I think race trainers should stop the bickering and lawsuits. If the sport is going to survive they’d better pull together.
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Sounds like it will be better for lawyers then the race industry. Talk about fiddling while the fire rage… 
America is not a nation under the law but under the lawyers.
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I read a good bit of the decision. The set up was unconstitutional. A non-government organization can’t do a government job. It shouldn’t be that hard for Congress to write something that will pass muster; then again something that will pass constitutional muster might not pass muster with the animal rights lobby.
Animal rights lobby—you’re joking, right?
Why yes, the animal rights lobby. Lobbyist and animal rights huckster Marty Irby takes delight in proclaiming to anyone who will listen (and some who won’t) about his role in the crafting of this garbage legislation and how HISA is the greatest achievement of his lobbying career.
I work with the FTC professionally a lot, and from the start found this very dubious. It simply isn’t something they are set up to do at present and it would require significant funding to make the whole thing work, funding that wasn’t provided. It’s, unsurprisingly, a giant mess.
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Actually that’s not true. It’s called a Functioning Government Equivalency. I’m no lawyer, but I’m very familiar with the distinction at a state level. Your power company, your airport authority, the organization that sets rules and regulations for high school sport can all be examples of FGE (and are in some states.) Private organizations fulfilling the role of government. Different states have different distinctions that create the designation, but in most places it means that even if they are a “private” organization all their records are subject to open records request.
At the federal level you have things like the Federal Reserve which is a private company doing the job of a government agency. So it CAN be done. (Not that it SHOULD be.) The question is how could it be legally set up…and, I would think, is it too close to regulating interstate commerce which might be a deal killer.
Full Disclosure: I read the article not the case. I haven’t followed the issue and don’t have an opinion on it.
Just to update since this has been bumped, FTC issued a revised regulation a few weeks ago. Not sure what is in it, but I monitor all things FTC and they issued a press release.
