Detectorist Supports Preventing Stakeholders Seeing what Collectors Take Behind a Paywall

'Partnership' buggered; Public screwed
 out of information about their
lost heritage

John Winter replies to my comment underneath the Gary Brun announcement on the pay-to-view-the-heritage-taken-from-you UK Detectorists Pocketed Finds Database:

John 20 January 2018 at 12:43 pm Yes. I wholeheartedly support this initiative and fail to see how it is a ‘shot in the foot’ The database is an alterative (sic) to the PAS and all credit too (sic) Gary Brun who has created one that is superior in many respects to what is currently available. Many detectorists use both means of recording. The records are not ‘hidden’. I hope Gary sees this and responds accordingly. You use emotive language to suit your own ends … how you can interpret this as a ‘scam’ is beyond me. But, par for the course and your negative comments were expected.

Records that are not publicly available are not a public record, are they? Heritage-pocketing artefact hunters are enriching their private collections at the expense of the heritage that belongs to all, and cannot claim that a private pay-to-view database showing some of what they have taken is any form of making that information available to anyone. It's just a commercial scheme, and yes the pretence that this is in any way "responsible" artefact hunting is a scam, A scam John. I would hope the PAS will creep outside their comfy comfort zone to comment on that aspect of it.

 So, can you (or Gary Brun) give us the statistics on the number of the 47000 objects that are now hidden from view are objects more than 300 years old and actually recorded on both the UKDFD and the PAS Database?

It is not difficult to be superior to the old UKDFD which was always rather clunky and dysfunctional. And yes, I do look at a pirate database created in order to (a) be a thorn in the side of the PAS, (b) scatter the data on pocketed material, and (c) provide a divisive 'alternative' ('by metal detectorists nur fur metal detectorists') with a critical eye. I also remember even if you have forgotten the manner in which UKDFD set out to sabotage the PAS forum by a trolling campaign - including posting doctored porn pictures on it (which they managed to succeed in - the forum was closed because their misbehaviour was costly to police and creating a bad impression in a public space of the detecting community).