[OT] Open Source, EULA - the Big Bad Bogeyman

[viktoras d.]

one more "laud" case, not software, but still related:
http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2009/02/is_the_obama_po.html

The ground becomes so slippery when money talks...

Viktoras

Kay C Lan wrote:
> Listers,
>
> Unfortunately I missed the recent frenzy regarding "Illegal Creativity".
>
> I do not wish to fan that fire here, but do wish to point you to a Landmark
> case going on right now involving a very small group of hobbyists, Open
> Source Software, and an apparently wealthy individual and his company.
>
> This case has huge implications not only for software developers and
> software uses but is rattling around many legal blogs as well. If the
> 'Illegal Creativity' thread was of interest to you then I highly recommend
> following a couple of the links below. If you like David and Goliath you
> might also find this interesting :-)
>
> As way of a VERY brief background; a group of model train hobbyists got
> together and started an Open Source project written in Java - the Java Model
> Railroad Interface (JMRI). Quite a while later KAM Industries came along,
> took some of the code, created their own commercial program, patented some
> aspects of the program and then started demanding royalties for every
> downloaded copy of JMRI.
>
> This eventually ended up in court and in the first instance the ruling was
> in favour of KAM Industries. A single individual has mainly represented the
> JMRI community and although the ruling was far less than the U$200,000+
> sought, the financial impact was beyond this individual's means, even so,
> with the help of donations, this individual continued to pursue the case to
> a higher appeal court. KAM Industries thus far has spent over U$1,000,000 on
> the case.
>
> The result of the Appeal was only last Aug 13th 2008 and reversed the
> decision of the lower court. But this is not the end, as of 11 Feb 09 KAM
> Industries is seeking damages of U$6,000,000+
>
> You can get a detailed JMRI sided view of the saga here:
>
> http://jmri.sourceforge.net/k/updates.html
>
> Other links pointing to outside perspectives on the implications can be
> found here:
>
> http://jmri.sourceforge.net/k/news.html#CAFCruling1
>
> Two I like are the Larry Lessig Blog and Slashdot thread:
>
> Larry Lessig is a Prof. of Law at Stanford, a board member of the Creative
> Commons project, and named one of Scientific American's Top 50 Visionaries,
> for arguing "against interpretations of copyright that could stifle
> innovation and discourse online."
>
> This slashdot thread, make sure you scroll down, discusses EULA's and how
> binding they really are.
>
> http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/25/2059231&from=rss
>
> If you are so swayed, you may wish to support this legal battle, the
> Donations page is here:
>
> http://jmri.sourceforge.net/k/donations.shtml
>
> Again, I do not wish to re-ignite any recent threads on this List, I post
> this here purely as a pointer to Lists, Forums and Blogs much closer to the
> coal face and frequented by individuals more qualified to help in such
> matters.
>
> Who'd watch TV when you have real life?
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