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http://alabe.com/contact.html

I think we need to politely explain to the marketing director et al at Astrolabe how they're action could adversely effect their brand. And how all they are doing is damaging someone who is generously providing an important service. My guess is that these guys are completely unaware of how much ill will they are in for online. For instance, a couple weeks of work by a tiny fraction of the people reading this could create an open source Astrology app that would render their offering permanently obsolete. I can't imagine how they came to launch this lawsuit in the first place but I can imagine how ignorant they could be of its implications for them and the world of computing.

Change of ownership of "ACS Atlas database" from ACS to Astrolabe in 2008: http://alabe.com/history.htm " The ACS PC Atlas, the premier longitude, latitude and time zone reference for astrologers. Astrolabe worked with Astro Computing Services in the early 1990s, advising on the user interface for the PC version of their well-known reference work, and in 2008, Astrolabe bought the rights to the Atlas. Astrolabe and ACS (now Astro Communications Services) maintain a mutual dealership agreement for each other's software products."

Presumably that also includes the rights to the dead tree version, which the comments in the tz database seem to be speaking of.

This blog article has an analysis of the action. It appears, essentially, that Astrolabe publishes an altas

Astrolabe, in Brewster, Massachusetts, appears to sell an application called "the ACS American and International PC Atlas for Windows".

The comments in the TZ database:

# From Paul Eggert (2006-03-22):
# A good source for time zone historical data in the US is
# Thomas G. Shanks, The American Atlas (5th edition),
# San Diego: ACS Publications, Inc. (1991).
# Make sure you have the errata sheet; the book is somewhat useless without it.
# It is the source for most of the pre-1991 US entries below.

and

# From Paul Eggert (2006-03-22):
# A good source for time zone historical data outside the U.S. is
# Thomas G. Shanks and Rique Pottenger, The International Atlas (6th edition),
# San Diego: ACS Publications, Inc. (2003).

speak of two atlases from ACS Publications in New Hampshire, The American Atlas and The International Atlas. It's not clear what connection there is between Astrolabe and Astro Computing Services/Starcrafts Publishing/ACS Publications; perhaps Astrolabe licensed Astro Computing Services' ACS Atlas Software for their product.

This blog article has an analysis of the action. It appears, essentially, that Astrolabe publishes an altas

Astrolabe, in Brewster, Massachusetts, appears to sell an application called "the ACS American and International PC Atlas for Windows".

The comments in the TZ database:

# From Paul Eggert (2006-03-22):
# A good source for time zone historical data in the US is
# Thomas G. Shanks, The American Atlas (5th edition),
# San Diego: ACS Publications, Inc. (1991).
# Make sure you have the errata sheet; the book is somewhat useless without it.
# It is the source for most of the pre-1991 US entries below.

and

# From Paul Eggert (2006-03-22):
# A good source for time zone historical data outside the U.S. is
# Thomas G. Shanks and Rique Pottenger, The International Atlas (6th edition),
# San Diego: ACS Publications, Inc. (2003).

speak of two atlases from ACS Publications in New Hampshire, The American Atlas and The International Atlas. It's not clear what connection there is between Astrolabe and Astro Computing Services/Starcrafts Publishing/ACS Publications; perhaps Astrolabe licensed Astro Computing Services' ACS Atlas Software for their product.

This blog article has an analysis of the action. It appears, essentially, that Astrolabe publishes an altas

Astrolabe, in Brewster, Massachusetts, appears to sell an application called "the ACS American and International PC Atlas for Windows".

The comments in the TZ database:

# From Paul Eggert (2006-03-22):
# A good source for time zone historical data in the US is
# Thomas G. Shanks, The American Atlas (5th edition),
# San Diego: ACS Publications, Inc. (1991).
# Make sure you have the errata sheet; the book is somewhat useless without it.
# It is the source for most of the pre-1991 US entries below.

and

# From Paul Eggert (2006-03-22):
# A good source for time zone historical data outside the U.S. is
# Thomas G. Shanks and Rique Pottenger, The International Atlas (6th edition),
# San Diego: ACS Publications, Inc. (2003).

speak of two atlases from ACS Publications in New Hampshire, The American Atlas and The International Atlas. It's not clear what connection there is between Astrolabe and Astro Computing Services/Starcrafts Publishing/ACS Publications; perhaps Astrolabe licensed Astro Computing Services' ACS Atlas Software for their product.

Change of ownership of "ACS Atlas database" from ACS to Astrolabe in 2008: http://alabe.com/history.htm
" The ACS PC Atlas, the premier longitude, latitude and time zone reference for astrologers. Astrolabe worked with Astro Computing Services in the early 1990s, advising on the user interface for the PC version of their well-known reference work, and in 2008, Astrolabe bought the rights to the Atlas. Astrolabe and ACS (now Astro Communications Services) maintain a mutual dealership agreement for each other's software products."

I emailed their sales department to inform them that I would be actively encouraging people to avoid their products.

http://alabe.com/contact.html

Of course they peddle astrology shit so it's not like I'd buy from them anyway.

About Astrology software? I have no idea how this could work. Only thing I can find is http://www.alabe.com/, but I have no idea how that could be tied to the timezone database. Then again, filing a lawsuit requires absolutely nothing more than the desire to file a lawsuit.

Would that happen to be the same Astrolabe Inc. behind this company selling astrology software?