State Trooper Fights For His Source Code

BarneyRabble writes to tell us that a Wisconsin State Trooper is fighting to maintain control of the source code for a program he wrote that helps officers write traffic tickets electronically. Praised by the state just 18 months ago, Trooper David Meredith is now suing the head of patrol claiming that the state is trying to illegally seize the source that he had developed on his own time. From the article: "Meredith, of Oconto Falls, defied an order from his bosses to relinquish the source code - the heart of the program - in October and instead deposited it with Dane County Circuit Judge David T. Flanagan, pending a ruling on who should control it. The case centers on how the software was developed. Department of Transportation attorney Mike Kernats said the State Patrol - a division of DOT - provided Meredith with a computer to write the software and gave him time off patrol duties so he could do the work. But Meredith said in court filings that he spent hundreds of hours off duty working on it, developing it almost entirely on his own time. He noted that he never signed a software licensing agreement."

Comments

Re:Head Asplode...

[darjen]

For once I find myself actually rooting for a cop! Next thing you know, Microsoft will be giving away Windows, and Wal-Mart will go bankrupt... Someone pinch me before I wake up.

Cops are still agents of an abusive State, even this one. I wouldn't go so far as to root for this guy. Especially since his source code makes ticketing more efficient. Which is bad for the rest of us.

Re:Head Asplode...

[PinkPanther]

For once I find myself actually rooting for a cop!

Yes, because the vast majority of police officers are scum and out to get us.

That's why those of us in the Free World consider ourselves free.

Re:Head Asplode...

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

What if the government made 'Posting to Slashdot under the alias Kazzahdrane' illegal tomorrow

Why not go all the way and simply say "What if the government made breathing illegal?". Oh, I see why. If you did then it'd become even more obvious that your argument has no merit.