GPL Price-Fixing Lawsuit Dismissed

ansak writes "The case of Wallace vs. the Free Software Foundation has been dismissed. It wasn't entirely on the merits of the case. From PJ's analysis, 'despite the judge clearly telling him where his previous complaint was lacking, he didn't fix it.... In this case, he had five tries.' Nevertheless, the judge did make a strong statement that the GPL 'encourages, rather than discourages, free competition' and ordered Wallace to pay court costs: 'Judges do that when they'd like you to learn a good lesson. It's a signal you shouldn't have brought the case in the first place.'"

Comments

Poor Wallace...

[Anonymous Coward]

How will he pay for all of that cheese now?

Time for Fox News to...

[Bug-Y2K]

Bring on the talking heads to rile about "Activist Judges Out Of Control!"

I love it! A crackpot fine!

[dildo]

I wish I could fine every crackpot that's wasted my time.

"Dear Sir. Your letter claiming the invention of a (perpetual motion machine/ proof of the trisection of the angle with compass and straight edge/ stock-picking program/ time cube harvester) was a complete waste of my time due to its impossibility and utter implausibility, as demonstrated by (reputable mathematics/ laws of thermodynamics/ support of your theory by George Gilder or Wired magazine, implying that it is categorically false).

"By my estimation, it required 2 minutes of my time to read your letter and throw it in the shredder and one minute to send out this form letter invoice. At my going rate of $100 per hour, this means you owe me exactly $5 U.S., payable by check, gold bullion, or paypal. Failure to pay this sum will result in a call from my attorney. Sincerely,"

I bet I could make a plush living on commissions if I were to handle the crank mail at a place like MIT or CalTech.

Re:I love it! A crackpot fine!

[generic-man]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0306061billy1 .html

The footnote on Page 2 is the price of the ticket.

Re:WallaceOS

[Anonymous Coward]

void main(){
/* FIXME: enable A20 and enter protected mode */
printf( "hello world!\n" );
for(;;);
}

..but he couldn't get it to compile.

Re:How much do "court costs" usually run?

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

Don't worry about accuracy. Your breakdown was probably more accurate than a Slashdot Poll

Re:WallaceOS

[mav[LAG]]

What was the WallaceOS that he claimed he was unable to market due to the market abuse of the Linux-conglomerate?

Full of great - if slightly whacky - ideas that look promising but it almost always needs the GromitOS to get it out of trouble.