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Lawsuit Says GPL is a Price-Fixing Scheme

Posted by timothy on Mon May 02, 2005 05:42 PM
from the fixing-as-in-repairing dept.
The Courts GNU is Not Unix It's funny. Laugh.
Soko writes "Yes, it's real. The crack team of Daniel Wallace and Maureen O'Gara have ganged up once again to protect their version of "The American Dream," he by filing a lawsuit in Indiana court saying the GPL is nothing more than a price fixing scheme designed to drive software vendors out of business, she by parroting the proprietary vendors' "The GPL kills business" mantra (as well as a few well placed insults at the free software community). I found the story on Groklaw - no links to Ms. O'Gara or Mr. Wallace from me. I'm still kind of dumbfounded at the audacity of Mr. Wallace, but wonder if he has an angle that might have a slim chance of prevailing." This Google search reveals some of Daniel Wallace's views on the GPL.

Related Stories

[+] GPL Price-Fixing Lawsuit Dismissed 154 comments
ansak writes "The case of Wallace vs. the Free Software Foundation has been dismissed. It wasn't entirely on the merits of the case. From PJ's analysis, 'despite the judge clearly telling him where his previous complaint was lacking, he didn't fix it.... In this case, he had five tries.' Nevertheless, the judge did make a strong statement that the GPL 'encourages, rather than discourages, free competition' and ordered Wallace to pay court costs: 'Judges do that when they'd like you to learn a good lesson. It's a signal you shouldn't have brought the case in the first place.'"
[+] Wallace's Second Anti-GPL Suit Loses 303 comments
Enterprise OpenSource Magazine is reporting that Daniel Wallace's second Anti-GPL lawsuit has gone down in flames. From the (short) article: "The judge wrote that 'Antitrust laws are for 'the protection of competition, not competitors.' In this case, the GPL benefits consumers by allowing for the distribution of software at no cost, other than the cost of the media on which the software is distributed. 'When the plaintiff is a poor champion of consumers, a court must be especially careful not to grant relief that may undercut the proper function of antitrust.' Because he has not identified an anticompetitive effect, Wallace has failed to allege a cognizable antitrust injury.'"
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  • They took yer job! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 02 2005, @05:43PM (#12413805)
    They're just mad because you tk ther jeb!

  • Springer show. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by FyRE666 (263011) * on Monday May 02 2005, @05:43PM (#12413811) Homepage
    I'm surprised that Slashdot actually posted this drivel on the front page (well actually the real surprise was the lack of spelling errors!) As has been the case for several months now, O'Gara's articles have become deliberately more provocative and frankly ridiculous as she attempts to push up the banner hits on the LBW/LBN website. I don't think she even bothers to cite anything resembling a fact anymore, but simply blurts out the most ridiculous thoughts that she finds stomping around the inside of her head.

    For anyone who isn't aware, one of the other regular "writers" for LBW/LBN was recently outed, caught trolling on the SCOX message board to pull in more hits with his crackpot theories. It's looking like a company policy.

    There's no doubt that MOG is simply using this Wallace fellow to help finance the ailing website. Personally I'm not going to visit it, and I'd suggest anyone else with any sense also not bother. The slashdot effect is exactly the thing they wish for over there... unless everyone visits with Lynx, or images turned off, of course ;-)

    LBW/LBN is fast becoming the "Jerry Springer show" of the tech news sites...

  • Well, it was broken after all. (Score:5, Funny)

    by deathcloset (626704) on Monday May 02 2005, @05:45PM (#12413832) Journal
    what's so bad about fixing the price of software?

  • In other news: (Score:5, Funny)

    by elid (672471) <eli.ipod@gma[ ]com ['il.' in gap]> on Monday May 02 2005, @05:46PM (#12413845)
    Bottled watter companies file lawsuit that running tap water is a price fixing scheme! Oxygen tank manufacturers claim air is a price fixing scheme! Recording Industry says making your own music is a price fixing scheme!

