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Election 2006 (and beyond): Digital Copyright Canada
From: Russell McOrmond <russell_-at-_flora.ca>
To: Ann Marcotte <annm_-at-_sco.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:15:48 -0400 (EDT)
Dear Anne Marcotte,
While I have sent you letters in the past, such as the one published at
http://www.canopener.ca/pipermail/discuss/2003-September/001083.html , I
have not yet received any reply. Since there is the possibility that you
are not supportive of (or fully aware of) the predatory actions of the
company you work for against the legitimate rights of an entire community,
I am sending you this letter.
The accusations that The SCO Group have made against our community are
personal in nature. We should be properly recognized as one of the
earliest examples of a creators' rights movement for software creators,
and yet your employer has tried to portray us as people infringing and
opposing the very rights we protect. (See:
<http://www.flora.ca/copyright2003/> ) These verbal attacks strike at the
heart of who we are as people.
Those of us on the receiving end of these attacks have been offered no
option to get us out of this mess. Your employer, by not disclosing what
software code we allegedly infringe, have given us no method to stop
infringing any rights which SCO may legitimately hold. Your employer has
given us no ability to defend against accusations by disclosing the proper
creative history of any code being questioned, or remove it if rights are
being infringed.
While your employer wishes to hide behind non-disclosure agreements and
secrecy, our community uses fully accountable publicly disclosed software
creation and distribution methodologies. We have nothing to hide, and
always welcome any feedback on any of the works we create and share.
While we have no choice, your employer as well as their employees,
lawyers and customers do have choices they can make. I felt it appropriate
that I ensure that you were fully aware of the implications of some of
your own personal choices.
A Measured Response to the "SCO Problem"
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7145
Which included, in part:
So how can we make it known that coming after Linux is dangerous and
not a move to be taken lightly? I have an idea that might help in the
long term, one directed at businesses that sympathize with the free
software plight but perhaps don't know what they can do about it. At
the two sister companies I helped to start last year, Damage Studios
and Konstrux Technologies (the first a game studio, the second an
open-source service company centered around gforge), we implemented
new policies that state the following:
No employee that worked for SCO after September 2003 is eligible for
employment. We articulate this on our jobs page so we don't waste
anyone's time.
I hope you will take this into consideration. I will be watching the
contact page below for any change. You have my contact information if you
want to discuss with me (off the record if you wish) why the verbal
attacks from your employer are not simply a business issue, but an issue
being taken very personally.
http://www.caldera.com/worldwide/ca.html
http://www.sco.com/worldwide/ca.html
Canada Contact Information
Ann Marcotte
annm@sco.com
Tel: +1 905 820 3042
A Google search turned up the following submission from you to a Linux
users group forum: http://dissemble.net/tlug-archive/00-11/5549.html
"Of course Caldera is also not backing off of Linux and Open Source."
We had no way of knowing the true meaning of that sentence at that time.
---
Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
Governance software that controls ICT, automates government policy, or
electronically counts votes, shouldn't be bought any more than
politicians should be bought. -- http://www.flora.ca/russell/
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