> On Fri, Nov 27, 1998 at 12:03:25AM -0800, Javilk wrote:
> > > Relax. The OSS movement -- of which Linux is one part, FreeBSD is
> > > another, KDE and GNOME and Mozilla and Apache and sendmail and BIND
> > > are others, and there are a hundred other pieces, is far too big
> > > already to be stopped by traditional corporate power plays and litigation.
> >
> > The effectiveness of litigation remains to be seen.
>
> Consider the following scenario:
>
> - Microsoft attempts to squash a popular OSS project, say WINE,
> via litigation.
>
> - OSS community gets very annoyed and clones Microsoft Office,
Regardless of the port of origin, MS could try to sue everyone they
find having the product. That is within US law and may or may not be
within the laws of other countries. (And MS has the search engines to go
find a lot of that use! They have tried to get into my Linux site several
times.) It is more economical to go after the creators when a product is
being manufactured and sold by the creators. With OSS, this is likely not
the case.
Realistically, suing users means suing corporations and distributors,
the FTP sites. FTP sites tend not to have a lot of cash to feed lawyers.
Indeed, in many cases, all that needs be done, is to file something with
the police, and the police seize the computers, as they did with Steven
Jackson Games and many other incidents across the country. This is, by
the way one way that Christians have gone after the Pagan community, and
Scientologists have gone after the dissidents in the past -- make some
allegations of kiddie porn, copyrighted texts, or pirated software, and
the police seize the computers "for investigation purposes", and keep them
for a few years whether or not charges are eventually filed. This is also
why Helisngius's anonymizing service went off the net.
This type of warfare is is also not unlike the endless battles Gucci
and Rolex's wage against their counterfeiters.
MS would use the grounds of Look and Feel, possibly design patents,
and likely copyright as a clone is a derivative work. It would take a few
years to resolve, with FUD and irritation helping volume buyers decide
against OSS.
During the suit, a few million tossed at the press warning
individuals they are violating federal copyright law, etc. would
discourage a lot of people. Of course, a couple of suits against
individuals would certainly terrify people.
The bottom line is that they don't have to win! They just need to use
the fear factor to keep it off FTP sites.
> > There is nothing as destructive to burro-cracy, as a piece of truly
> > powerful software in the hands of people who care.
>
> Well put. It's gonna be a bumpy ride for some of the folks out there.
Thanks, Rich. I have no doubt that in the long run, we would
prevail; but in the short run, MS can unleash some considerable havoc!
The question is, would their activities hurt or promote their own
sales? Among some, mostly corporations, it would help their sales. In the
home user/home office market, it would make people more aware of free
software. On the political front, it would likely make people think they
are spoiled brats trying to take free candy away from a baby. This could
be counterproductive in the short run, encouraging more DOJ action against
them. (Almost worth the inconvenience!)
On the other hand, MS is known for trying to win at any cost, because
they believe that monopoly = profitability in the long run. Why else
bundle Internet Exploder in Windows for free?
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