Yes, I am Russell Noftsker.  I had noticed over the years that the errors and loss of detail were compounding concerning the reported events surrounding Symbolics, Inc.  As the principal founder and keeper of copies of written records concerning many such events, I though it would be useful to pass along some of that detail.

The particular events I commented on concerning Richard Stallman were the product of Symbolics’ employees still using computers in the MIT AI Lab.  Our employees had begun to notice that software which they had authored and placed under the Symbolics' copywrite notice had started showing up in the software released to other licensees but without the Symbolics copywrite notice.  One of our employees, Dave Andre, extracted MIT Lisp machine screen session copies from various Lisp machines in the AI Lab and found that Richard Stallman had been the one removing the Symbolics copyrights and giving our software to the other Licensee, LMI.  Andre made paper copies of the incriminating screen sessions.

These paper copies and the above explanation were presented to me by Dr. John Kulp, our VP of R&D.;  When John and I presented paper copies of these screen sessions to the AI Lab Director, Prof. Patrick Winston, and insisted that he stop his employees from breaking copyright law, he called Stallman in and barred him from entering the AI Lab and from using its computers.

Richard Stallman and Richard Greenblat, as I recall, took the position that although the MIT Lisp Machine technology license under which Symbolics, Inc. and Richard Greenblat's company had obtained their rights to use and sell the MIT technology, the “intent” of the license had been that enhancements would be shared freely among licensees and MIT.  Of course, when I negotiated that license, I had intended and stated carefully in the license that licensee produced enhancements would be copyrighted and not made available to competing licensees.

Greenblat had represented the AI Lab as well as his own company, LMI, during the negotiation for the license which both LMI and Symbolics ultimately executed.  Wording to express this particular issue had caused Greenblat considerable difficulty but he had been forced by the MIT administration to accept it just as Symbolics wrote it so he knew well what was intended and that the intent had been clearly expressed in the signed licenses.

This incident played a key roll in causing Stallman to spin out of the AI & Lisp field and to tackle creating a public domain copy of Unix.  Gifted as he is, my colleagues and I feel it is useful for people to know what motivated Stallman’s change in course of action and to get a sense of how opposed he was and may still be to conventional business and business law.

Although I have not laid hands on the documentation for this event within the last two decades, I believe that my copies are still in my possession and the Dave Andre, John Kulp and Patrick Winston can verify the details cited above.

Russell Noftsker
Co-Founder of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab and Symbolics, Inc.