*BSD News Article 27179


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From: dschieb@muse.cv.nrao.edu (Darrell Schiebel)
Subject: Re: USL vs. BSDI Lawsuit Settled
In-Reply-To: dfishman@netcom.com's message of Mon, 7 Feb 1994 14:33:31 GMT
Message-ID: <DSCHIEB.94Feb8121824@muse.cv.nrao.edu>
Sender: usenet@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory
References: <2j45fl$2jb@BSDI.COM> <dfishmanCKuz3w.Ar5@netcom.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 1994 17:18:24 GMT
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In article <dfishmanCKuz3w.Ar5@netcom.com> dfishman@netcom.com (Dan Fishman) writes:
In-reply-to: dfishman@netcom.com's message of Mon, 7 Feb 1994 14:33:31 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd,misc.int-property
Subject: Re: USL vs. BSDI Lawsuit Settled
References: <2j45fl$2jb@BSDI.COM> <dfishmanCKuz3w.Ar5@netcom.com>
Distribution: 
--text follows this line--
In article <dfishmanCKuz3w.Ar5@netcom.com> dfishman@netcom.com (Dan Fishman) writes:
> Congrads to both sides.  Just a reminder to many who posted over the past year
> or so.  At one time discussion of this lawsuit was the hottest topic for
> many a flame war.  Several were pointing to this suit as THE PRIME example
> of why law and software don't mix.  The sky was going to fall.  No programmer
> who knew how to spell UNIX would ever be able to find employment again!
>
> I'm glad to see this one settled for all parties.  But let's remember next
> time... you should read the claims on patents, you should NOT read the
> allegations and prayers for relief in a complaint unless you have a
> strong stomach, thick skin, and an understanding that in law as in many
> negotiating scenarios... you ask for more than you expect to get, then
> settle for something reasonable.


	I find all of this quite interesting:

		``Ray Noorda, Chairman of Novell, Inc., which
		recently acquired USL, called the settlement an "excellent
		example of what can be accomplished by cooperation between
		the business and academic communities."  Mr. Noorda stated
		that "the settlement permits the University to accomplish
		its goals but preserves USL's legitimate interest in
		protecting its intellectual property.''

	Intellectual property protection? It didn't seem like it to me.
	Here are a few quotes from the "Supplemental Amicus Brief By 
	Defendants The Regents Of The University Of California Re 
	Plaintiff's Motion For Preliminary Injunction" (quoted from
	"http://www.bsdi.com/info/lawsuit/930119.sup-amicus"):

+		        Date:  1-22-93
+		        Time: 10:00 a.m.
+		        Court: Honorable Dickinson R. Debevoise

		[...]

+	A painstaking review of the Net2 source code files has uncovered 
+	only 14 files (out of the total 4,176 Net2 source files) which 
+	contain any 32V code in them. As explained in the Second McKusick 
+	Declaration, those files collectively contain only 186 lines of 
+	common code (out of the 1.5 million lines of source code in Net2). 
+	Id.at 1 2. In the kernel -- which USL concedes is the core of the 
+	system -- only 56 lines of source code from Net2 (which has 
+	230,995 lines of source code in the kernel)match lines from the 
+	14,293 lines of source code in the 32V kernel. Id. at Para 1.
+
+	After spending hundreds of hours searching for textual matches, 
+	USL's paid expert could only find and report on two source files in 
+	Net2 that actually contain 32V code which he considered significant. 
+	The first, Net2's "ufs_disksubr.c" file contained 14 lines of code (out
+	of 358 total lines) that also appeared in 32V. Id. at Para. 2.1.1.
+
+	The second example belatedly cited by Dr. Carson in his Reply 
+	Affidavit, is the "cpio.c" file: this file was included in Net2 by the 
+	University at the specific request of AT&T. See Second Joint Decl., 
+	at 1 6.2. But even if it were not estopped to complain about "cpio.c," 
+	the inclusion of that file and the 14 lines from "ufs_disk.subr.c" -- 
+	out of the total 1.5 million lines of source code in Net2 -- hardly 
+	amounts to either copyright infringement or a material breach of the 
+	agreement not to distribute the University-owned enhancements 
+	that "contained" 32V code.

	This doesn't seem like a case of a company simply trying to 
	protect its intellectual property. I seriously doubt whether the
	solvency of Novell depended on these 186 lines of source code.
	But, I guess, this is all just history now...

	On a happier note, how does one acquire BSD4.4 Lite?!!? Oh, and...
	congratulations and thanks to the folks at UCB and BSDI.

						Darrell Schiebel
						speaking for myself...