*BSD News Article 3039


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Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
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From: bhv@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (Bronis Vidugiris)
Subject: Re: UNIGRAM's article on the USL-BSDI suit
Organization: Motorola, CCR&D, CORP, Schaumburg, IL
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 1992 00:10:40 GMT
Message-ID: <1992Aug4.001040.11026@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com>
References: <1992Aug1.020513.14170@plts.uucp> <1992Aug1.042344.23428@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
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In article <1992Aug1.042344.23428@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> bostic@toe.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic) writes:
)Tom, you didn't include my favorite part of the UNIGRAM.X newsletter!
)
)        +                           MINIGRAMS
)
)        Last Tuesday or Wednesday the traffic on UUNet over this BSDI
)        suit (see front page) got so heavy the protesters formed their
)        own group (alt.suit.att-bsdi) - and this before the news hits the
)        fan that the University of California, Berkeley is being brought
)        up on charges too. The group, reminiscent of the old drug-happy
)        hippy-freak Unix culture that was so enamoured of free software,
)        was at one point calling for a boycott of AT&T services. Sources
)        say Unix System Labs didn't exactly want to sue the university,
)        but basically has no choice and regards this as a test case.
)
)
)To borrow Wagner's words, are these guys fair, accurate and unbiased
)   journalists, or what?
)
)Just another drug-happy, hippy-freak programmer,
)--keith

What's your perspective on this?

My perspective is that AT&T in fact did NOT want to get Berkeley involved -
they have *money* and are probably more able to defend themselves legally
than a startup like BSDI.

However, they (AT&T / USL) realized that not suing Berkeley would fatally
weaken their case on legal grounds, so they did it anyway.

If I recall correctly, you're one of the principals in this mess, so it 
would seem likely that you know something I don't.