Milano, February 18th, 2003
- for immediate release -
"Free Software Foundation defends the GNU GPL against SCO attacks"
The organization that defends Free Software in Europe, Free Software Foundation Europe, has no doubt that the litigation between SCO against IBM and Novell cannot affect the users of the operating system GNU/Linux.
Professor Eben Moglen of Columbia University, pro-bono general counsel of FSF North America, has published a paper that will help free software developers and end-users understand the legal issues and business risks involved in using the Linux kernel. The paper is avaible on the OSDL web site.
http://www.osdl.org/docs/osdl_eben_moglen_third_statement.pdf
"After selling licenses for rights in the original Unix code, the SCO Group is now suing Novell to please hand over those rights to SCO." Stefano Maffulli, Italian chancellor of FSF Europe explains. "The lawsuit shows SCO Group's uncertainty about their claims on the code in question. One could ask on what grounds they think they were suing others. In any case, their licensing campaign is obviously over," he continues.
The license of the Linux kernel, the GNU General Public Licens, grants the recipients of the software the right to use, copy, modify and redistribute the software under the same terms. Many users got the Linux software from the SCO Group, even after they sued IBM in august 2003.
"As both the SCO Group and Novell, through its recent acquisition SuSE, have been distributing copies of the GNU/Linux system -- including the Linux kernel -- under the GNU GPL, it means that regardless of the outcome of that process, no party will ever be able to ask for licensing fees." says Werner Koch, Head of Office of FSF Europe.
"The whole issue has been very much overplayed and overrated by analysts who assumed that if there is smoke, there is fire. But in the modern business world, you will often discover nothing but a smoke machine," concludes Georg Greve, president of the FSF Europe. "In the end, this case is a typical example of a company trying to undo time and undoing itself in the process. Understanding, accepting and working with the freedoms of Free Software is becoming a key factor of success for modern companies in information technology."
About the Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition - allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSF Europe, which was founded in 2001 as the European sister organization of the Free Software Foundation in the United States.
Contact
Europe: Georg C. F. Greve greve@fsfeurope.org phone: +49-40-23809080 fax: +49-40-23809081
Italy: Stefano Maffulli maffulli@fsfeurope.org phone: +39-02-34537127 fax: +39-02-34531282
Germany: Werner Koch koch@fsfeurope.org phone: +49-2104-173855
Further contact information available at