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EFF Wins Protection For Time Zone Database

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-about-time dept.

First time accepted submitter TempestRose writes "The trials and tribulations of the time zone database sued by an astrology software company are finally over. From the article: 'The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is pleased to announce that a copyright lawsuit threatening an important database of time zone information has been dismissed. The astrology software company that filed the lawsuit, Astrolabe, has also apologized and agreed to a 'covenant not to sue' going forward, which will help protect the database from future baseless legal actions and disruptions.'"

2 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. You won this time EFF, but I'll get you next time! by slack_justyb · · Score: 5, Interesting
    From the submitter:

    which will help protect the database from future baseless legal actions and disruptions.

    From them maybe. The current warfare of the patent/copyright system has come to a point where, even if one line of defense does not seem to work, companies are free to pursue a different course of action and see if they cannot get different results. Hence why, to many, the current system is broken. It simply is no longer being used for the reason for which it was created.

  2. Re:whooo by Zironic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's a bit tricky. Since the database is copyrighted (Your arrangement of the data) but the data itself isn't, it's illegal to copy the database and use it without permission, but it's legal to make your own Database containing all the same facts.

    I think what most Database authors do is that they put bogus data entries into their database and if they can find their entries in someone elses database, they can show that it's a copy rather then a independent work.