[FYI] (Fwd) FC: NuSphere replies to Politech post about FSF and Boston lawsuit

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Wed, 27 Feb 2002 13:08:20 -0500
To:             	politech@politechbot.com
From:           	Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject:        	FC: NuSphere replies to Politech post about FSF and Boston lawsuit
Copies to:      	mlorion@nusphere.com
Send reply to:  	declan@well.com

Previous Politech message:

"Boston judge to hear first test of GNU license used in MySQL"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03188.html

---

From: "Mark Lorion" <mlorion@nusphere.com>
To: <declan@well.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 12:02:06 -0500

Declan,

I noticed that you posted a note on your site about the NuSphere/MySQL
AB legal dispute.  While we appreciate your interest in the case, we
would appreciate an opportunity to present our side of this complex
issue.

The dispute between NuSphere and MySQL AB originated as a dispute over
trademark rights, not the GPL.  MySQL AB raised GPL issues after the
fact as a legal tactic.  MySQL AB and the Free Software Foundation
contends that NuSphere violated the GPL by simply linking proprietary
software to the MySQL system using a public API. MySQL AB is
interpreting the GPL so broadly that any commercial software that
comes into contact with free software must also become free.  By that
standard, a commercial email program would violate the GPL if it
downloaded mail from a GPL-compliant mail server. NuSphere regards
this as an extreme interpretation of the GPL and believes that MySQL
AB's injunction against NuSphere is an inappropriate case by which to
test the GPL in a court of law.

Please note that we have issued a Media Alert to the business wires
this morning responding to these false claims by the Free Software
Foundation. Given your interest in this case, I have taken the liberty
to attach a copy of this release as well as a letter from our
president, Lorne Cooper. Related legal documents are also available on
our website: http://www.nusphere.com/releases/index.htm

I'd be happy to clarify any points and can organize a call with Lorne
Cooper if you'd like.

Regards,
Mark Lorion




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