Posted by Bill Walden on October 27, 2000 at 03:36:35:
In Reply to: You and Adam are right posted by Doug May on October 26, 2000 at 16:49:59:
: Bill
: You and Adam are both 100% correct. Now that I think about it, it was kind of stupid of me to even think it would be "neat" to actually have a rivet from the Titanic in someone's possession.
: I guess I kind of got carried away with the thought of how easy it might have been to remove the rivet if it really was loose. The legal consequences could be frighteningly vicious.
: I was commenting halfheartedly and I'm glad I didn't find the rivet and try to remove it. Who knows, security could swoop down and take someone to jail for doing something like that. As you said, it is not to be taken lightly.
: But, museums should make it their business to make sure that exhibits are secured. If something is loose or could be removed, they should make sure that is it secured. You never know what could happen. The exhibit had that book that was stolen for a period of time. I hope they learned their lesson from that.
Doug,
I didn't mean my comments to be personal to you. I just meant to point out the things that you immediately recognized and acknowledged in your words above. It would, indeed if it were possible, be *neat* or *cool* to have our own personal piece of the Titanic. And you are totally on target, the museum should have adequate security and means to prevent things from being vandalized or stolen. This very thing was what disturbed me about the original posting - it implied that such measures were lax or non-existent. As for RMSTI, as most folks know, I can't stand them so my post was in no way meant to be seen as taking a position in support of them. Just recognizing the way things are AND what the legal aspects are! Don't feel bad about what you said.