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Posted By: <b>They need glasses</b><p>Thanks for the praise, gentlemen - it's much appreciated - but I'm far from done. <br /><br />At this time, I think I'll have to remain anonymous. I don't believe anyone should show their cards until the time is ripe. I want to leave all future options open, though you can bet I'll be contacting many of you privately to discuss how further action may proceed. <br /><br />My website, www.theyneedglasses.com, was created on the spur of the moment in reaction to a combination of events that have finally driven me and my supporters to action:<br /><br />a.) the enormous amount of "bad" material being "authenticated" and peddled in galleries and auctions has grown year by year;<br /><br />b.) incompetent or negligent authenticators are not being called to task for shoddy authentication practices; and the straw that broke the camel's back;<br /><br />c.) a legitimate, widely-recognized authenticator is being sued by a gallery owner who took umbrage with his opinion that a Morales-certified Beatles album was not authentic. <br /><br />So...the vendors of material which may be questionable are now bankrolling efforts to legitimize authenticators whose own credentials may be questionable!<br /><br />Boys and girls - tapping out angry postings to forums is cheap, easy, and generally safe. Taking real action is another thing altogether. It takes time, legal expertise, and money. Maybe a lot of it. But like the United Way, if spread over a large population, it aint so awful...<br /><br />First of all, it's vitally important to locate those people who have purchased items with COA's from "questionable" sources and who BASED their purchase on the validity of those COA's. They must also have had to have had their items widely condemned once offered for resale, or otherwise. A case has to be made that these authenticators and forensic examiners are consistently wrong, to the point of being incompetent. It would then follow that auction houses and galleries accepting this material, and having been warned multiple times that the material is "bad", were not exercising due diligence and may themselves be legitimate targets for litigation (or prosecution). I would then hope that a trail might lead to the forgers themselves.Then there's the matter of all these forgeries coming on the market and diluting the value of the legitimate, authentic material owned by collectors out there who paid real money for what they own.<br /><br />I'd like to hear from attorneys (with autograph dealer or auction house references) prepared to spend a little time researching the potentialities of this issue. I also need to hear from victims willing to step forward.<br /><br />I'll kick in $10,000 for starters.<br /><br />I need to hear from you - you'll be hearing more from me.