FC: NuSphere replies to Politech post about FSF and Boston lawsuit

[Declan McCullagh <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

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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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