Re: Copyright Misuse Doctrine in Apple v. Psystar

[Alan Mackenzie]

In gnu.misc.discuss amicus_curious <ACDC@sti.net> wrote:

> "Alan Mackenzie" <acm@muc.de> wrote in message 
> news:gnmr45$1qm6$1@colin2.muc.de...
>> Would you format your paragraphs properly in future, please?

>> In gnu.misc.discuss amicus_curious <ACDC@sti.net> wrote:

>>> So they [SFLC] didn't suddenly "become aware" of anything at all.  They
>>> just became suddenly aware that they were out to lunch on the law and
>>> were about to have their case tossed out of court, so they surrendered,
>>> begging Verizon to not make an issue of things and probably paying for
>>> Verizon's costs.  It was a total loss.

>> That's not the way the SFLC sees it.  On
>> http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2008/mar/17/busybox-verizon/ we have:

>>    As a result of the plaintiffs agreeing to dismiss the lawsuit and
>>    reinstate Actiontec's and its customer's rights to distribute BusyBox
>>    under the GPL, Actiontec has agreed to appoint an Open Source
>>    Compliance Officer within its organization to monitor and ensure GPL
>>    compliance, to publish the source code for the version of BusyBox it
>>    previously distributed on its Web site, and to undertake substantial
>>    efforts to notify previous recipients of BusyBox from Actiontec and
>>    its customers, including Verizon, of their rights to the software
>>    under the GPL. The settlement also includes an undisclosed amount of
>>    financial consideration paid to the plaintiffs by Actiontec.

> Note the fact that Verizon, the defendant, is not mentioned in this 
> statement as having to do anything at all.  The SDLC surrendered, pure and 
> simple.  They look like fools. 

The Verizon website, <http://www.verizon.com/>, appears to contain no
mention of their "victory".  You'd think they'd put up something to
counteract the negative publicity, surely?  Or to discourage future
"fools" from embroiling them in litigation?  Perhaps the management of
Verizon don't see it in terms of a victory.

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).