Why my Black List has been closed
A company that was on my Black List had their lawyer, Christopher B. Hopkins of the McDonald Hopkins law firm, send me a cease and desist order threatening me with an expensive lawsuit if I did not remove their company from my Black List. Although I believe I could have won the case if it went to court, I decided to remove my Black List and all reference to UPC bar codes from my site. As of September 2016 I am 91 years old and have no reason to endure the stress and financial drain. After all, my only reason for maintaining a "black list" was to help people avoid purchasing numbers that could not be proved valid. I didn't want my invention to hurt anyone.Why companies were on my Black List
These were companies not registered with the Authenticated UPC Registration Directory or for one reason or another I felt might be selling bogus numbers. The reasons usually included things like; they did not respond to my Emails, or they were advertising things that were misleading or patently untrue. A company could be removed from my Black List by simply sending me documentation that I could use to verify their right to sell UPC numbers. There was no charge.Details about the closing of my Black List
I started this web site decades ago to explain UPC numbers and to help new companies understand and use them. Subsequently I learned that one or two companies were reselling UPC numbers with their prefix because the class action law suit brought by Lukins & Annis, P.S. in 2003 was settled gave them the right to sell their unused numbers if their prefix was purchased prior to August 28, 2002. I published details of these companies because GS1US was charging high fees to purchase a prefix and was requiring annual renewal fee. I did not want my invention to hurt anyone, especially the fledgling entrepreneurs with little capital. The number of resellers grew to the point where I could no longer handle listing and verifying the legitimacy for the venders by myself. This led to the formation of the Authenticated UPC Registration Directory. The primary motive and goal remained to serve fledgling entrepreneurs with a reliable source of affordable UPC numbers not to make a profit. I did not want my invention to hurt anyone. This endeavor led to the creation of my Black List which was intended to alert potential buyers to companies that may be selling numbers that the company did not own the rights to or were not issued by UCC prior to the critical date. Like the old adage warns, "no good deed goes unpunished", I was attacked and threatened with numerous law suits. Web sites were created that defamed me as avaricious and money-grabbing. I don't need the stress this puts on me; therefore I have removed my Black List and all references to the UPC from this site. Also I have resigned my position as president of the Authenticated UPC Registration Directory.I do thank all of you that have supported me and my efforts to do good things for the small businessman.
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Revised: November 29, 2016