[lug] Adobe GPL attack in Germany

[Deva Samartha]

At 06:39 PM 7/5/2001 +0200, you wrote:

>This is unfortunately a text that went through several hands ....
>First of all:
>
>  Adobe isn't atacking, it's a Law firm.
>
>  This is not an atack ata all against GPL or Open Source.

Ah - an open source author donates his time and effort to create software 
for free use and then is forced to deal with a legal bill of $ 2000.- or 
hire an attorney to get legal advice is no attack?

What would you call an attack then?


>  As a matter of fact, it's not even about software at all.

I don't follow your train of thought - would the case exist if there would 
be no software?

If it would be just about the name - why did the attorneys reject Kay-Uwe's 
offer to change the name?

It's most likely all about $$'s. The lawyers smelling a chance to go after 
an University, the University getting bothered about a project on one of 
their servers.

No effect on Open Software? I doubt it and I bet the folks in Seattle are 
watching.


>  The letter sent to Kai-Uwe Sattler is a so-called "Abmahnung".

Apparently, it was sent to the University?

>  This is a legal act specific to german law: if someone violates
>  trade laws ("Wettbewerbsrecht"), for example by putting up wrong
>  prices in commercials or by using someones _registered_ trademarks
>  any lawer or consumer organisation can send the violator a so-called
>  "Abmahnung", basically informing him/her of the fact and threadening
>  a lawsuit. The person receiving such a letter has the chance to stop
>  his acts and pay a fee (the ~ 2000 $ mentioned in this case) or ignore
>  the letter -- in which case he/she might risk to be taken to court.

It _is_ an unfriendly act if it happens as a first step. A friendly first 
step would be a phonecall or a letter to stop the offensive behavior. To 
bother somebody with a $ 2000.- invoice for a letter as introduction is 
pretty fresh.

The way out is either comply, pay and shut up or get legal advice and find 
out what your options are.

They probably intend to sue for copyright infringement, lost profit and 
damages due to that but since this cannot be applied to GPL-ed software, 
they may not even have a case and all may be mute, not owing anything to 
the lawyers. But this can only be determined by person legally educated in 
this matter. Maybe the $ 2000.- fee is determined by the estimated damage 
value and that could go down significantly.

Maybe somebody already regrets having sent this letter... ;-)

Lotsa maybe's here....

Samartha