From: gray@antaire.com (Gray Watson)
Subject: RE: AT&T vs. BSDI [BSDI response]
Originator: daemon@eff.org
Reply-To: gray.watson@antaire.com
Organization: antaire corporation, pittsburgh, pa, usa
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 13:04:38 GMT

Here's everyone talking about topics like the copyrighting of Usenet material
and the definition of pay-for-view and I've only seen 1 response to one of the
most chilling posts in the last couple of months: AT&T is saying now, that
BSD's NET/2 distribution is in violation of its license and requires a AT&T
source license.  They have filed suit not against BSD but against Berkeley
Software Design Inc (BSDI).

I've included at the end of my message, the response by BSDI to this
development.  The entire set of documents (lawsuit papers and this release) can
be found on ftp.uu.net in vendor/bsdi/usl/*.  I hear that they make quite
interesting reading.

Supposed an article in Unigram brought this all into the open and made it clear
from bsdi's point of view that "the notion of quiet resolution was not going to
work."  Does anyone want to send me an address/phone# for Unigram or ask them
if this article can be electronically posted?  Or maybe someone can summarize
it here?  No "posted without permission" please.

Next, I talked to the office of the University Council for the University of
California, Berkeley Regents, in Oakland, CA.  They have not been served *any*
documents by the USL attorneys (which surprises them :-) but conversations with
USL have taken place.  I hope to get some sort of official statement from them
within a week or so.

Also, to plug BSDi :-), the beta version we are running here is awesome.  They
will be selling $200 binary releases which include full development utilities
(gcc, gdb, etc.), networking code, dos operating environments, etc, etc..  A
full source release sells for $1k.  The Gamma release is now being distributed
with the production version coming around September (I think).

gray

p.s. Nope, I'm not a bsdi employee, just a *very* happy customer.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Press Release
July 14, 1992
Press Contact: Donnalyn Frey (703) 764 9342

In a move with chilling overtones for the computer software industry,
AT&T, through its subsidiary UNIX System Laboratories (USL), has
filed suit in federal court in New Jersey against a small software
developer, Berkeley Software Design, Inc. (BSDI).

The principal issue in the case is USL's contention that the
University of California, Berkeley is distributing software in
violation of its license with AT&T.  However, USL has not sued the
University, nor have they stopped the University from distributing
the software in question.  Instead, the suit was filed against
BSDI, a distributor of the University's software and a potential
competitor.

At issue in USL's lawsuit is the University's Networking 2 Release
software.  That software has been licensed to third parties,
including BSDI, as "AT&T-free" and with the statement that no source
code license from AT&T is required.  USL has sued BSDI for falsely
advertising that its own licensees need no source code license from
AT&T, a contention that merely mirrors the University's statements
to BSDI.

The basis for the false advertising claim appears to be that
distribution of the University's software without a license from
AT&T violates USL's proprietary rights.  However, USL has refused
to state what proprietary rights it thinks are violated or to sue
directly for copyright, patent or trade secret infringement.

Because USL's complaint is so vague and inconsistent, it fails to
provide even the minimum notice required to properly inform BSDI
of the legal basis for the suit.  BSDI has therefore requested that
the court dismiss the suit under Section 12(b)6 of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure.  Section 12(b)6 states that a complaint
must be adequately formed so that the defendant understands what
it has allegedly done.

Although USL has not sued the University of California, we expect
that USL (or its parent, ATT) will threaten to review or withdraw
research grants made to any university or research institution
using or distributing software based on NET2, even though no
violation has yet been proven.

The nature of the suit against BSDI shows that AT&T's real motivation
is to harass and to attempt to intimidate a potential competitor.
It does not involve any legitimate dispute.  AT&T has now signaled
their intent to maintain a monopoly on the Unix System market by
suing anyone who refuses to tithe to them.  The result could be a
significant chilling effect on the efforts of many companies to
develop Unix-compatible software products.

While we are flattered that AT&T considers BSDI's product to be
such a significant competitive threat that they feel the need to
file harassing and frivolous suits, we feel obligated to disclose
their actions to the general public.  We are therefore providing
a copy of the actual complaint filed, the first set of interrogatories
from USL and BSDI's motion to dismiss.