    • just like Muni Wifi (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kris_lang (466170) on Monday May 02 2005, @06:06PM (#12414073)
      You realize, sarcasm apart, that this "price fixing" or "unfair competition" is exactly what all of the TelCo's and the Wireless carriers are claiming about municipal WiFi efforts...

      It's sad that corporations think that they deserve special favors, or believe that they will receive them for the right price...

      oh wait, they believe it because it happens...
      [ Parent ]

  • Want a good laugh? (Score:5, Funny)

    by shades66 (571498) on Monday May 02 2005, @05:50PM (#12413886)
    Read the complaint that is linked in the groklaw story.. (http://www.groklaw.net/pdf/Wallace-Complaint.pdf [groklaw.net])

    It starts out as "The Plaintiff Daniel Wallace......"

    and in the damages section changes to "The Defendant Daniel Wallace..."

    what a moron..

  • Right... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jleq (766550) * <jleqNO@SPAMcharter.net> on Monday May 02 2005, @05:50PM (#12413889)
    I always thought that the idea of a price-fixing scheme was to drive prices *up*. What they have said makes absolutely no sense. Free software is causing prices to go up? I think not...

    If anything, free software drives prices down (remember when IE was released for free, while Netscape was still selling for $30?). Oh, the commercial software industry is dying too. Then why is Windows still the most popular operating system in existance?

    • Re:Right... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by OpenYourEyes (563714) on Monday May 02 2005, @06:01PM (#12414014)

      In the long term, yes. But in the short term it may be desirable for the price-fixers to undercut the price to corner the market. Once they have driven others out of the market, they are free (har har) to set the price to whatever they want.

      This is the theoretical problem with a monopoly, or with a small group that are seeking to drive others out of the market.

      In that sense, it does seem that the companies that are pushing GPL are attempting to price-fix software at 0 for now, so they can drive other companies out of the software industry so they can make money through software services instead.

      [ Parent ]

  • I've said it before. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NoMoreNicksLeft (516230) <`ten.tsacmoc' `ta' `relyo.nhoj'> on Monday May 02 2005, @05:52PM (#12413914) Journal
    It has nothing to do with reason.
    It has nothing to do with justice.
    It has nothing to do with quality and or merits.
    It has nothing to do with "who deserves to win".

    If not SCO, then someone else will win. It will be the stupidest ruling in the history of law, no doubt, but somehow it will win. IBM on our side or not. I am not a troll, though it should be obvious I'm far from being an optimist.

    I hope I am wrong.

    All that said, does it suprise you that with SCO being an embarrassment, that Microsoft would start up a few other legal experiments? They no doubt have people whose sole job is to dream up possible litigation, and we can expect 1-3 of these things per year, until one succeeds or they run out of money. Guess which one will happen first.

  • Paraphrasing ESR (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Eberlin (570874) on Monday May 02 2005, @05:52PM (#12413924)
    The software industry is a service industry operating under the guise of a manufacturing industry.

    Of course there are some exceptions -- the gaming industry, for example (though MMORPGs have the "subscription service" thing down). Unfortunately I can't name any others at the time but I'm sure there's more. :)

    The GPL isn't a price-fixing scheme...it basically exposed the current artifically inflated price-fixing scheme that is proprietary software.

    Adapt and evolve, baby. Or cry about it all the way to extinction.

    • Everyone loves analogies (Score:5, Insightful)

      by back_pages (600753) <{ten.xoc} {ta} {segap_kcab}> on Monday May 02 2005, @06:23PM (#12414242) Journal
      Well, if everybody owned a factory, what would the price of your bland manufactured good be?

      Not very much.

      When everybody has a compiler, what is your bland piece of software worth?

      Not very much.

      Without entering into whether or not it's right, the GPL definitely raises the bar on what makes a marketable piece of software. I think the everybody-owns-the-factory analogy is pretty appropriate.

      Once upon a time, people made a living by delivering ice to your home. Now we have freezers and make our own ice. What kind of money can you make delivering ice?

      Not very much.

      Does that mean you should attack the freezer manufacturers or does it mean you should find a better way of doing business?

