Re: From the Best Buy et. al. case

[Hyman Rosen]

On 2/24/2010 6:41 PM, RJack wrote:
> Hyman Rosen wrote:
> > It doesn't mean anything until a court agrees.
> Huh? "IT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING UNTIL A COURT AGREES" ???????

That's correct. Claims made by each side are their own
maximalist versions of what they would like the court
to say. The purpose of the trial is for the court to
sort out which claims are correct and which are not.
Making a claim does not make that claim true.

> Some Free Softies insist that a requirement of a court ruling is
> completely unnecessary and that plaintiffs' voluntary dismissals
> are complete vindication and "victories" over the defendants.

After the cases end, the defendants come into compliance
with the GPL. Since the cases were brought to bring about
compliance with the GPL, the plaintiffs are victorious.

> This is in contrast to some GPL "trolls" whom claim only a court
> review of the GPL will mean anything.

As we have seen with CAFC and the JMRI case, it is useless to
expect that the anti-GPL cranks will ever regard court reviews
as meaningful when those reviews are contrary to their incorrect
notions.

> If there's anything I love, it's watching a Free Softy take both
> sides of an issue and then argue vociferously with himself.

Silly RJack! The claims of either side mean nothing until they
are adjudicated. The actions of the sides mean a great deal. Its
the actions of the defendants, in complying with the GPL, that
signifies the victories of the plaintiffs.

> > By the way, I was wondering why Best Buy was being sued. It turns out
> > that the Insignia brand is owned by them, and an Insignia Blu-ray
> > player comes with BusyBox.
>
> The Insignia Blue Ray Player was manufactured by the Funai Corp.
> out of Osaka, Japan. Funai clones were marketed under Phillips,
> Maganavox, Sylvania and other brand names.

In which case I expect that a settlement will be announced, the
GPL sources will be made available on a Funai web site, and then
Terekhov will forever be pestering the newsgroup claiming that
Best Buy isn't in compliance because Best Buy isn't Funai.