Kenneth L Bryant v NCPRN, et al

On June 4th, 2015, Ken Bryant (K1DMR) sued the 42 repeater owners that had repeaters on the PRN System at that time.  Ken Bryant filed this lawsuit after he was asked not to use the linked System because he was observed contacting radio operators over the air in order to sell radios for his business, North Georgia Communications.  Ken Bryant does not own, nor has he ever owned, a repeater on this System.  At all times he contacted other radio operators he was using someone else’s repeater to access the System.  While it does not matter to the case, he also has never donated anything to help the PRN System grow, such as equipment, labor or access to repeater sites.  After reading the complaint you will see that, even though Ken Bryant says that when he makes a sale he sells at cost or below cost, he believes he has suffered loss of income and is seeking a minimum of $10,000 from each defendant.  Ken Bryant also believes that the FCC does not have jurisdiction over the Amateur Radio service, and this is why this case is being fought in NC Superior Court and not Federal Court.  So far, the NC Superior Court has agreed with this opinion, and has allowed the lawsuit to continue.

Whether Ken Bryant (K1DMR) used the System to sell radios or not is irrelevant at this point.  The PRN System is made up of individual, privately owned repeater, hence the name PRN (Private Repeater Network).

Going forward, this lawsuit will decide whether you retain your personal property rights after you let someone else use that property, even if it is just once.  Ken Bryant believes that you must give someone Due Process in a court of law before you can stop them from using your personal property.  This lawsuit is an affront to everything we know and believe as Americans, and is in conflict with the rules of the Amateur Radio service (Part 97.205e).  It is incredibly important to understand that this court case does not just affect the PRN System.  This court case affects every repeater owner in the United States, regardless of if it is analog or digital, club owned or privately owned, and will also affect any lending of personal property since it will create a precedent that can be used for any type of property, not just radios/repeaters.

We have already asked the ARRL for help, and they have said that they are not interested in helping.  As a matter of fact, one of the defendants is the ARRL Roanoke Division Director.

You will notice that no where on this web site are any requests for donations, as up until this point this network was built out of the generosity of the independent repeater owners.  There has never been a cost for anyone to access or use this System.  All that was asked was for the radio operators using the System to follow the rules of Amateur Radio.  This lawsuit, unfortunately, has to change this.

The repeater owners can not fight this alone, nor should they have to.  If we lose this lawsuit, this network will have to shut down.  Please consider sending any amount you can afford.  All money received will be used to fight this lawsuit.  Any extra money (if any) will be returned.  If we win and if we can recover attorney’s fees, all money will be returned.  Any anonymous donations will be spent first, as there will not be any way to return these funds.  In order to avoid additional attorney fees to cover the collection of donations, all donations should be sent to Scott Whitaker (KF4DBW), at the address in the picture below.  As the web site owner and admin, he is serving as the point of contact for all questions related to this lawsuit.

You may download the entire Complaint by clicking on the bold text ‘Kenneth L Bryant v NCPRN, et al” at the top of this post, or by clicking anywhere on this sentence.

PLEASE, DO NOT discuss this on the air at any time.  Simply direct people to the PRN forum or to this post if they have questions or want updates.
PLEASE, DO let every one know via word of mouth to look at this page and have them read the Complaint.
PLEASE, DO donate to help fight this ridiculous lawsuit.

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This page will be updated as new developments in the case happen.  We will also have a post in the General Forum on this web site with the same information that will allow people to ask questions and discuss this lawsuit.