Remember this was all about the CIVL President being upset with me for reporting (publicizing?) that
there was an upcoming meet called the "Flytec World Championship." Why
does Flip use the term publicize? Because he would sound silly if he was
berating me for merely reporting something, so he has to make it sound like I'm
part of a publicity team pushing this competition.


He
states that because I hold the position of "unofficial" liaison to CIVL it is
"inappropriate" for me to report the name of another meet with
which I have no connection.


Further he states that, in my role as "World Championship director" I might be
"exposing myself to a possible conflict of interest," as defined by the FAI Code
of Ethics.


Do I have a "Conflict of Interest?"


I have a public interest, as 2007 Big Spring World Championships director, in making sure
that pilots are aware that the 2007 Flexwing Worlds in Big Spring, Texas
starting on August 7th is the "official" FAI/CIVL sanctioned World
Championships. (Got that, guys?)


As publisher of the Oz Report I have an public interest in getting out the truth
and reporting on upcoming competitions. There may be in conflict here between
these two public interests, but is there a "Conflict of Interest?"


In my role as a competition hang glider pilot I have a private and public interest in seeing as many high
quality competitions as possible and I definitely have an interest in attending
the "Flytec World Championship," as well as many other competitions.
(Boy, am I looking forward to the CIVL-sanctioned meets in January in
Australia.)


As a friend of the organizers of both Worlds, I have an interest seeing both of them
succeed spectacularly. As a member of the hang gliding community I have a
profound interest in seeing spectacular successes in all areas of hang gliding.


As a citizen I have an interest in seeing that all the relevant facts are
publicly available so that I can make informed decisions.


As I understand it (1992 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary) a
"Conflict of Interest" refers to having a private (say
monetary) interest that is in conflict with my public obligations in my official
position. For example,
if I owned a piece of property west of Chicago and as Speaker of the US House of
Representatives I pushed legislation that increased the value of my property.
Perhaps this is just a "Conflict of Interest" that is easy to see.


Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_interest)
defines "Conflict of Interest" thusly:

More generally, conflict of interest can be defined as any
situation in which an individual or corporation (either private or governmental)
is in a position to exploit a professional or official capacity in some way for
their personal or corporate benefit.


Having a conflict of interest is not, in and of itself, evidence of wrongdoing.
In fact, for many professionals, it is virtually impossible to avoid having
conflicts of interest from time to time. A conflict of interest can, however,
become a legal matter if an individual tries (and/or succeeds in) influencing
the outcome of a decision, for personal benefit. A director or executive of a
corporation will be subject to legal liability if a conflict of interest
breaches their Duty of Loyalty.

Assuming for a moment that I have a general "Conflict of Interest" (although
apparently not a specific one as defined by the FAI Code of Ethics - http://www.fai.org/documents/otherdocs/code_ethics)
what problem does this cause and what should be done about it?


Is the appropriate remedy to "refrain from controversial journalism," as Flip
counsels or is there a need for a remedy? I mean, what is the damage? What is
my private gain? Where is the public harm? Would Flip's remedy create more
public harm than my supposed offense?


I have an ethical duty (to my readers) as publisher of the Oz Report to publish
the facts fairly. I have an ethical duty (to the competition pilots, David
Glover, the Worlds organizer, USHPA, NAA, and CIVL, in that order) as 2007 World
Meet director and "unofficial" liaison CIVL for David Glover to assist in
putting on a fair and successful Worlds.


To "refrain from controversial journalism" would violate my first duty. To
abandon my position as Worlds meet director and "unofficial" liaison to CIVL
would violate my second duty. I especially owe this duty to David Glover who has
requested my help dealing with CIVL personnel. I, and many other competition
pilots, owe David a great deal of gratitude for the years that he has spent
organizing and directing USHPA and CIVL sanctioned competitions. This is why I
agreed to take on this thankless task in the first place.


Indeed CIVL (and the USHPA) owes a great debt to David for his exemplary work. I
am waiting for them to acknowledge that debt. For CIVL to unapprove me as the Worlds meet
director, for example, would certainly go against the obligations that CIVL owes
to David.


As I have already stated I take measures to make sure that I don't exploit my
"unofficial" position as liaison to CIVL for the meet organizer. I don't know
how I could exploit my official capacity as the 2007 World Championship director
for personal (or corporate) benefit.