*BSD News Article 2503


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Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!uunet!usc!news
From: merlin@neuro.usc.edu (merlin)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: AT&T sues BSDI
Date: 25 Jul 1992 16:41:32 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Lines: 45
Sender: merlin@neuro.usc.edu (merlin)
Message-ID: <l73plcINN10d@neuro.usc.edu>
References: <1992Jul23.173415.11587@nebulus.ca> <1992Jul25.014246.11533@klic.rain.com> <1992Jul25.210654.2518@kithrup.COM>
NNTP-Posting-Host: neuro.usc.edu
Keywords: BSDI AT&T


>As much as I dislike the suit between USL and BSDI, I hate seeing it turn
>into a bunch of advertisement for BSDI on the net.  The same moral
>objectives can be accomplished by helping the Jolitzes . . .

No one is exploiting the AT&T lawsuit to advertise for BSDI.  AT&T's
unwarranted court action must be seriously stressing BSDI's balance
sheet.  Getting sued is certainly not the way to raise money.  I've
yet to see any commentary from people at BSDI on the subject of the
lawsuit in this or any other newsgroup.  Nor has BSDI ever appealed
to this or any other newsgroup for money.

However, I have to differ with you on the question, in the context of
AT&T's lawsuit against BSDI, about whether simply giving money to the
Jolitz's, CSRG, or any other 'free' UN*X developers would even begin
to accomplish the same moral objective as either financially, legally
or otherwise assisting BSDI resist the attack of AT&T's 'Death Star.'

The whole point of the AT&T suit is to 'make new law' by getting the
kind of decision AT&T wants in Federal District Court initially - and
then reaffirming that decision in the US Circuit Court of Appeals so
AT&T can rely on judicial notice of the findings of fact, conclusions
of law, and what AT&T will characterize as an 'established precedent'
at the appellate level which will make it almost impossible to defend
any other 'free' UN*X (or similar source code) against an AT&T lawsuit.

Whether BSDI would ultimately survive as a business is immaterial here
-- the point is that if BSDI loses this case we all lose.

If we don't support BSDI's people in their struggle against the AT&T
attack -- AT&T will 'make new law' in the courts -- and AT&T will use
their new law to eliminate all independent UN*X software developers.

Frankly, I think the US Congress should be investigating AT&T's attack
on BSDI because I believe it is an attempt to garner exclusive monopoly 
control over an important national resource (4.3BSD-NET2 distribution) 
against the public interest.  

If this was simply a matter of one big company just trying to squash a 
little company I would care -- but I wouldn't be likely to do anything 
about it.  The implications of AT&T 'making new law' in this case go
far beyond simply whether BSDI continues to exist -- they strike at an
essential basis of research which should form the foundation of future
academic, commercial, and government software systems development.  If
AT&T wins this case -- then the public interest will really suffer.