do so. Even Moral Support will be appreciated.

Thanks for letting us know about this, Oldtimer. I went to the website and looked at the photos that Eric posted. Somehow, I don't think the contractor who's suing Tree World would have gotten away with that kind of work here in the states. I don't understand the Australian legal system, but I find it hard to believe that the courts over there even allowed such a lawsuit to be filed.

Well the law suit apparently has not been "filed" officially. What is so weir is the that because the "contractor" was working for the School District (Q-build) they consider it a "Government Employee" so the one claiming to suit would be the "Government" for Tree World exposing their malpractice and the contractor poor quality work according to their own rules. (Not likely to happen.)

In the other court case about the tree branch killing the school kid in the private school for lack of maintenance of the trees in the school grounds trees. The parents may be suing the Catholic School for negligence for not expending the money in proper tree maintenance.

I think Eric is a little bit confrontational but apparently he gets the message across that he is p-off about bad operators doing lousy work trimming (topping/looping) the trees and getting away with it for lack of enforcement by the local County(Gov) Officials.

The State Rule makers apparently have proposed a new set of rules that are going thru review but as usual some of the bad operators are opposed to them because it can put out of business (so typical !)