Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!sri-spam!ames!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!pyramid!prls!mips!mash From: mash@mips.UUCP (John Mashey) Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.unix.wizards,comp.os.misc Subject: Re: Who owns Unix(tm)? (was: Re: Mach, the new standard?) Message-ID: <617@winchester.UUCP> Date: Sun, 23-Aug-87 23:49:29 EDT Article-I.D.: winchest.617 Posted: Sun Aug 23 23:49:29 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 25-Aug-87 06:45:15 EDT References: <1665@ncr-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM> <8381@utzoo.UUCP> Reply-To: mash@winchester.UUCP (John Mashey) Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Sunnyvale, CA Lines: 43 Keywords: Gross overbearing ripoff! Xref: mnetor comp.arch:1909 comp.unix.wizards:3867 comp.os.misc:99 In article <2232@xanth.UUCP> kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > >...Among a long list of other phone injustices (like paying operator >rates for pay phone calls now handled by robots...), the gall of AT&T >claiming to "own" Unix(tm) really gets to me. At the time Unix was >developed, WITH SUBSCRIBER FUNDS, AT&T was a regulated monopoly, >specifically prohibited from being in the computer business. Suddenly >divesture happens, and this magig product springs forth full grown >from Zeus' forehead. Riiiight! Seems to me, right off hand, that an >awfully good case could be made that the customers, NOT Ma Bell, own >Unix. Considering the AT&T customer base, that is pretty much the >mortal equivalent of public domain. Before the net gets used up on this one [incidentally enriching AT&T], let's squelch this one quick with some facts. (Not defense of AT&T licensing practices, just some facts): 1) AT&T is, and always has been a private company. Contrary to occasional popular belief, or people who take "The President's Analyst" too seriously, it is NOT the government, which sometimes has rules about the required availability of software developed at govt expense. 2) It is rather unlikely that "an awfully good case" can be made that the customers own UNIX, just as it's unlikely that the customers own every single piece of technology ever developed at AT&T. (There have been various rules regarding patent licensing of patents during certain times, but none of these ever implied that UNIX be owned by the customers). 3) "equivalent of public domain" is just as an unlikely: AT&T does those things necessary to prevent it from becoming so, at least from V7 onward. 4) prohibitions from being in the computer business, regulated monopoly, etc, simply are irrelevant: they don't mean the customers own it. Also, people's emotional reactions to AT&T are also irrelevant. I am not a lawyer. With UNIX licensing, I've had numerous close encounters of all kinds, from inside and outside, over a lot of years. -- -john mashey DISCLAIMER: UUCP: {decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!mips!mash OR mash@mips.com DDD: 408-991-0253 or 408-720-1700, x253 USPS: MIPS Computer Systems, 930 E. Arques, Sunnyvale, CA 94086