Why speculate on the lawsuit parties' motivations? Look at what's really going on here: MLS needs to survive. It needs to survive for us, the consumers, for OUR benefit. If we don't support MLS's right to control what they have collected, we are helping kill the goose that lays the golden egg. What golden egg? The lawsuit is about data, but MLSs I've seen are more than just information providers. They have rules that agents follow to get along with the public and each other; they have enforcement procedures; they have systems and tools like secure lockboxes; the members have to be licensed. When I must sell or buy, at least I can feel confident with a tried and proven system. As a home seller, I'd be furious if my agent told me that certain information I gave the MLS would stay with the MLS, and then I found it placed before the eyes of the world. If the MLS can't control the data, who is going to? I need to know that there are enforceable rules if I'm going to entrust my security and privacy to anyone. What if MLS can't enforce rules? I just may not list my house. My friend may not list hers. And YOU might want one of OURS and not know about it. Get the picture? If MLS loses this one, you can surely see the end coming: MLS data gets reformatted, corrupted, diluted, or otherwise devalued. People go elsewhere. MLS becomes weak. It goes away along with the rules, the enforcement, the ethics, the systems, everything that makes it hum. What's going to take it's place when it dies? Assorted packets of information in non-uniform formats spread here and there? Heaven help us! "Pave paradise and put up a parking lot."--Joni Mitchell

Back to Previous Post Printer Friendly Version | E-mail This Article to a Friend