From owner-freebsd-hackers Thu Feb 12 23:38:40 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id XAA12475 for freebsd-hackers-outgoing; Thu, 12 Feb 1998 23:38:40 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from sos.freebsd.dk (sos.freebsd.dk [195.8.129.33]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id XAA12452 for ; Thu, 12 Feb 1998 23:38:35 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from sos@sos.freebsd.dk) Received: (from sos@localhost) by sos.freebsd.dk (8.8.8/8.8.8) id IAA01675; Fri, 13 Feb 1998 08:37:53 +0100 (MET) (envelope-from sos) Message-Id: <199802130737.IAA01675@sos.freebsd.dk> Subject: Re: General policy on trademark violations In-Reply-To: <199802122154.NAA04198@dingo.cdrom.com> from Mike Smith at "Feb 12, 98 01:54:15 pm" To: mike@smith.net.au (Mike Smith) Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 08:37:53 +0100 (MET) Cc: koshy@india.hp.com, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG From: Søren Schmidt Reply-to: sos@FreeBSD.ORG X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL30 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG In reply to Mike Smith who wrote: > > > Q1: How far is FreeBSD willing to go in the direction of ripping out > > portions of its source base? Is it willing to remove files in > > non-games directories? > > If such files reasonably constitute trademark violations, and there is > a real threat of action, then *something* will have to be done, yes. Well, somethings has to be done yes, but we are not in agreement on what should be done, that's life. I think the requests so far has been outright stupid, those games has been in the *BSD tree for years, why are they suddenly so important ? This is just some lawyers trying to make $$, when it gets clear to them that there is NONE, they will find other things to persue pretty quickly. > > Q2: What about programs, files and directories in the source tree that > > "violate trademarks" in other countries like India, Japan, and Russia? > > Will the FreeBSD project be willing be rip out parts of its source > > base to satisfy litigants from other countries? > > It's not a question of "being willing", and this is, I think, where > people are missing the point. > > If the FreeBSD project is faced with litigative action over a trademark > infringement, what courses of action are available? > > - Fight it in court. This is only an option if a donor with a few > million spare to spend on a hopeless case turns up. Trademark > litigation is rarely started against small parties without some > expectation of success. > > - Give in. I think that one of our biggest problems here is the "affiliation" with Walnut Creek, the legalese people see a company that they can sue for real money. Remember the requests to remove parts of our sources allways came via WC. If we where just a "free" project (which we are, but the world doesn't allways see it right), there would be NO idea in sueing (read NO MONEY to winn). > > Q3: Are the sources for the "extracted" parts available as a package > > from anywhere else in the world? > > Obviously, no. You can get them off an old FreeBSD CDROM though. Or you can go to NetBSD and OpenBSD they still have the bits around, they havn't given in (power to them on that account). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Søren Schmidt (sos@FreeBSD.org) FreeBSD Core Team Even more code to hack -- will it ever end .. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message