Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!uwmcsd1!ig!agate!ucbvax!hplabs!sdcrdcf!otto!convex!authorplaceholder
From: buyse@convex.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: BOYCOTT APPLE
Message-ID: <64800028@convex>
Date: 25 Mar 88 16:18:00 GMT
References: <663@csm9a.UUCP>
Lines: 38
Nf-ID: #R:csm9a.UUCP:-66300:convex:64800028:000:1730
Nf-From: convex.UUCP!buyse    Mar 25 10:18:00 1988


Talk about overreactions.  Most of the responders to this topic need a
serious dose of hormone stabilizers, and perhaps some valium besides.

It is clear that there are a few authors here who understand what the
lawsuit is actually about.  It is also clear that many more are
extrapolating the basis of the lawsuit into terra icognito.

The lawsuit does not claim the copyright to the mouse and windows
interface; it only applies to those portions of that interface for which
Apple currently holds registered copyrights.

If this were IBM vs. <Anybody>, would you care?  Would you be pronouncing
homilistic moral judgments?  Would you need to fill an extra prescription
of relaxants?  Or are you prematurely assuming that an "unjust" decision
will be rendered in this lawsuit (whatever that entails)?

Do you understand the roles of copyrights and patents?  Patents are the
greatest stimulant of new inventions that are around.  If not every Joe
can just use a patented idea in his contraption, he must think of a new
and better way of accomplishing the same task.  Therefore, you get more
inventions, and more patents.  By allowing an idea to take hold in the
public domain, you set up a de facto standard that may live past its
usefulness.  Patents encourage new developments.

It is my opinion that copyrights follow a similar line of reasoning.

And if you want to boycott Apple, then go ahead and do so.  Just don't
have the mistaken idea that this one lawsuit is going to inextricably
alter the course of "interface technology"-- nor will your boycott.


Let's get back to discussing the Apple II, which is what this discussion
is supposed to be all about.

-Russell Buyse.

UUCP: {allegra,ihnp4,uiucdcs,ctvax}!convex!buyse