      Apparently, the answer to that question will be decided in a court of law rather than the court of common sense.

      [ Parent ]

  • If you don't like GPL software... (Score:5, Funny)

    by gosand (234100) on Monday May 02 2005, @05:57PM (#12413975) Homepage
    You know, if you don't like GPL software, don't buy it.

  • What most people seem to not realize (Score:5, Insightful)

    by expro (597113) on Monday May 02 2005, @05:57PM (#12413978)

    but wonder if he has an angle that might have a slim chance of prevailing

    Put any issue like this in a court, especially in front of a jury, especially in America, and literally anything can happen, regardless of the lawyers or facts on either side.

    Juries will do what they think is justice based upon what they think they understand.

    Saying that SCO's case is lost, or this one would not stand a chance is simply not legitimate. Many experienced legal commentators seem to tend to give either side in just about any major case a 50-50 chance of winning. That is why the smartest thing you can do is to figure out how to stay out of court, unless you are evil and rich and like injustice. Over the long haul it may get corrected, but the courtroom is a roll of the dice.

    That is also probably why jury-tried issues carry little if any weight as legal precedence. While it would be very incorrect to say that the facts are irrelevant, it would also be very incorrect to say that they will carry the day or that this or any other issue could not be won in court, especially before a jury.

  • Ianal, but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Greyfox (87712) on Monday May 02 2005, @06:05PM (#12414055) Homepage
    "Motion to dimiss your honor. The plantiff is clearly on drugs."

    • Re:Ianal, but... (Score:5, Funny)

      by dkleinsc (563838) on Monday May 02 2005, @06:34PM (#12414362)
      Or you can use the following brief, which actually won a case (My mother, who is a lawyer, saw this one):

      Dear Honorable ______,

      Plaintiff has got to be kidding.

      Respectfully submitted,
      ________________
      Attorneys at Law

      [ Parent ]

    • Re:Wait a minute... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by eobanb (823187) on Monday May 02 2005, @05:53PM (#12413930) Homepage
      Really now, how does the GPL fix prices when it allows anyone to charge any amount of money for GPL software?
      [ Parent ]

      • Wait a minute...Wal-Mart. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 02 2005, @06:09PM (#12414102)
        "Really now, how does the GPL fix prices when it allows anyone to charge any amount of money for GPL software?"

        And as people are quick to point out about digital goods. They have no value... oh wait, wrong discussion. No "asking for, and getting" are two different things. Plus much like Wal-mart it puts pressure on software practitioners to the lowest price possible.* It most certainly doesn't put pressure on anyone to raise them.

        *Throw in globalization and really let the fun begin. Software's free, and the person writting it is damn close to it.
        [ Parent ]

    • It's TOTALLY price fixing! (Score:5, Funny)

      by raehl (609729) <raehl311@noSpaM.yahoo.com> on Monday May 02 2005, @06:02PM (#12414017) Homepage
      It's just like those Habitat for Humanity bastards, conspiring to drive down the wages of building contractors!
      [ Parent ]

    • Re:Rob Sokolowski (Score:5, Insightful)

      by KingSkippus (799657) on Monday May 02 2005, @06:01PM (#12414013) Homepage Journal
      No, don't do that, otherwise, you'll be spreading the image of free software advocates as harrassing nutcases. What would this accomplish? Do you think that your comment will be the one that changes his mind, the one that causes him to turn from the dark side? Your time would be better spent advocating free software instead of attacking people who don't.

      Also, is it so hard to imagine that you would be sued by this guy for harassment?
      [ Parent ]

    • Re:IMO - GPL was a reaction to M$ Domination (Score:5, Informative)

      by Jack Taylor (829836) on Monday May 02 2005, @06:27PM (#12414295)
      Actually, it's all to do with the GPL, as most other licenses (notably BSD and MIT) allow you to take source code, modify it, and then sell it in whole as your own product without releasing your modifications as source code.

      And you should check your sources [gnu.org]; Stallman came up with the GPL long before Microsoft had its monopoly.
      [ Parent ]
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