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From: gwyn@brl-smoke.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.os.misc
Subject: Re: Who owns Unix(tm)?...
Message-ID: <6369@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 30-Aug-87 18:07:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-smok.6369
Posted: Sun Aug 30 18:07:46 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 31-Aug-87 01:36:13 EDT
References: <1665@ncr-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM> <8381@utzoo.UUCP> <797@Pescadero.ARPA> <2232@xanth.UUCP> <1272@houdi.UUCP> <2303@xanth.UUCP>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn>)
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.
Lines: 15

In article <2303@xanth.UUCP> kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes:
>	....  They distributed UNIX to non-commercial users at cost
>	of media, and got gobs of debugging and upgrade help.  Again,
>	all accomplished at phone company customer expense.  ...

Excuse me, but that does not make sense.  It appears rather that phone
company customers did NOT have to fund this "debugging and upgrade help".
(Not that I think much work outside Bell Labs ended up in their product.)

Unless you're heavily into corporate law, it is doubtful that your or my
opinion of what the law "says" about the proprietary status of UNIX is
worth anything at all.  I suspect AT&T's lawyers feel they have this
matter firmly under control.  Certainly it is pirate mentality to declare
that "UNIX is public domain so I'm going to take it".  I bet you'd get
into serious legal trouble if you got caught doing that.