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Court Rules GPL Doesn't Violate Antitrust Laws

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the happy-penguins dept.

unix4reel writes "Internet Cases reports on a new decision from a federal court in Chicago holding that 'the GPL and open-source have nothing to fear from the antitrust laws. The suit was against IBM, Red Hat and Novell, arguing that by distributing Linux for free, they offered products at an unbeatably low price (free), thus discouraging new market entrants and stifling competition. The court took a different view, focusing instead on how the GPL fosters new development."

3 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Unbeatable? I think not! by thewiz · · Score: 4, Funny

    The suit was against IBM, Red Hat and Novell, arguing that by distributing Linux for free, they offered products at an unbeatably low price (free), thus discouraging new market entrants and stifling competition.

    Wrong, free is not unbeatable; they just need to pay the end user top use their software!

    --
    If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
  2. Those pinky-commie judges! by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Funny

    It simply isn't American to charge nothing for nothing! How could they rule that it's ok to give stuff away for free?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. Call In Ballmer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    The suit was against IBM, Red Hat and Novell, arguing that by distributing Linux for free, they offered products at an unbeatably low price (free), thus discouraging new market entrants and stifling competition.
    They should've just got Microsoft to explain how the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is much higher with OSS than with Windows - the case would have been thrown out there and then!