LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: ilox <ilox@telstra.com>
  To  : David Newall <davidn@rebel.net.au>
  Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 17:42:02 +0900

Re: Adobe attack on Open-source

Hi David,

Ok, so apart from the name being similar what about the rest of the 
situation where the lawyer acting for Adobe writes to the Professor 
telling him to stop development on the Project and then asks for 
payment for their time to send him the letter? 

Many Linux - Open Source programs are similar in look and feel to 
commercial counterparts. That should not bring out the patent attorneys 
without seeing if the programs are actually the same or just use 
similar concepts.

I know that there was trouble in the early days with Lotus and other 
spreadsheets because of the "look and feel" of the programs. Now there 
are common ways of building a screen so that elements will be found 
where users expect to find them. For any program to get away with a 
claim of "look and feel" they would have to be looking at an almost 
perfect clone of their program. 

Adobe, or at least the people who said they were acting for them, 
appear to have been heavy-handed in their approach to resolving the 
matter. Just because a name is similar is not enough grounds to jumping 
to court especially as the program is still in early development.

I am also not impressed with the claim from the attorneys for their 
fees to be paid by the Professor. Paying for the bills for lawyer's 
time should come from the party requesting them to act on their behalf 
in this kind of situation. Nothing has been proven. No judge has issued 
a decision. There is only a statement of claim from one party.

I don't have a problem with a company protecting rights and trademarks 
if they can show that they are theirs to protect and that the rights 
and trademarks are threatened. It is their obligation to accept that 
there are going to be costs involved in protecting their property.

It is my personal take on reading this report that a threat was made to 
the concept of Open-Source and it is this threat that needs to be 
repulsed at every opportunity. Maybe I have read it wrong. Your mileage 
may vary.

cheers,

Ian

----- Original Message -----
From: David Newall <davidn@rebel.net.au>
Date: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 4:08 pm
Subject: Re: Adobe attack on Open-source

> ilox <ilox@telstra.com> wrote:
> > http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/20417.html
> 
> Adobe don't sound unreasonable to me.  If I had devised, created and 
succesfully marketed WidgetWare, and then someone ripped off my idea 
and called it KWidgetWare, I'd be expecting them to at least the name.
> 

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