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FSF Subpoenaed by SCO
An anonymous reader writes "Bradley M. Kuhn on the FSF website: Late last year, we were subpoenaed by SCO as part of the ongoing dispute
between SCO and IBM. Today, we made that
subpoena available on our website. This is a broad subpoena that
effectively asks for every single document about the GPL and enforcement
of the GPL since 1999. They also demand every document and email that we
have exchanged with Linus Torvalds, IBM, and other players in the
community. In many cases, they are asking for information that is
confidential communication between us and our lawyers, or between us and
our contributors."
At least they got a check for $30 out of it!
Will RMS testify in his St. Ignucius costume.
I say you should download every mail list, usenet archive, and online discussion group, then print it all out on 10,000 pages. Throw in RFCs and source code to bulk it up a bit.
_______
2B1ASK1
Assure them that you have the documents they, and also that you have undeniable proof of the documents. Refuse to provide them, on ground that it would violate agreements you have with certain parties (don't mention who these parties are).
If all else fails, claim that you cannot provide the documents because it is a matter of national security.
2003 was a very good year for learning new stonewalling techniques...
$8.95/mo web hosting
Time to warm up the paper shredder Mr Stallman.
"Documents? - What documents? Oh, you mean the ones I threw out in my yearly spring cleaning?'
Its apparently for copies or something. They should ask for more. Perhaps they should ask for $699 to cover the licensing fees for the postal service.
The law firm misspelled their own name in the subpoena: "Boise Schiller & Flexner".
Because with all the nonsense lawsuits these days, you would probably get sued for starting said petition. Or worse yet, someone holding a patent on filing petitions would crawl out of the woodwork, and demand $699 from everyone who signs.
IANAL, but is this legal?
<Darth McBride> I will make it legal. </Darth McBride>
The mail and the RFCs are OK, but whatever you do, don't give them the source code!!!
just print out every resulting page from a goodle search of GNU GPL Linux, including subsearches on images, groups, and froogle. also, print out any non english results by sending them through babelfish.
print all the results on 3x5 notecards, in 7 pt font. in binary. naw, binary would be too easy to scan and convert to digital with OCR. make it some crazy bubble letter font. any resulting images convert to ascii art. any froogle results, purchase them and have the sent Cost on Delivery to SCO Headquarters. Which by now is probably the backseat of a Pinto, about to blow up because they shut the door too hard.
I actually have a rubber stamp on my desk that stamps the phrase
THIS DOCUMENT OFFICIALLY
-------DOES NOT EXIST-------
See here for a scanned image of the impression.
I have yet to see it held up in court, but any time I print a document I don't want to have to worry about, I smack it with the stamp and put it in a file drawer.
I keep it right next to my What the *#*$# were you thinking? rubber stamp that I had custom made. That one seems to be getting an awful lot of use recently...
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
Dear FSF,
All your documents are belong to us. Here's 30 bucks to cover your copying costs (in case you didn't get that this is a big "fuck you", let us clarify that for you - "FUCK YOU"). Toodle-oo!
Yours truly,
Your buddies at Dewey, Stickham and Howe
AFAIK, in the only legal case regarding BSD, the judge ruled that he thought it would be extremely unlikely that AT&T would be able to prove that they still owned the source code, after scientists had gone through and improved/rewritten much of it.
At the end of the case, there were like 2 or 3 BSD files that had to be rewritten. At the end (rumor has it), the case was settled in a hurry because the judge pointed out that there was more (unattributed) Berkeley-infringing code in AT&T Unix than AT&T-infringing code in Berkeley.
Google confirms: Ruby is the world's most beloved programm
At the hearing: "Your honor, it was addressed to whom it may concern. None of us were particularly concerned, so we trashed it."
As an alternative, they could just send backup tapes of the hard drives off of every server which FSF earns, and let Boies and company figure out how to extract the data. Extra points for using an obscure/obsolete tape format.
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
But if you (that is, you personally, not the passive you) don't mean me -or do you (personally, not the passive)? I'm confused.
This is a very sad day for the Shareware movement. It just breaks my heart to see fine people like Rick Stahlmann and the Electronic Frontier Foundation being hauled into court for minor violations. I mean, seeing as how all this NU GLP software is only for hobbyists anyways, how much could they really have stolen? I fear this will distract them from more important things, like the fine work they've been doing on the eMac.
I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping it will all blow over soon.
Thank you for your support.
Bless me, Father, for I have GOTOed.
Yeah, I guess it's the typical help forum approach.
SCO: PLEEZ SenD MEE a11 1Nf0 YOU HAvE ON C I waNT to HAXXOR
FSF: RTFM, STFW, FU, HAND.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
...the correct response is:
"These are not the documents you're looking for. Move along."
+1 Insightful, -1 Troll. What can I say, I'm an Insightful Troll.
Dear SCO, I am respectfully contacting you confidentialy for your information assistence. My father, the late Prime Minister of Free Trade Software Foundation, was assinated and left me with 32,000,000 GPL related documents {THIRTY-TWO MILIONS). To get access to these documents I need access to a foreign company. For your assistance I will reimburse you 15% (FIVE MILIONS U.S. DOCUMENTS). If you are willing to help me, please sent me a supeena with your name, address, and contact on it. I hope this reaches you with respect, my sick mother needs the documents quickly before her illness takes her to heaven.
Plaintiff: give us everything.
Subpoenee: we give you nothing.
Plaintiff: okay, how bout half?
Subpoenee: we'll give you everything RMS has said about software licensing.
Plaintiff: uh...
Subpoenee: and everything he's said to women at cons.
Plaintiff: got a court date, talk to you later. Subpoenee: and a recording of the song.
Subpoenee: Hello?
THIS DOCUMENT OFFICIALLY
-------DOES NOT EXIST-------
Thank you, now we know what to ask for.
Good reason would be as defined by the home owner.
P:Excuse me sir, we have reason to believe an axe murderer has broken into your house, can we check your attic? There's something that appears to be blood dripping out of your awnings.
You: SCREW YOU PIGS GET A WARRENT OR BLOW ME
Never confuse volume with power.
Well
If he took the Red pill AND the Blue pill it would be the equivalent of having taken the Purple pill.
The obvious effect would have been to alleviate symptoms of Acid Reflux for up to 24 hours, while helping to repair any damage to his esophagus.
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
> RMS's love letters from numerous female admirers
Isn't it illegal to ask for documents you know do not exist?
So... Using your disclaimer, if we reading this post think that you are talking about those reading this post, then we reading this post are wrong. But you also say that you isn't personal you... Does that mean "you" refers to Cowboy Neal? That's really confusing!
...before you'll show them any of your code or docs.
You can't kill electrons, the worst thing you can do is send them on long trips in which they are not interested.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"