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Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!uunet!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!usc!news From: merlin@neuro.usc.edu (merlin) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Re: AT&T vs. BSDI --> 4.3BSD-NET2 distribution requires AT&T license!!! Date: 22 Jul 1992 14:39:50 -0700 Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Lines: 49 Sender: merlin@neuro.usc.edu (merlin) Message-ID: <l6rld6INN3dh@neuro.usc.edu> References: <l6nibgINNje6@neuro.usc.edu> <1992Jul21.142631.14517@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> <mcuddy.711795634@fensende> NNTP-Posting-Host: neuro.usc.edu Keywords: AT&T 'Death Star' rises over BSDI's horizon [Tel. 1-800-800-4BSD] Stallman has pointed out my posting suggested I might think AT&T should win this litigation -- I do not believe AT&T should win. The point of my note was to lay out what appeared to be the best possible rational case AT&T may be able to put up against BSDI -- violation of trade secret agreements the people involved in setting up BSDI were bound to by their prior employment by UC Regents at CSRG. Stallman suggests the fact is AT&T has not been adequately vigorous about preventing the distribution of trade secrets in the form of 4.3BSD-NET2 (if any such trade secrets can be proven) -- and as a consequence have surrendered their right to make a trade secret claim. While I don't believe AT&T should win -- the fact that AT&T sued in Federal District Court of New Jersey [which tends to be very supportive of the big corporations registered in their state -- you might be able to characterize that district as 'biased' toward big corporations] -- some BSDI people have significant prior exposure to AT&T source codes -- and AT&T's huge staff of lawyers and virtually unlimited litigation budget -- all tend to all suggest BSDI may have a very rough time surviving this lawsuit. Moreover, the very existence of this lawsuit will likely scare away several potential customers and financial backers. Between the unfair financial burden on BSDI imposed by this lawsuit and the loss of potential funds to pay those costs in the form of lost customers and financial backers a small company like BSDI might be forced out of business -- or -- to accept AT&T's offered contract terms. The serious risk here is that if BSDI loses this fight in either Federal District Court or in the Circuit Court of Appeals then AT&T can use the decision as a bludgeon to apply to other UNIX compatible system vendors in other courts throughout the country. Please do not misunderstand -- I am painting the worst possible case scenario -- my best estimate of the case as stated from AT&T's perspective -- because I believe we should all be aware of the kind of risks involved and follow this case as closely as possible. This isn't just AT&T vs. BSDI -- it's AT&T vs. the academic community which produced most of the intellectual property which makes the 'AT&T UNIX' and 'Berkeley UNIX' compatible operating systems so valuable today -- virtual memory management, interprocess communication, networking, fast filesystems, efficient compilers -- and all of the other things which weren't contained in the Bell Research 32V system turned over to UC Regents so many years ago. I don't personally believe any commercial entity would buy AT&T 32V today -- and that the value of the AT&T contribution to 4.3BSD-NET2 is miniscule at best -- and -- probably nonexistent. AT&T's claim though if litigated well -- and AT&T has some of the best attorneys in the country -- may form a basis for asserting a property right in virtually any compatible version of a UNIX type operating system. AJ