jr@bbn.com (John Robinson) (03/15/89)
Manufacturers Technologies Inc. of West Springfield, MA won a copyright infringement case based on look and feel (Boston Globe, 3/14/89, page 43 and 51). Defendants were CAMS Inc. of Plantsville, CT, and Chempro Data Sciences Corp. of Westfield (MA I assume). It's too long to type, but here are some quotables: "[Manufacturers Technologies Inc. President Thomas Charkiewicz's] lawyers were encouraged by software protection vigilantes IBM Corp. and Lotus Develpment Corp. of Cambridge." (They provided names of expert witnesses, at least one of which was used, and offered to help with mock trials, though none were held.) "What makes [US District Court Judge T.F. Gilroy] Daly's ruling significant and potentially far-reaching, suporters say, is that he based his decision solely on what is referred to loosely in the industry as the look and feel of software: how it apears to and is acted upon by the user." "`We don't want courts setting de facto software standards,' says Michael D. Kinkead, president of the Massachusets Software Council. `We want standards to be set in the marketplace.'" "Many software developers see copyright protection as harmful to innovation... While few advocate allowing copying computer code, they see no reason why someone should not be allowed to improve upon, say, Lotus 1-2-3, by writing faster code. "But Charkiewicz and others argue against that view, saying it fails to compensate program originators for their R&D and marketing expenditures. Lack of protection is what will hurt innovation, they maintain." No mention of the FSF, or their viewpoint on these matters. -- /jr jr@bbn.com or bbn!jr C'mon big money!