Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 14:26:34 -0400 From: Bill Moran <wmoran@potentialtech.com> To: Jonathon McKitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Where can I find FreeBSD-related SCO lawsuit updates? Message-ID: <3F0DAFDA.2050708@potentialtech.com> In-Reply-To: <20030710141516.GA97366@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> References: <20030709125055.GA90046@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20030709193315.A494@citusc.usc.edu> <20030710123509.GA97000@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <3F0D6AAD.9030406@potentialtech.com> <20030710141516.GA97366@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
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Jonathon McKitrick wrote: > On Thu, Jul 10, 2003 at 09:31:25AM -0400, Bill Moran wrote: > ------------8<------------------ > : rules and different laws. The question of who owns what was _settled_ with > : the BSDs and no amount of obfuscation by the media or the people who want to > : make money out of suing people (or the people allegedly behind those people > : who want to hurt the competition by suing) will change the ruling of a > : previous lawsuit. > ------------8<------------------ > > What about additions to the source SINCE then? > > : The reality (if you actually look at the facts) is that the most likely > : thing > : to happen is that SCO will not get anywhere with their lawsuit, thus the > : likelyhood that they'll even get around to challenging a previous ruling is > : almost non-existant. So your "ripple effect" is more likely to help the > : BSDs > : (by validating their previous court victories) than hurt them. > > I agree. If there is nothing SINCE then that could cause a problem, as Wes > said in his last column, the BSDs can step up to the plate as a possibly > superior option/choice. I don't think so. Some of the things the BSD lawsuit established are a) in circumstances where code has been stolen, you can't stop the entire project, you just remove the offending code and b) once someone has been contributing to a project like BSD (or Linux) they really have no basis for demanding financial damages. I think that if SCO _wins_ the lawsuit, it will help the free software cause, since the Linux project will be required to remove a few bits of code to satisfy SCO's demands (thus proving that a free software project can easily survive lawsuits such as this). That will be the end of it. Remember that US law is based on precedents, and BSD has a precident set already. I firmly believe, also, that the Linux folks should take a hint from the successful actions of UC Berkely and counter-sue that SCO has stolen GPLed Linux technology for thier softwares. Demand that a non-biased third party be given leave to review SCO's source code to prove that there's no GPLed code in it. I think that would put SCO in a tight position, just like it worked for the BSD's years ago. -- Bill Moran Potential Technologies http://www.potentialtech.com
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